I hate throwing stuff in the trash

I hate throwing stuff in the trash.

An acquaintance gave me a bunch of whole leaf hops - still sealed in the original oxygen-barrier bags. He was cleaning out his refrigerator (kinda like a lawyer does during discovery). The good side is that they're all two years old, but at least they've been refrigerated all this time. The bad side is there's 10oz of Willamette, 4 oz of Cascade, and 2oz of Northern Brewer.

So I'd like you to vote on what I should do with them.


Candidate A - Throw them all in the boil kettle and call the batch "Who's Hoppy Now?"

Candidate B - Use them for dry hops. They're basically dead, so you won't taste any difference, but it might make you feel better....

Candidate C - Oh, get real - throw them in the trash.


Thank you for your support,

Candidate D: Dave Hennessey

 

Put them in a brown paper bag and stick them in a cabinet somewhere. In a year or two you'll think about making a lambic, and you'll thank me.

 

Do an English IIPA. Bitter with the NB, finish and dry hop with the willamette and cascades. If anyone says anything about the hop character or prominence being off, tell them, "Well, yeah, it's an ENGLISH IIPA." and try to make them feel bad about it.

 

If they have really been kept cold and sealed, they should have some decent flavor left. It would be better if they were left in the freezer but I don't think they will be bad. I would plan a recipe, open them up, and, if they smell okay, use them as late hops. You might want to have some backup hops on hand just in case they smell like feet.

 

Thank you for all your suggestions.

The subtle, yet complex characteristics of combining the three distinct hop varieties would have required a balancing complexity of the specialty grains. Flying Dog Brewery markets "Farmhouse IPA". Following their lead, I was about to throw a pound of chicken scratch (to add "notes of cracked corn and whole wheat") into the Mash Tun.

The result would have been a new entry in the BJCP Style Guide - Bier de Barnyard.

Then I opened one of the 2oz Cascade packages, and found no hint of Eau de Toe. In fact, it smelled pretty good, although a little weak compared to this year's crop. So I did a batch of American IPA today, and used it for 10-minute aroma, doubling the original recipe amount. I did get a little heavy-handed with the 30 minute hops, and plan to dry-hop with some of this year's Cascade in the secondary.

I hadn't noticed before, but all of these 2-year-old hops came in re-sealable (like zip-lock) oxygen-barrier bags! So I can toss the hops, re-use the bags, and feel good about reuse-recycle-repurpose.

I'm saving the environment - 5 gallons at a time!

Dave

 

skunky dried hops go well in a lambic? I had no idea.

 

yepper. Lambics are on my short list.

 

brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc

Check this out. Depending on how old and the variety, they might still be good to use.

 

Dude, 10 oz. of Williamette? Nice. Milds, bitters, stouts, porters...have fun!