Hops smell like dirty socks!!

I bought 6 0z of hop pellets from a different HBS , Usually use ID Carlson, and they smell like dirty socks, are my hops bad? They are hallertauer, which I don't have alot of experience with.

The hops I have used have always smelled good.

Pretty sure you know the answer... I wouldn't use them unless they smelled great. Dirty socks is not great...

Sounds like they're halfway to lambic-dom. You could make a gueuze!

I haven't heard of the "dirty sock" variety, yet. I kind of wish I never had. Take them back. If they HBS has any integrity at all, you should get a refund.


TL

I love the smell of hops.
I do not love the smell of dirty socks.
A Very informative post.

Have noticed Magnums have kind of an "off" smell when they are fresh out of the airsealed bag. Other than that....

I had some hallertauer that smelled like blue cheese. They were old and no good. I used them anyways. But it will be a few months before that beer is ready so I can't tell you what it's like. Altough, when I took a sample it tasted just fine.

If this is your flavor I have some socks that happen to be for sale. They are pricey.

My house is currently experiencing a dirty sock shortage. All orders for dirty socks will be limited to one pair and may experience slight delays.


SWMBO is going ape**** with the laundry. She even washed my cell phone today. It's nice and clean...and inoperative.

If you have a t-9 screwdriver (used for a lot of cellphones) and take the back off (after removing the battery, of course) you may have a chance of drying it out. It may become usable long enough for you to get a replacement.

Now, chances are it's completely gone, but it can't hurt to try.

Drop a teaspoon (if their whole hops) or a couple pellets into a cup of your hottest tap water and let them steep a few minutes. Then give em a whiff.

Dried hops rarely smell "up to their potential".

I did boil some and they smelled like hay not really that cirus hop smell that I'm used to. I have never bought hops from this place, and they were like none I've ever seen, a bit narrower and alot darker green. A whiff out of the bag isn't bad but when I put an oz in a small tupperware, they stunk. Oh well too late now because I already used them in an Oktoberfest, I'll let ya know in a few months.

BierMuncher said:

Drop a teaspoon (if their whole hops) or a couple pellets into a cup of your hottest tap water and let them steep a few minutes. Then give em a whiff.

Dried hops rarely smell "up to their potential".

Click to expand...

+googolplex on this tip!!! I just opened some Centennial (supposedly 2008 but they're a much paler color than my 2008 Cascade) from Freshops and they smell like a 50/50 mix of citrus and cheese. Smelled so bad I was considering throwing them away and not tainting malt with them. After a few minutes soaking in hot (microwaved to around 140F) water, a single cone smells like a nice herbal tea and tastes nice and bitter without any cheese/feet flavor/aroma.