Black resinous poop

I found something strange in my whole leaf hops today, but this is my first time with whole-leaf so maybe it is common. It looks like a piece of cat poop, but it smells like hops. If I were to guess, I would say that it is a chunk of hop resin that got stuck in the harvesting or drying equipment. Any ideas? I would post a picture, but let me assure you, it looks like cat poop: Black, crumbly, round, twisty, cat poop. I did not put it in the beer on the off chance that it is hop-smelling cat poop.

Also, on a side note this is my first post but likely not my last. I've been trolling these forums for just over a year since I began home-brewing and I finally have a question that I can't find the answer using the search function. Thanks to the community for the trial, errors, and successes that I have been able to learn from. I wouldn't have enjoyed half of my success in beer-making without you all.

Great first post!

You say you have stuff in your hops that looks like a cat turd. Well, it's probably a cat turd. We need some pics.

Hi and welcome!
Cat poop in your hops, huh? Well it could be that.
Or it could be this.

From the description:
"Our Hops Hash is the resin collected from the harvesting machinery during harvest, and Has high concentrations of lupulin and other narcotic like chemicals that when smoked produce, at first a stimulant influence, succeeded by a very agreeable, calming sensation. "

Even though hops are in the same family as cannabis, it is doubtful that it gives a high when smoked. Maube a slight buzz, like after the first good beer you have. But it must be legal anyway.

I seem to recall (but cannot find a source right now) that German farmers smoked hop cones in clay pipes after the harvest...

Taste it.

MedicMang said:

Taste it.

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Yeah I'm thinking a triangle test w/ some real cat poop to make sure it's not you know...Poop.

hopeyejoe said:

I did not put it in the beer on the off chance that it is hop-smelling cat poop.

Click to expand...

That seems like a wise move.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll taste it, smoke it, and get back with my results... Upon further inspection I'm going to go with some variation on the hop hash idea. It's tacky, crumbly, and kind of soft like hash, not dry and fibrous like a cat turd. Here is a pic.

Contact the hop farmer. If it is some plug of built up resin, they would probably be familiar with it, and might even send you a replacement pack. It looks like a chunk of compost/mulch that got tumbled.