I bought a pound of German Select hop pellets from NB (Hop Union bags) and when I opened them to use in an Ofest, they were super bright, deep green. They even turned the wort from a deep gold to a more muddled brown.
When i used cascade they were super green, even greener than my grass. When i added it into a SNPA clone it changed the color to like you said a muddy gold/brown. After fermentation and long secondary it cleared right up for me. Well i hope you the best, either way i think your ofest will turn out amazing.