Labeling % Alpha Acid Content

The last few times I've ordered hops from MW Supplies, they sent me repackaged hops with no alpha acid content on the label - the labels just speficy hop variety. Should I feel peeved about this? I've got no alpha to enter into beersmith so I just have to go with anyone's guess? Or should I just accept that whatever % AA they might have reported would likely be inaccurate anyhow?

 

Somewhere in either a basic brewing broadcast or a brewing network broadcast, I feel like someone described how they sample for % AA and it left me with the impression that it wasn't very rigorous. It would be interesting to buy a bunch of 1 oz bags (that's how I get my hops) and assess variance around the mean.


If enough of us are bothered by the lack of labeling, I may contact Midwest and ask what the deal is about this policy. The last time this happened, I emailed and asked what the % AA was on the hops they sent and the response I got was just broad ranges:

"Subject: Order # 1622335 -- % Alpha Acid on Hops
Thank you for contacting us.

Hi Peter,

El Dorado - Average 10.0-15.0%
Styrian Goldings - 3.0-6.3
German Tettnang - 3.0-6.0

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions."

This, I could have guessed!

 

This what the midwest hops came in, but the labels have lacked alpha acid. My understanding is that NB and MW are shipping out of the same Twin Cities location, so I expect that they will be doing the same thing.

 

I have decided to follow up with MW Supplies, via email, to find out what the deal is. I want to get a better understanding for why they have changed the info they provide to consumers, in this regard. I am not ready to stop being a customer. They have been really helpful to me over the past 7 years. However, their response will probably have an influence on my future relationship with them. I am willing to entertain that there might be a reasonable explanation for not providing this info to me, but I want to understand that explanation.

 

I have been informed that MW is using some new software and having some technical issues that prevent putting % alpha acid on their labels. They hope that their IT person can address the issue. ME TOO!

On the surface, it seems really inane, but I can imagine that they have some fancy database management program that integrates all kinds of aspects of the business (inventory, orders, label printing...) but has some minor wrinkles like this.

Aside: I have some personal experience with this sort of problem. My employer's comprehensive academic data management system does lots of impressive things but every now and then the IT people tell us we can't do something that sounds like it should be quite simple and helpful. Limitations in the software end up making some decisions about how to run a college.

 

You would think it might be that simple. But I fear that simple, common sense solutions are dinosaurs in the information age. (Speaking of dinosaurs, that comment makes me sound like one).

 

Here is the content of their most recent communication:

"I am very sorry. There is a technical restriction with our labeling system that is preventing the printing from our hops packaging. We are enlisting the help of IT and hope to have the changes made soon.
Customer Service doesn't have easy access to the AA%, but we can try to get them from the bulk boxes. Let us know which percentages you need. It might take us a couple of days."

This was in response to the following email:

"Comment: I have a bit of a complaint.

My last two orders (# 1648552 and # 1622335 ) both contained 1-oz packages of several hops and in all 5 varieties, no information was listed about alpha acid content. All of these hops came in silver mylar bags with a computer printed label. In ALL prior dealings with Midwest and ALL dealings with other homebrew suppliers, hops have arrived with an alpha acid content on the label.

In the instance of # 1622335 , I contacted Midwest to find out what the % alpha acid was on the hop and the reply contained a standard range quote (e.g., 3-6%, 10-15%) that I might have found anywhere on the internet.

Can you help me understand this new practice at Midwest? Is there a good reason why you are no longer specifying % alpha acid?

Sorry if I'm coming off like a whiner, but I am interested in why this is happening and how I should adjust my brewing to what appears to be greater uncertainty about hops."


From this, I am beginning to infer that that Midwest Supplies has grown at the expense of good customer service practice. On the one hand, they have been polite and reasonably prompt in addressing my concerns. However, why would you run your business in a way that does not give customer service easy access to the sort of information the customer might need? Why would it take a couple of days? And why doesn't someone get a Sharpie marker!

 

As you can see from the post above where I quote my email and their response, I did essentially ask the question, and the answer I seem to be getting is "due to technical difficulty."