I think my LHBS sold me bad hops!

[kyleobie]

My Centennial hop plugs have a mild, vaguely cheesy aroma. I of course didn't open the vacumn seal until halfway through my boil. But they suck!

I had to go ahead and use them. Do you think this means my IPA is doomed? Together with my partial mashing problems this has been an awful brew day.

 

[Pappers_]

sorry about the bad day

 

[eschatz]

Yeah, those have some age on them. Hopefully the high AA of Centennial will cut through the cheese factor. I had an Arrogant Bastard clone that used cheese chinook hops that had a little funk on it but I still drank it. It wasn't perfect but wasn't that bad at all.

Bottom line. You made beer. You will drink it. Start planning the next batch and tell your LHBS they'll probably comp you.

 

[kyleobie]

Thanks. Will the age of the hops affect the flavor as much as the aroma? AND, if I dry hop with some fresh ones, can I salvage this guy?

I hate my LHBS. It's less expensive to order online for the same ingredients!

 

[kyleobie]

The wort smelled vaguely hoppy when I pitched, so I'm at least somewhat hopeful.

I'll be opening my hops before brewing from this point forward.

 

[weirdboy]

I do mise en place for all my brews. As part of that, I weigh out all my hops additions, finings, and any flavorings in advance and have them ready in separate containers so that all I have to do is toss them in at the appropriate times.

 

[kyleobie]

Well, so my LHBS told me a couple of weeks ago that hop plugs are supposed to smell that way because they're vacuum sealed. That's not intuitive to me, but hey. The hydro sample has the right amount of bitterness but not a lot of hop flavor. Still, I'm hopeful that with dry hopping that I will end up with a decent IPA. I'm planning to drink it young!

 

[david_42]

Definitely get some whole hops for dry hopping.

 

[kyleobie]

I ended up using 1 oz of Columbus pellets.

 

[Joos]

Well, so my LHBS told me a couple of weeks ago that hop plugs are supposed to smell that way because they're vacuum sealed. That's not intuitive to me, but hey. The hydro sample has the right amount of bitterness but not a lot of hop flavor. Still, I'm hopeful that with dry hopping that I will end up with a decent IPA. I'm planning to drink it young!

Hops are supposed to smell like cheese?Nitrogen is odorless.Thats some BS man.I would'nt go there anymore if I were you.

 

[kyleobie]

Thanks, yeah, the plan is to order online. To be fair, I didn't know what to expect from vacuum sealed plugs, but the smugness of their reply rubs me the wrong way. I asked for an ounce of hops to cover dry hopping and didn't get it.

 

[kyleobie]

Not even a month later, and I'm already eating my hat. As planned, I dry hopped it with 1 oz of Columbus and conditioned it for just one week. It's already fully carbed. It's missing some flavor complexity for sure, but the dry hopping really made this beer. No off flavors at all. I'm planning to drink it young.

Just goes to show: Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!

 

[chirs]

You're not the only one disappointed by the attitude at that LHBS.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Would highly suggest telling your LHBS to stock Brewcraft hops from now on. Never had an issue with their stuff (mostly pellets), and my current Devistation IPA (with 2 bags of Centennial, 1 of Magnum, all whole hop bags from Brewcraft) smells f***ing orgasmic.