Changing the hops in a recipe

This past weekend I bought my ingredients for an extract brew to do this coming weekend. An error occurred, not sure of it was me or the store, but I didn't receive the hops listed in the recipe. I don't think I was even charged for them, so it's not like they didn't get bagged or I missed picking them up. The kit was built for me.

Anyways, last nights (Monday) I bought someone's used kit (I even got two glass carboys!) and he happen to have extra, unopened, 1 oz. Cascade hops. There isn't an expiration date. Not sure if they normally do since this is the first time I have handled hops.

My question is, can I replace the hops in my recipe (see below) with these that I just found, not knowing how long they have been around. Will this vastly alter my recipe and the flavor? Could this be a nice alterations, or will it end up being bad? Secondary question, should they be in the fridge until boil day?

For quick reference, I'm missing the 1 oz. of Czech Saaz Hops.

Recipe link, http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com...ns/orange-witty-monk-extract-instructions.pdf

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to avoid another trip, but I'm not opposed to having to do it.

-Nate

Hops are an agricultural product. If not kept at very cold temperatures they degrade, sometimes very quickly. I have kept sealed bags int he freezer for years with little loss of bittering potential and some aroma/flavor loss. Fresh is best.

If the hops you now have were not stored cold, you may want to abandon them and pick up some new ones. Seeing as it looks like it is only a bittering addition, you may not notice how much they have changed as you will not get much, if any, hop flavor from an early addition. However, if the hops are not too old and were stored well, Cascades tend to have about double the alpha acid value as Saaz, so the beer will be significantly more bitter.

Either way, the hops will make beer. The question is whether or not you're willing to do the experiment to see if the hops survived the rigors of storage.

Porterpounder; that is what I suspected when it came to storage. Even though I didn't pick out the hops from the store myself, I did see that there was a hop fridge. I should have also added the person that the kit came from said they had not brewed in over a year. So these are potentially 1 year or older hops with unknown storage info. He had his kit in a carport in Georgia, the opposite of the cooler temps. I think I'll toss them, but out of curiosity I just want to see what others say.


-Nate

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Yeah get rid of them, don't risk it. Cascade and Saaz definitely have a different taste and might not be what you want.
-Jeff

If you like lambics or ever think you may, I would save them in a cabinet. Lambics traditionally use aged hops.

I got a copy of this book

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1475265050/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Which helps me with hops substitutions. Its a quick read and as a bonus gives some history of the strains. A lot of the hops we use today are merely cross breeds of earlier strains.

william_shakes_beer; I'll look at that book. Thanks for the info. Sounds like a great source.

WI_wino; since this will be my first brew I don't have plans for a lambic, but the idea and history are very cool. I may however find someone local who can use them.


-Nate

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