Motueka hop pellet smell ...are these stale?

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tyrub42

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Hi everyone,

I was gifted about 120g of motueka and planned to use them with Sabro in a NEIPA. They were vac sealed and kept in a fridge for a few months, and are 2020 pellets, so they're about a year old. However, the dude who gave them to me got them as a sample and wasn't sure how they were stored before he got them. I didn't think much of it, but the pellet aroma isn't quite what I was expecting. They had a bit of a grassy smell and a bit of that flintstones vitamin smell to them. I've gotten similar aroma in some varietals before (centennial and chinook come to mind), but I expected these to be cleaner and fruitier in aroma, and the aroma they had left me worried about using them in an otherwise clean and expensive beer. I used them in the whirl so far but I'm hesitant about the dry hop.

Just curious about people's experience with motueka pellets, and whether this is how they smell fresh, or if it sounds like they're stale. Thanks!!!
 
Yeah these haven't gotten to the stage of color changing or onion/cheese, just grassy. Maybe I'll use half and see how it goes
 
Motueka is a NZ hop, with Saaz heritage. It can go from lime, mojito, to citrus, grassy and slightly tropical when blended with other hops. So the grassy smell shouldn't be unusual, but it depends if that's the only thing you are picking up. It should smell pleasent, not oniony, garlicky, etc.
 
Motueka is a NZ hop, with Saaz heritage. It can go from lime, mojito, to citrus, grassy and slightly tropical when blended with other hops. So the grassy smell shouldn't be unusual, but it depends if that's the only thing you are picking up. It should smell pleasent, not oniony, garlicky, etc.

Yeah that did cross my mind...I guess I was just expecting the pellets to be pungent fruit, but you're probably right it's just how they smell. I'll see how they work in the NEIPA and report back 🍻🍻🍻
 
I think it's improtant to know that the hops we buy, will probably not be from the best farms/batches, etc. And to maximise their potential, we have to find and buy the freshest and of course decide not to brew with them, when they don't smell good from the pouch. I'll take a bit of green grassiness any day over onion, garlic and any other funky, cheesy smells you can find in hops.

If unsure whether to use in your NEIPA, which by default will be a more expensive beer ( and if some hop ruins it... ), maybe use the Motueka in a clean, crisp Pilsner or Blonde ale and see what they bring to the table. 120 gr should be enough for a 4.5% Pils - 60, 40 and 20 minutes additions and what's left of it, throw in at flameout.
 
Get a metal bottle of Bud, Miller, etc. Unscrew cap, add a few grams of hops nd put it in the fridge for a few days. Strain the hops out while pouring into a glass. You should get a decent idea about the hops.
 
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