When using pellets, I will smell them and make sure that color is still fairly green and not wilted looking. Other than that, how do you judge the quality of the pellets?
Smell and color are decent indicators, but it is also good to know when the hops were packaged (or when the package was opened), and how they were stored.
Any time I have had issues like this (including the last time) it was always with a package of hops that was not freshly opened. In most cases I remember, color was fine, and I did not notice any off-aromas by smelling.
But they may not have had the really bright in your face pungency of a freshly opened bag.
I tossed a couple ounces of centennial pellets recently because of this. They were kind of yellowed looking and smelled odd, not fresh. I’ve heard people mention ‘cheesy’ hops. Didn’t know what that meant before. It was a 1 lb bag I’d kept in the fridge not freezer, for about a year.
I used to keep 1 kg bags around for a while as well. Even in the freezer, seeled in a plastic container, I’m sure oxidation must have been a factor. Since the last time I experienced issues like this, I will only ever buy fresh smaller packages when I plan to use them.
One trick I learned at Hop & Brew school is to look at the surface of the pellets. If they’re shiny they were processed at too high a temp. Flavor, aroma, and storage life will be reduced.
Hmmm, I got a vacuum sealer about the time I stopped having this vegetal issue. Maybe that’s the ticket; cheesy old hops.
I have only gotten a vegetal flavor once and it was when I used whole centennial hops.
I’ll be the dissenter here and saying it’s not just old, oxidized hops, at least not with me.
Curveball, how about to strong of a boil? I noticed if I get above 25% boil off I get vegetal flavors as well. It doesn’t rear is head until the keg is carbed and cold.
I wanted to give a final update on how this beer turned out.
I followed the advice of Wahoo and added gelatin. THis was 3 days before the party. Day of, I transferred to a new keg. It did make a moderate improvement. I could still detect the off-flavor, but it was less pronounced, and my sensitivity to it was likely enhanced due to how it had tasted before.
The end result was that a small amount of the good hop flavor was also stripped by the gelatin, but in this case definitely an acceptable trade-off because the beer was drinkable.
So I served it along with three other beers to a crowd of about 20, and the keg was emptied completely. This IPA got the best reviews from among all four beers too.
Thanks Wahoo!!
I know this thread is old, but I wanted to jump in because I noticed that you were dryhopping with Columbus when you had this issue. I always get an unpleasant grassy or “green” flavor when I dryhop with Columbus. It conditions out with time, but I have just decided that I prefer Columbus as a whirlpool addition, rather than a dryhop.
I dry hop many, many batches with Columbus and haven’t had a problem.
I really think it is an issue of individual perception. Some people think Summit tastes like onions; others just taste citrus. I like Columbus as a bittering hop and late addition; I just perceive a rough, grassy flavor from it when I dry hop with it. Others don’t perceive the flavor that way.
Actually, I have learned that the onion flavor comes when they’re harvested too late. I have use many batches of Summit without that quality.
