Sussex hop farms- where to buy bulk hops while in UK?

[CanadianBrewer]

I've lurked on this forum for a while, checking out bitter recipes. I am a Canadian brewer (grew up in england), however I am heading over to Sussex (Chichester) next week to see my parents (march 1st-7th). I mainly brew english style ales. Its pretty easy to get british grains and british yeast over here, but the english hops we get are not great.

We do get a lot of real nice fresh american/canadian hops here, and I usually get my hops in 1lb packages from my local homebrew club bulk buy. However, the English hops we get can be pretty old, like a couple of years old. I think maybe you guys keep all the decent english hops and only send us the cheesy old stuff.

I'd love to get me some real fresh 2018 Goldings and a few pounds of 2018 in proper English varieties while I am visiting my old man. It would be fun to get some hop varieties we dont see much in canada, eg bramling cross, first gold ect. I can get it shipped to my parents in chichester and take them back to Canada on the plane.

Where's the best place for to get hold of some nice english varieties while I'm back in Blighty? Are there any sussex hop farmers who sell to homebrewers at a decent price?

 

[Clint]

Dunno about buying direct. Do you use pellets? Why not check out Cross My Loof brewing..get them posted to your parents house and go from there? They have loads of choice,great prices and great service.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've lurked on this forum for a while, checking out bitter recipes. I am a Canadian brewer (grew up in england), however I am heading over to Sussex (Chichester) next week to see my parents (march 1st-7th). I mainly brew english style ales. Its pretty easy to get british grains and british yeast over here, but the english hops we get are not great.

We do get a lot of real nice fresh american/canadian hops here, and I usually get my hops in 1lb packages from my local homebrew club bulk buy. However, the English hops we get can be pretty old, like a couple of years old. I think maybe you guys keep all the decent english hops and only send us the cheesy old stuff.

I'd love to get me some real fresh 2018 Goldings and a few pounds of 2018 in proper English varieties while I am visiting my old man. It would be fun to get some hop varieties we dont see much in canada, eg bramling cross, first gold ect. I can get it shipped to my parents in chichester and take them back to Canada on the plane.

Where's the best place for to get hold of some nice english varieties while I'm back in Blighty? Are there any sussex hop farmers who sell to homebrewers at a decent price?

 

[An Ankoù]

It's not Sussex, but Worceseter. Phone Jo at Stocks Farm. She'll sort you out with 500g foil packs of many of the best English varieties grown right under her nose. I understand she's a home brewer, too.
http://stocksfarm.net/contact-us/
http://stocksfarm.net/
http://stocksfarm.net/shop/
Goldings 2018
£7.00 – £29.00

100g @ £7.00 – 500g @ £29.00
3.5oz @ $8.91* – 17.6oz @ $36.94*
A quintessential British Hop, our Goldings is a delicious example of the gentle aromas that British heritage hops produce. The aroma notes are floral, lemon balm, slightly spicy and honey. Goldings is good for bittering and late hopping and particularly good in combination with Fuggle.

Recent customer comment: ‘Good quality hops, it’s nice to buy directly from a family run business.’

 

[Clint]

CML....
450g EKG 2018 crop..£13.28,Inc vat delivered,UK.

 

[terrym]

Crossmyloof....
https://www.crossmyloofbrew.co.uk/hop-guide
Plenty to choose from

 

[CanadianBrewer]

Nice! Cheers folks. I like the idea of getting the hops straight from the farm (stocks), but I like those crossmyloof prices! They have some pretty good deals on 2017 leaf at stocks farm. I am guessing that as long as the 2017 leaf hops are vacuumed packed quickly they should still be good?

 

[An Ankoù]

Nice! Cheers folks. I like the idea of getting the hops straight from the farm (stocks), but I like those crossmyloof prices! They have some pretty good deals on 2017 leaf at stocks farm. I am guessing that as long as the 2017 leaf hops are vacuumed packed quickly they should still be good?

I've got a 500 of Sovereign and a 500 of Pilgrim vacuum packs which I bought last year so the sale deal was on 2016 leaf. They're still absolutely first class. By the way, I always use the most recent harvest for bittering since the alpha acid content deteriorates with time and that makes it more difficult to calculate the bitterness, The flavour and aroma characteristics don't deteriorate in the same way, however, especially if you keep them well sealed and in the fridge. But you knew that, anyway.
Talk to Jo. She loves a chat.

