Mixed up hops

[IrishBrewer74]

So I made a 10 gallon batch of a pale ale base. I split it into 2 5 gallon batches with the idea of then dry hopping one with Simco and one with Citra. I had an eight once package of each. And everything went fine.

Where is the problem you might ask? Well I package the remaining hops in Ziploc bags and was specific to set each one in a spot so I knew which one was which. I turned around to find my ever so helpful three-year-old holding both bags saying here daddy I help you. So now I have six ounces of each hops but have no idea which bag is which.

So I'll ask the obvious yet probably impossible question… is there a way based upon visible appearance to tell a difference between these two hops in pellet form? The Citra hops actually look darker, I think. But now I'm not sure.

I guess worst case scenario, I brew another 5 gallons using only one, and will have to wait until it's done in order to tell which one is which. This is my first time brewing with Citra but from what I've read it's very hard to mistake it for Simco.

 

[nukebrewer]

You could smell them and cross reference what smell to the description of the hop's aroma from an online source.

 

[IrishBrewer74]

That was my first thought but they are both so strong right from the bag. I was thinking maybe dropping a few pellets of each into some hot water in a cup and covering it. The idea is to release a little aroma into the headspace and see if I can tell the difference. That's a lot of faith in my sniffer .

 

[nukebrewer]

It's worth a shot. You could try the same with tasting them, too.