Hops.

I just wrote a very long and involved review of the above-pictured hops.  Somehow it was deleted without a draft being saved.  It took me about two hours to draft the first post, but since it was lost, here's a long story made short:

2006 New Zeland Pacific Gem, 16.3% AAU - Stinky.  Smells like garbage.  Looks like gruel to boot.

2006 U.K. First Gold, 6.8% AAU - Better.  Still smells like spinach.

2006 Belgian Kent Goldings, 5.3% AAU - The best so far.  Smells like tea.  Would actually consider putting it in my mouth.

2005 British Target, 13.15% AAU - Again, no good.  The high-alpha hops have, predictably, fared the worst.

2005 German Spalt Select, 4.8% AAU - The best of the bunch.  Smells like a good green tea, or the inside of a German restaurant (in a good way).

All of these hops in dry form smell of cheese and stinky feet.  I attribute this entirely to their age.  I purchased them all a couple of years ago, so the fact that they are so old is due only to me - not to Seven Bridges Organic.

While brewing Drunken St. Nick this weekend I used three hops in various stages - pellet, stale whole and fresh whole.  Each was as distinct from the other as could be.  I was actually very surprised at the amount of variation when each was compared side-by-side.

Pellet hops - "Rough" and industrialized.  Despite their ease of use, lack the "organic" qualities of fresh, whole flower hops.

Stale whole hops (just a few months old, but out of their vacuum pack) - Well, stale.

Fresh whole hops - Perhaps not surprisingly - the way hops should be.  Fresh. Delicate.  Floral.  Aromatic.  Like mowing fresh grass in the summer compared with raking dead leaves in the fall.

Lesson learned:  Always - Always - use fresh, whole hops in any beer where hop flavor is any part of the desired result.

Note:  St. Bernardus Christmas Ale was used in the drafting of this post.  It is brilliant.  Easily one of my favorite beers.