hoptea instead of dryhopping with old hops

[klinus]

hi!

I have half a bag of citra that I'm a little worried about the quality of... I bought it in january and it spent its first month on the balcony (and the swedish winter wasnt as cold as you might think - about refrigerator temps). When I realized that was stupid, I moved them to the freezer.
I've smelled them, and they dont actually smell bad, just not as much as they did when they were new.

I want to use them for dryhopping, but I dont wanna ruin the beer if the hops are bad.

So I thought, if I make an hop tea with a french press, as I've read here that others have used instead of dryhopping, I should be able to to smell/taste the tea first, right? And if it seems good, it would be fine for the beer?

Or should I just stop being so cheap and throw the damn bag in the trash?

 

[fmr_army]

I don't have experience with making a hop tea, but I have a lot of experience with being cheap. DON'T THROW THE HOPS AWAY! Give them a chance - you really have nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

I'd love to hear how the tea works out for you - I have a dread of dryhopping and would love an alternative.

 

[masonsjax]

Unless they smell like cheese, you can safely use them without worry of ruining your beer. Hop tea is going to have a completely different impact than dry hopping does. IME, hop tea adds a lot of flavor, some bittering, and minimal aroma, while dry hopping is all about the aroma. It must have to do with the small amount of water involved, but I had hoped for a massive aroma boost but the main contribution was flavor (same with hop stands). So far the only way I've found to get that aroma I like is copious dry hopping at around 70F.