BeerBorg

In gathering the necessities for the Winter 2015 RCE, I recently ordered some German Tettnang hops. When the order arrived, despite the invoice listing German Tettnang, the actual bag of hops was clearly labeled U.S. Tettnang. A quick e-mail to the online retailer yielded a fast apology and a full refund. However, at this time, they are out of stock on the German variety. This got me to thinking: is it true that "a rose is a rose is a rose"? A bit of reading revealed that U.S. Tettnang are closely related to Fuggle, whereas German are more genetically similar to Saaz and Spalter. Has anyone compared the two varieties head-to-head? I see a Tettnang S.M.A.S.H. experiment in the near future...

There will always be a difference between hops grown here and hops grown overseas. Soil compositions and climates are different. I think your SMaSH idea is a sound one.

A test would be a great idea. But I freely substitute hops for something nearby. I've used US Saaz for Czech in some very successful recipes. Brewing Classic Styles has a great table with substitution groups.