Hi, My brother picked about 2 pounds of hops from his yard (he did not plant them; they are wild) and froze them for about 2 weeks, then gave them to me. He's not sure what kind they are, but when you rub them between your fingers they have a great scent; but not so much when you just smell the cone. And some of them are kind of brown. I defrosted some of them and used about an ounce to dry hop my keg, and sanitized them before throwing them in. The beer is great and no bad taste as a result. My question is, do I need to sanitize them for future batches?
No, hops are naturally anti-bacterial...but you should dry them properly before freezing... can't vouch for yours because of that.
