Best use for unknown hops?

[Cazamodo]

Found a bag of 250gish of hops in my freezer, in a completely unmarked package. They must of been in there for about 6 months, but I have completely forgotten what they could be.

[boingy]

I guess it depends on how much you enjoy trusting to fate.

I'd have no hesitation in assuming an AA of 5% and doing a single hop brew with them. Something like a 4.5% classic English Ale. My biggest worry would be that it will turn out to be the best beer ever and that I could not reproduce it. It's only beer. If it turns out too bitter or not bitter enough it's not the end of the world.

If you want to be more cautious, roll 'em and sniff 'em to see if that gives you any clues then use them just for aroma.

If you are a control freak and need to know everything to the 2nd decimal place about all your ingredients you should give them away (and maybe you have the wrong hobby)...

[Cazamodo]

Thats some good advice. I was thinking to just assume a round figure and use them as bittering hops. In fact I could probably use up some left overs and throw its all together and hope for the best. An excuse to get another beer on before xmas!

Oh and I do like to be precise, have everything planned out and layed out exactly how it should be. Until brew day when it all goes out the window and I somehow manage to fumble through, and try to remedy any disasters!

[jmc]

Why not make a hop tea with them and another one with same dosage with a known hop?

You might get rough idea whether AA% is high / low and whether the taste is harsh/soft.

Good luck with your brew.

[timbo41]

Smoke 'em....you might get lucky
As you don't know a.a% probably best to use as late aditions,as most do for wilds. Difficult then to replicate,but could go down in brewing history..bit like a fishermans tale.." it was this big,honestly ".

[phatboytall]

I'd brew a 5.5% ESB/American style Pale ale with a good chunk of crystal, maybe Fullers ESB (about 40IBU?) and assume they are about 6-7%AA, if they turn out to be Fuggles you you will have a malty complex boozey wonder, if they are 18% Appollo hops you will have the makings of an epic US IPA!

Then play guess the hop with your friends, after teasing them all day you can announce you "dont know"