So I've brewed this recipe (with a few minor tweaks here and there) 6 times now and I think I've somehow managed to make a batch that's probably going down the drain this time after the 5 earlier batches, which were all great. Basically, the beer is totally lacking in hop aroma and flavor and has a sort of musty/earthy smell and taste to it, which is fairly unpleasant.
This was my first time using the YCH LupulN2 cryo hops, and I'm strongly leaning towards this being the culprit. These were the newer pelletized version, and when I opened the bag, they had more of a brownish color and noticed they had a musty smell. It certainly didn't smell anything like I'd expect a 2X concentrated version of mosaic or citra to smell. If these were normal pellet hops, I probably would have tossed them and looked for something else to throw in, but since this was my first experience with cryo hops, I thought maybe this was normal and decided to go ahead and use them.
For those that have used this pellet version of the cryo hops from YCH before - does this sound normal, or did I get some bad hops? Below are some additional details about the recipe:
OG: 1.056 (Going for more of a pale ale version)
FG: 1.010
5lbs 2 row
5lbs Pale Ale Malt
1lb Flaked Barley
1lb Flaked Oats
1lb White Wheat
5oz Honey Malt
0.5oz Columbus @60min
1oz Citra Pellets Whirlpool
0.5oz Citra Cryo Pellets Whirlpool
1oz Mosaic Pellets Whirlpool
0.5oz Mosaic Cryo Pellets Whirlpool
1oz Galaxy Whirlpool
1oz Citra Pellets Dry Hop @48hr
0.5oz Citra Cryo Pellets Dry Hop @48hr
1oz Mosaic Pellets Dry Hop @48hr
0.5oz Mosaic Cryo Pellets Dry Hop @48hr
1oz Galaxy Dry Hop @48hr
As I mentioned, I'm strongly suspicious of the cryo hops that I used, given how they looked and smelled when I opened the package, but below are a few other changes I made that I can't rule out as playing a factor:
- Used Imperial Yeast Juice for the 1st time (Life was too busy to get time to make a starter this time - was hoping with the extra cell count this wouldn't be a big issue)
- New CO2 tank possibly contaminated? Had to get my tank recertified and chose to exchange it rather than wait a week for the recert at the local welding shop.
- Malt supplier different than previous batches, resulted in higher mash pH: I was targeting 5.38 mash pH, but ended up at 5.54 @10 min into the mash and added additional lactic acid to bring it down and measured 5.43 at the end of the mash (all room temp measurements)
- Used my Spiedel fermenter instead of corny keg with spunding to naturally carb as I have done in the past. This was mainly to try to get a full 5 gallons of finished beer for serving at a party this weekend (unfortunately, I ended up with no beer to serve

) Figured the little extra O2 exposure from force carbing wouldn't affect me with the beer planning on being served 14 days after brewing, but maybe this amplified the contaminated CO2 if that is actually a possibility?
Anyone have much experience with the pellet version of the cryo hops that they would mind sharing or other ideas for me?