Brownish powdery Kent Golding pellet hops--normal?

Greetings!

I need a second opinion on some pellet hops that I recently purchased on-line from a homebrew shop. The hops were of the Kent Golding variety, and were imported from the UK by the homebrew shop. When I received the hops the color was totally brown/yellow and the pellets themselves were crumbly and powdery. I didn't open the bag so I don't know what they smell like. A week or so later I ordered the same variety of hops from the same on-line shop and they were more green-ish and not nearly as crumbly. (I'm attaching a picture to this post so you can see what I mean. Notice the color difference and difference in texture. The Northern Brewer pellets at the top of the picture serve merely as a contrast and are green and firm, kind of what I expect "healthy" pellets to look like).

I wrote the homebrewshop for an explanation for the color/shape differnce and they wrote back something to the effect of "especially with English hops there is a drying/oxidation method used during processing which can bring out strong brown, dried leaf, and soil-like colors... depending on the lot, Kent Golding hops may smell like straw, dried grass, soil, or cigars. This is perfectly normal for this variety of hops and is nothing to get worked up about."

I just got started with homebrew so I don't have any experience in this area? So what do you experts think--are the hops I received normal, or should I send them back? Does anybody else have experience with Kent Golding pellet hops?

Hop pellets shouldn't be brown unless they're old and/or have been stored incorrectly.

If your shop doesn't think it's anything to get worked up about, they should have no problem replacing them.

Let the smell be your guide. I've had batches of hops the were slightly browned but not to the degree difference in your picture.

You will know immediately by the smell if you want that in your beer.
Old oxidized hops are very cheesy in nature. Foot like or vaguely offensive.

Earthy, herbal and some grass notes are normal.

I would not put those in my beer. Send them back.

I was afraid to open the package before, but I finally did today. Wow, one wiff and I gagged. I understand what you mean by the cheese smell. Like hoppy rancid cheese. Well, I suppose that this was a good experience in a way because now I know what rancid hops smell like firsthand. BTW, the store offered to exchange the hops, so that is settled now. Thank you everyone for your input!

Dude,
You got those from Advanced Brewing, didn't you? I'm not surprised they sent you something bad. I've been burned by them before..

I stored an opened bag of centennial in my freezer for a couple of months and went to use them. Had a slight aroma of cheese. I would not use them.

I CERTAINLY would not use the hops you've shown, even without smelling them!

Send the store a picture and ask for a redo.