I shouldn't use these Cheesy Hops, right?

[akmolloy]

So my LHBS owner (who has tons of awards, including many for Lambics, has written for BYO, Zymurgy, etc., and I believe once on New England Brewer of the year), sold me cheesy hops for my lambic I'm brewing this Wednesday.

I knew from reading here and other places that you shouldn't use them, and I asked him more than once if he was sure, and if he would use them, and he absolutely said he would use them.

The were called "Choice Debb 0%" dried whole hops. They are currently in my garage and my goodness they REEK.

So I don't really want to use them. My question is would anyone else just use them, and maybe do a 4 hour (?!?) boil to get rid of the cheesyness? I might even try to bake them (at the risk of smelling up my entire house) and see if I can get rid of some of the odor.

If I decide not to use them, do I just use the lowest alpha hops I can find?

-Tony

 

[Revvy]

If you are doing a lambic you WANT to use the cheesy hops, and that's why the expert sold them to you.

 

[the_bird]

Pretty sure they want to be beyond the "cheesy" stage when you use them. My understanding has always been that old hops get cheesy when they age, but that will go away and at that point they're good for lambics.

 

[ChrisKennedy]

You don't want the aged hops to smell like much of anything. That is the point.

 

[krispy d]

sounds to me like you went to see Zocco...

 

[Munsoned]

My (confessed limited) understanding is that stale = good, cheesy = not good (or at least not good YET). I wouldn't want that taste/smell in my beer, regardless of how long you boil...

 

[akmolloy]

In the end, I found another source for some aged hops that weren't cheesy. I'm going to keep the cheesy ones in the garage until next year and hope for the best...

 

[the_bird]

Toss them in a paper bag (like, a brown lunch bag) and forget about them. Let 'em breathe.