 

[MyQul]

Nice! Cheers folks. I like the idea of getting the hops straight from the farm (stocks), but I like those crossmyloof prices! They have some pretty good deals on 2017 leaf at stocks farm. I am guessing that as long as the 2017 leaf hops are vacuumed packed quickly they should still be good?

If the leaf hops are vac packed and nitrogen flushed, they'll be fine. But Clint's idea of buying from CML and getting them sent to your parents is a good one (he doesnt have many brainwaves so it's best to 'get em while there hot' ). At a guess half the forum buy their hops from CML as their so good - I do

 

[Clint]

He's right you know...

 

[CanadianBrewer]

Right if everyone get their hops there, Im sold. Just got myself a pound of 2018 EKG and a pound of 2017 bramling cross for 25 quid delivered. Not bad. Im hoping the dank smell from my bag doesnt get them confused at the airport on my way back to Canada!

I am also thinking of maybe getting a couple of slants from brewlab of yeast we cant get out here. You have to buy them from hop and grape right?

By the way what does cross my loof mean?

 

[MyQul]

Right if everyone get their hops there, Im sold. Just got myself a pound of 2018 EKG and a pound of 2017 bramling cross for 25 quid delivered. Not bad. Im hoping the dank smell from my bag doesnt get them confused at the airport on my way back to Canada!

I am also thinking of maybe getting a couple of slants from brewlab of yeast we cant get out here. You have to buy them from hop and grape right?

By the way what does cross my loof mean?

CML is an area in Scotland (Glasgow I think) and the name of a brewery. They sell hops and dry yeast.(Very cheaply) as a side business. You can contact brewlabs directly and if you ask them for "a yeast thats like brewery X yeast" they'll send you that brewerys yeast (I think you have to say "like" because of trademark rights)

 

[CanadianBrewer]

CML is an area in Scotland (Glasgow I think) and the name of a brewery. They sell hops and dry yeast.(Very cheaply) as a side business. You can contact brewlabs directly and if you ask them for "a yeast thats like brewery X yeast" they'll send you that brewerys yeast (I think you have to say "like" because of trademark rights)

Nice, I will send them an email and see if they can get me "something like harveys yeast"! It looks from their website like they only sell to homebrewers via hop and grape now (and the selection is a bit limited) but it cant hurt to try!

 

[Leon103]

Good luck through customs

 

[An Ankoù]

There shouldn't be an issue at customs. If your bag smells dank it's because the seal on your vacuum packs has failed and they'll be ruined by the time you get back.
Hop and Grape, Darlington, went **** up about a year ago and have been taken over by another dealer which only sells extract kits. Tread carefully would be my advice.

 

[CanadianBrewer]

I think this might be a different hopandgrape its in stoke. It looks legit to me.

https://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/beer/beer-ingredients/beer-yeasts/brewlab-yeast-slopes.html

and it is linked throught the brewlab website:

https://www.brewlab.co.uk/product/home-brew-yeast-slopes/

I was joking really about the dankness, but pot is legal in Canada anyway

They are quite strict about bringing "agricultural material" into Canada, but I checked and apparently I can bring a max of 20kgs!

 

[MyQul]

I think this might be a different hopandgrape its in stoke. It looks legit to me.

https://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/beer/beer-ingredients/beer-yeasts/brewlab-yeast-slopes.html

and it is linked throught the brewlab website:

https://www.brewlab.co.uk/product/home-brew-yeast-slopes/

I was joking really about the dankness, but pot is legal in Canada anyway

They are quite strict about bringing "agricultural material" into Canada, but I checked and apparently I can bring a max of 20kgs!

This 20kg of EKG is for personal use only officer.

 

[Alside101]

Try hop.exchange its where small breweries sell excess hops

 

[CanadianBrewer]

Nice there some pretty good prices on there too! I am thinking of also getting myself a pound of leaf hops from stocks. We dont get much leaf hops in N.America, and I am thinking of getting something very british, but a bit different. I was thinking jester or oliceana, but they seem a bit too N.American too me. I'm liking the look of that Pilgrim- any of you folks brew with that?

 

[MyQul]

I think a forumite recently reported jester tasted like onions and warned others not to use it