Mixed up hops, now what?

[TallDan]

A little over a month ago, I brewed and had about 1.5oz of Cascade hop pellets leftover that i put in a small mylar bag in the freezer.

A little over a week ago, I brewed and had 1oz of Amarillo and .5oz of Citra pellet hops that I set aside for dry hopping, put them in a small mylar bag in the freezer.

Of course, I didn't label either bag. I THINK I know which is which, but I'm not really sure.

So, now I'm getting close to when I'm looking to dry hop, and I'm not sure what to do. I've smelled each bag of hops quickly and they smell quite similar, so I'm not sure how I can tell them apart.

I thought about making a little bit of hop tea with a few pellets to see if i can tell which is which, but since those hops are all related, I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell the difference there either.

I'm also considering just dry hopping with all three ounces. I'll know exactly what i dry-hopped with then. The beer in question is an american wheat beer, so that would be a bit more dry-hop than i was really going for, but wouldn't be completely out of place.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Pictures of Nelson pointing and saying "haha!"?

 

[1977Brewer]

.75 oz from each? I can smell Cascade a mile away, fly me in and I'll diagnose it for you otherwise.

 

[iijakii]

Eh - they're similar enough to not matter really.

 

[agrazela]

Can you tell if one bag has two different sizes and/or two slightly different colorations of pellets?

Or just do it all. If a little is good...

 

[wardens355]

I find that rubbing a pellet between my fingers and breaking it up, then smelling, gives a better feel for aroma. Maybe you can better distinguish that way. Or maybe you do it and pick the one you think would be most pleasing for whatever you are brewing.

 

[joebob296]

If there in separate bags just weigh them. You know what portions you had. Problem solved.

 

[TallDan]

.75 oz from each? I can smell Cascade a mile away, fly me in and I'll diagnose it for you otherwise.

Yeah, thing i don't like about that plan is that I still sort of have the same problem, not sure which is which, I'll just have half as much.

Can you tell if one bag has two different sizes and/or two slightly different colorations of pellets?

Or just do it all. If a little is good...

Didn't really consider visual inspection. That might work, but seems like a longshot.

 

[GHBWNY]

A little over a month ago, I brewed and had about 1.5oz of Cascade hop pellets leftover that i put in a small mylar bag in the freezer.

A little over a week ago, I brewed and had 1oz of Amarillo and .5oz of Citra pellet hops that I set aside for dry hopping, put them in a small mylar bag in the freezer.

Of course, I didn't label either bag. I THINK I know which is which, but I'm not really sure.

So, now I'm getting close to when I'm looking to dry hop, and I'm not sure what to do. I've smelled each bag of hops quickly and they smell quite similar, so I'm not sure how I can tell them apart.

I thought about making a little bit of hop tea with a few pellets to see if i can tell which is which, but since those hops are all related, I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell the difference there either.

I'm also considering just dry hopping with all three ounces. I'll know exactly what i dry-hopped with then. The beer in question is an american wheat beer, so that would be a bit more dry-hop than i was really going for, but wouldn't be completely out of place.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Pictures of Nelson pointing and saying "haha!"?

If you can't tell which is which from smelling the raw hops in their most concentrated form, I wouldn't worry about the potential *difference* switching them might make after being diluted in several gallons of beer.

 

[TallDan]

I think I've got them sorted out based on a few things.

*Appearance: taken out of the bags and inspected, it does look like one bag had mixed hops. There is some (very slight) color difference in one bag and the other all looked the same.

*Smell: While they smell similar, one bag was much stronger smelling than the other, and I'd expect the Citra/Amarillo mix to smell more strongly than the Cascade. My wife also really thought that the Citra/Amarillo smelled like Citra. (I trust her sense of smell, but not her knowledge of hop varieties, Citra is probably the only one she could have a chance of picking out of a lineup.)

*Weight: There was 1.5oz of hops in one bag and 1.6oz in the other. When I put the Citra/Amarillo in the bag, i weighed the appropriate amount of each hop and put it in the bag. The Cascade was what was left in a larger bag after i had removed a measured amount. In other words, it's much more likely that the bag with exactly 1.5oz would be Citra/Amarillo.

Any one of these really isn't convincing enough to me on it's own, but all three point in the same direction, so I'm pretty convinced.

 

[cannman]

Use them all in combo at flame out for some added flare to your next IPA

 

[PLOVE]

Who doesn't like a "leftover"-IPA. Not great if you're hoping to replicate, but 5 gallons of superhopped craziness rarely fails to please IMHO.
P

 

[AK7007]

I'm also considering just dry hopping with all three ounces. I'll know exactly what i dry-hopped with then.

Answered your own question I think.