Are my hops stale?

[esvoytko]

Hello all! Rookie brewer here who just received my first ever batch of ingredients. Because I am new and still in worry-wort (ha!) mode, I wanted to get some feedback on the freshness of my hops. They are a lot more straw-colored than I thought they'd be, but I don't know if that's normal.

These are Kent Goldings from HopUnion, just opened from a nitrogen-flushed bag. Ordered from Northern Brewer. That is a white plate for reference.

Is this what they're supposed to look like? Is it out of the ordinary to receive stale hops in a sealed bag? And can anybody elaborate on what they should smell like - all I've heard is that stale hops smell "cheesy," which is kind of vague.

Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

They look ok. I'm assuming they were vacuum sealed and tightly packed.

They should smell good. "Cheesy" is a great description of bad hops- if they smell that way, you'll know it. They shouldn't be very "grassy" smelling, but instead they should smell fresh and maybe a bit earthy/floral.

 

[DoctorMemory]

They should smell great and make you itch to brew something! If not, then they might be old, but I doubt it. NB does enough volume I can't imagine they'd have hops just sitting on a shelf for months. They look exactly like the EKG I used a couple of weeks ago, if that helps.

 

[iskuse]

They look fine to me. Before I ever seen them, I thought they should be really green and shaped like pinecones, Nothing like they really look like. The easiest way I can think of to describe the smell would be like sniffing an IPA. Very bright, fresh. maybe a little piney.

 

[sketerbuck]

If they were old the would smell like cheese and ass. Sounds like yours are fine.

 

[Old_mil_guy]

Red Green? I should find a pic of Harold for mine.

They look ok. I'm assuming they were vacuum sealed and tightly packed.

They should smell good. "Cheesy" is a great description of bad hops- if they smell that way, you'll know it. They shouldn't be very "grassy" smelling, but instead they should smell fresh and maybe a bit earthy/floral.

 

[esvoytko]

Thanks for the help everyone. I guess I was just expecting them to be much greener.

As for the scent, I can't say it is as bright, floral, or enjoyable as sniffing a good IPA. But I can't say it smells like "cheese and ass" either. Somewhere in between is okay I hope!

 

[unionrdr]

EKG should mainly smell like herbs & lemon grass. Just a touch of floral. The color looks about the same as my hop union EKG & Willamette looked...maybe a hair lighter. I got mine from Midwest & kept them in the freezer in zip lock freezer bags.