47 Hops Spring Sale $4.47/#

What made me think the CTZ may be slightly oxidized is that it isn't bright and fresh. It has that "stale" hop aroma going on that you get from old IPAs. Not cheesy, per say, just subdued, maybe slightly card boardy? My El Dorado smell awesome, though. I've opened my other two packages now, El Dorado and Hallertau Blanc, the only one I was concerned about is the CTZ.

 

As I suspected Canada customs inspected my package and opened up the Hull melon bag... that means it sat in the heat for about 5 days after being opened. Thankfully they still smell great and they didn’t touch the el dorado or centennial.

If you were thinking about mailing your Canadian pals some illegal substances in vaccum packed hop bags.... it probably won’t work. Weed isn’t legal here until July sooooooo

Still no regrets ! Six sixty six (Canadian) a pound ?! Get outa here eh!

 

Opened my hops today. Willamette and tettnang both super cheesy. Centennial and hull melon smelled great. El dorado smells alright but can tell it's not fresh so will use those soon. Opened willamette and tettnang first so thought it might be me but after smelling some fresher hops its unmistakable.

 

Just brewed a NEIPA with the el Dorado and huell melon. Both hops smelled great and nothing seemed off about them. I'll report back once its kegged and carbed

 

I brewed a single hop pale ale with the Huell Melon this weekend and started to think they smelled kinda cheesy, but I couldn't say for sure, I thought it could just be the variety (have never used them before). These ones did sit opened in the heat for a long time so....

Anyone ever brew with slightly off hops? should I be worried about a cheesy flavor in the final beer?

 

US Fuggles smell fine.

 

Yeah, I think 5 days open in the summer heat probably did more damage to them than the year and a half of cold storage did. I wouldn't have brewed with them if I were unsure. I mean, assuming a 1# bag, it's only a $4.47 loss to throw them out.

 

@Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse Yeah I am thinking that now actually... I just couldn't decide if I was imagining it or not so I said screw it stick to the plan. I'll report back in a week or so with cheese results

 

Too bad it's hit or miss with these hops. I have a 5 gal beer that's about ready to bottle and I was thinking of dry hopping 2 oz of the mandarina bavaria, which smells really good. If the hops smell fresh, I can be sure they will be fine?

 

Generally yes.

 

Inspected some of my order this weekend. 1st good sign was that the cardboard box didn’t smell like hops (or cheese).
Curiosity got the best of me after reading the post above. I opened my Willamette and noticed no off aromas, then vacuum sealed it and threw it back in the freezer.
4 packs grabbed at random weighed more than ½ lb each (8.25 to 9.16 oz.), which includes the weight of the packaging.

 

Few days into the dry hop with the Huell Melon and I'm getting a very noble hop flavor with some of the fruit as advertised coming through.

It taste good regardless, so that's a plus. Totally changed the characer of the saison, it's like another beer. The beer was fairly tart with some fruit and low spice. Now the yeast character has taken a back seat. Hopeing to see how it developes over another week or so.

With all this talk about "cheesy" hops, I can't say I have ever tasted or smelled that in hops. I assume if one did, you would know for sure?

 

As I have seen "cheesy" hops discussed, this aspect is evident via physical inspection of the hops.

"Oxidation of hops leads to cleavage of this side group and the production of 2-methylbutryic acid, which has a distinctive, pungent odor similar to Roquefort cheese. This is why oxidized hops are often described as “cheesy.”

https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/isNSdola2d/adhumulone/

Needless to say it is a best practice to not brew with hops that are "cheesy".

But old/poorly stored hops are not characterized solely by "cheesy". There is the aspect that hops will experience alpha acid loss with age. This aspect can be 'compensated' for my upping the amounts used but how much do you need to do this? Also, there will be issue that hop essential oils will degrade/decrease with age. How do you 'compensate' for this change?

In summary, old/poorly stored hops are not just a concern of "cheesy" but other aspects such as those I discussed above.

Fresh hops are 'best' and non-fresh hops may be problematic.

Cheers!

 

A blue cheese - I think I would definately smell that pretty easily if I stuck my face in a bag full of bad hops.

Thanks.

 

I've only ordered online twice now so this was my first experience with it (LHBS has always been good to me). At first I couldn't detect any aroma which is not normal. Then I thought I could detect a little something off. After opening Centennial and Huell Melon it became pretty clear it was off.

 

Could you please expound upon the topic of "off". What specifically was "off" for these two hop varieties?

Cheers!

 

I'm a terrible descriptor but I can give it a try! Like I said at first I couldn't smell much of anything which I'd never experienced before and was certainly concerning. After breaking it up (as it had thrown it in the freezer as soon as I got it) the cheese aroma started coming out more. Wondering if it was just in my head, I opened up some Fuggles I had in the freezer (from Yakama). I got the same aroma as previous hops which I would describe as a strong floral aroma (grass, pine, mint?). Opened the Centennial and it had the same floral aroma. Did a side by side and the cheesiness of the Tettnang and Willamette was unmistakable. I've used both hops before (though had non in the freezer for direct comparison) and don't recall having an aroma like that.

 

My suggestion is that for any of the hops which smelled "cheesy" you not brew with them.

Cheers!

 

How well can we predict hops favor/effect in just water? I poured 24oz of boiling water on top of about 1.5 grams of Mandarina bavaria hops, which would be equivalent to adding a little more than a 1 oz at flame out. I let it settle for a day, and it tasted pretty good!

I'm not sure I'll trust my nose if I get some "cheesy" hops. I'd also like a good method to test all these hops quickly/easily. Maybe I should set up a taste test with several at once.

 

This might not work as quickly as desired and might not even be trustworthy at all.
If you have multiple packs of the same hops, maybe keep one in reserve and remove a small quantity from the other. Expose the removed quantity to the outside air and heat (might be a challenge for someone under down-under) and check them from time to time for changes.
When they get to a point of glaringly obvious degradation, do a side by side comparison with some from the unopened pack. Might give you an idea of not only IF they've changed, but how and how much they've changed.