My parents spent some time in Germany recently and brought me back a bag of loose leaf hops as a gift / memento.
Here's the package. All I know is what's on it:
According to Google Translate, the label just says "Hop Blossoms" and something about the dose being 1 tea-spoon per cup. I have no idea what they are intended for, but it seems like maybe tea?
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to add them to my next batch of German style beer. I only have 25 grams (0.88 oz), so this is not going to be the entire hop quantity for a batch. However, I have a few concerns:
My concerns:
- I have no idea what kind of hops these are. Does it matter or should I just chuck them in the boil?
- Will improper storage of hops cause them to impart off-flavors? Or will the just be less potent? I put them in the freezer, but obviously the bag is not vacuum sealed, and they were at room temperature for who knows how long.
- Is there any other possible concern? Is this possibly some translation issue and these aren't even the same kind of hops that are used for beer?