Picked my 4th year cascades last weekend and have them drying on a window screen in my laundry room (like I have done for the previous years). The hops "seemed" ready to pick... Papery, not spongy, yellow glands previlant and sticky. But even when I broke some open while picking, they didn't seem to have as much of an aroma as I remembered from past years.
now while they are drying, there is no aroma again. In the past years, it hasn't been overwhelming of a smell, but you would definitly smell them when you walked into the laundry room.
Anyone else who has been picking hops notice a difference in the aroma of the drying hops from year to year?
I am thinking of making a starter size batch with these hops, to see how they come through in a beer, before assuming what flavor and aroma contributions they would make to a full 5 gal batch.