Quick, what do I do with these hops??

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BryanEBIAB

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jun 15, 2021
Messages
92
Reaction score
46
Location
Blue Point, NY
Okay, so I’m currently mashing and my first hop addition is in about 45 minutes. My friend just dropped off 1.5oz of mystery hops that his friend harvested a couple months ago. They appear dry, still whole, stored in a Tupperware (like Chinese food soup comes in) and I’m told lived in the freezer these last few months.

Knowing what I know about them, what is the best use for these hops? They could be stale. They could be not enough. I’m totally okay taking a risk just to see what happens. My recipe usually calls for 1.5oz Mt. Hood for 60 min and another 1.5oz Mt. Hood for 15 min.

I’m gonna do *something* with them soon so please give me your thoughts quickly! Thanks in advance!
 
Here’s how they look.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 16
I'd personally throw them away. If you're going to use them, check how they smell first. If they smell nice, throw them into the boil late or whirlpool.
 
I should have said: they smell good but not very strong. Curiously, although the smell is not strong even up close, I can quickly smell them from several feet away, as soon as I open the lid.
 
I was told, “they’re a mix of whatever grows well in New York. I think cascade?” These were grown in Queens. I have to use them, just to say I did. If they’re going to be weak, I’ll do as GnomeBrewer suggests and throw them in late on top of my normal additions.
 
Might not want to use entire "normal hop additions" along w homegrown hops.

I have a lot of homegrown cascade, looks good, does not smell that strong, but it does add quite a bit of flavor and bitterness, along w a hint of chlorophyll & grass. Overall quite good, but at first I underestimated strength and made some pretty hop forward beer with them, even a little more than intended.
 
This recipe might benefit from a little more hops so erring on the side of ‘too much’ is fine by me. This is going to be more of a “let’s see what happens” batch rather than a “gonna target X IBUs” batch. I’m excited—thanks for the guidance everyone, as always!
 
I'd stick 'em in a SMaSH, so you can pick out any character they might bring to the party. Use half at 30 mins and the other half at 5 mins.
 
Back
Top