Hops Drying Concerns

[Kozwald]

Hopefully someone out there can help with an issue I keep having while drying my hops.
I just picked my Willow Creek hops and am in the process of using a food dehydrator to dry them. They started out with a great, fruity aroma but now I'm only getting fresh cut grass!!
I've got the dryer set low (about 90F) and the cones are still slightly wet.

Where is this smell coming from? Did I pick them too early??

This happened to me last year as well with my Cascade and Centennial hops.

 

[Kent88]

sub'd, carry on.

 

[GVH_Dan]

I wouldn't worry too much. That's most likely the Farnesene evaporating away.

Every have a "wet hopped" beer. They are often described as spicy but sometimes also called grassy. When the hops are thrown straight from the field into the kettle, all those oils are captured in the beer giving it a much different taste profile. When dried, a lot of those oils/aromas escape. Some we are sad to see go but others, like grassy, most are happy to see leave.

We use a low temperature drying process but try to keep it above 70F to drive off those grassy flavors.

 

[Kozwald]

I wouldn't worry too much. That's most likely the Farnesene evaporating away.

Every have a "wet hopped" beer. They are often described as spicy but sometimes also called grassy. When the hops are thrown straight from the field into the kettle, all those oils are captured in the beer giving it a much different taste profile. When dried, a lot of those oils/aromas escape. Some we are sad to see go but others, like grassy, most are happy to see leave.

We use a low temperature drying process but try to keep it above 70F to drive off those grassy flavors.

GVH_Dan,
Thanks for the information. My dehydrator only goes down to about 90F so I'm keeping it there. Last year I set the heat around 120 or 130 and I think that was too warm
Hopefully next week I'll be brewing with these hops. I'll keep my fingers crossed.