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odoyle81 · 07-11-2012, 11:25 PM

We had a really mild winter in Colorado and my cascade hops matured early and some of them turned brown either on the vine, or as they were drying.
Should I pick these brown hops out and discard them?
I've googled around, and most people seem to say just use them, but some people say throw away the oxidized and brown hops....
What do you guys think?

Pictures below... you can see that the brown hops still have lots of lupulin glands that are dark yellow and look fine to me.

odoyle81 · 07-18-2012, 04:43 AM

really? no one has any input?

**PleasantValleyHops** · 07-18-2012, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odoyle81

really? no one has any input?

Id have input if i knew. Aroma and stuff seem fine or they smell funky like they look

odoyle81 · 07-18-2012, 04:02 PM

yea, they smell fine.. I'll use em and see what happens

BRONCOBREW · 07-18-2012, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odoyle81

yea, they smell fine.. I'll use em and see what happens

No problem. I always have a few browns in my hop bags. As long as they are mostly green, you should be Okay.

Are you going to vacuum pack them?

**GVH_Dan** · 07-18-2012, 05:09 PM

There are various reasons why they turn brown. It could be wind damage...rubbing/friction...but that's usually just on the outside bracts. It could be powdery/downey mildew, which is kind of what this looks like. In that case, throw out those that are over 50% brown or have really nasty looking spots.

It could be from your drying process. What temperature were you drying at? They will also dry with age. So if you were on the backside of the optimal picking time, you can get this.

Basically, you've got the right idea. They smell good and the lupulin looks good...go for it.

**slomo** · 07-18-2012, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GVH_Dan

There are various reasons why they turn brown. It could be wind damage...rubbing/friction...but that's usually just on the outside bracts. It could be powdery/downey mildew, which is kind of what this looks like. In that case, throw out those that are over 50% brown or have really nasty looking spots.

It could be from your drying process. What temperature were you drying at? They will also dry with age. So if you were on the backside of the optimal picking time, you can get this.

Basically, you've got the right idea. They smell good and the lupulin looks good...go for it.

+1 on this. On my last harvest time got away from me and some of the hops were partially brown. I used them just the same as the green ones, and the ipa came out great.

BRONCOBREW · 07-18-2012, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slomo

+1 on this. On my last harvest time got away from me and some of the hops were partially brown. I used them just the same as the green ones, and the ipa came out great.

I have watched many commercial hop harvests. They cut down the bines and process all the hops at the same time in September. There is always a mix of Brown Hops with the green hops.......I need to find a photo.....

BRONCOBREW · 07-18-2012, 08:39 PM

Check out the huge pile of hops behind yours truly.....see all the brown hops....

This is from Mike Goodings Hop farm near Wilder, Idaho......

DaBills · 10-31-2012, 08:07 PM

I want to dive into that pile like scrooge mcduck and his pile of money.