Hop Identification.

A buddy of mine that works @ a local brewery gave me an 11lb bag of hops that HE could not identify. Any guesses on how to tell what they are???????

Long legs means more room for beer!

Oh, and I should have added that they are in pellet form.

Long legs means more room for beer!

iff you send me a couple of pounds I could help you I'd them.... J/k

I'm thinking there's really noway to tell but could be wrong...(does it have a name on the box?

Do a simple smash recipe?

find out what hops that brewery works with most, if they have 11 lb bags you can assume they use it fairly often. Once the list is shortened. You can compare the site and smell to a small portion.

Or
do some sciencey ****

Smash recipe??

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They use about 10 different varities that come in 11lb bags. Yikes!!

Long legs means more room for beer!

What do they smell like? Go by the smells or make a small gallon batch of SMaSH beer and use the taste and smell to identify them maybe dry hop with them to increase the aroma

smash=single malt, single hop. Use a base malt like regular 2 row, MO, etc. and then use your mystery hops. Since you have no idea what they are or their AA%, maybe you should use a known hop at 60 for bittering and then concentrate on flavor/aroma additions to get a sense of the hop's character.

I would just plan to use them as aromatic additions on brews here and there. You don't know the IBU's, so you would be guessing if you used them for bittering and it could really screw them up.

What do they smell like? Do you have an exceptional sense of taste/smell?

I bet if you gave me the bag and the name of the 11 hops I could narrow it down to at least 2-3 if not the correct one. But I don't think that matters. I think they are totally usable as aromatic late boil hops without even know what they are. Just smell them and think if they would help a pale ale or an IPA. Bet they would do just fine

You could do a smash, but that is a lot of work for a potentially eh brew that you would either use for starters, toss or drink. Not saying you can't make a good smash brew. Am saying I think you can tell what they are on the front end by smelling etc without all the work.

If you do a small test SMASH, try them as bittering too. You won't know exactly what the AA's are, but you can make get a good enough guess for most uses. I've never found it necessary to know the exact IBU's in my beer.

DrJerryrigger said:

If you do a small test SMASH, try them as bittering too. You won't know exactly what the AA's are, but you can make get a good enough guess for most uses. I've never found it necessary to know the exact IBU's in my beer.

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Good point. I don't mean to say you need to know your IBUs exactly, just was pointing out that you don't have to know IBU's at all if you go for 0 minute additions. So you really have only one question to ask yourself as you smell the hops and think of the beer style you are making... "will these hops work in this style?" That is why I was suggesting making something like a pale ale.

So through asking a bunch of questions @ the brewery yesterday I think that I have it narrowed down. I think that they are either Simcoe or Centennial. Either one of which I'm gonna be stoked to have 11lbs of. Thanks to everyone that chimmed in!! Cheers!!!!

Long legs means more room for beer!

GiraffeBrew said:

So through asking a bunch of questions @ the brewery yesterday I think that I have it narrowed down. I think that they are either Simcoe or Centennial. Either one of which I'm gonna be stoked to have 11lbs of. Thanks to everyone that chimmed in!! Cheers!!!!

Long legs means more room for beer!

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either of those would be awesome for IPAs or pales no questions asked! great score.

OK, I have to ask. What in the world are you going to do with 11 POUNDS of hops? Do you have a way to store them under a vacuum or some other way that they will not become worthless by the time you use them all? Will you ever brew enough beer to use them all? Seems like a good time to be generous with your friends.

But, I also have to say congratulations on scoring the hops!

I've already broken them down into 44 4oz packages, vaccume sealed, and in the freezer. Group brews and lots of 10gal batches. Mmmmmmmm, triple IPA's............tasty!!

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Though I think that Triple IPA might just equal Barleywine.........and I'm ok w/ that.

Long legs means more room for beer!

Simcoe or Centennial? Eww. Those are nasty. Want my address? I'll take one for the team and brew with them for you.

Yep! Pretty gross. I've thought about just throwing them into the wood stove as not to endanger anyone that has good taste.

Long legs means more room for beer!