Help Preserving with 5 lbs. of Cascade/Mt. Hood

twhitaker · 07-28-2008, 02:28 AM

A friend just gave me about 5 lbs. of hops (4 1 gallon zip lock bags full). He says 80% Cascade/20% Mt. Hood. These were from last season.

When I got to his house he'd pulled them out of the freezer and put them on the counter. They looked nice and smelled great - a little damp. and frozen in the center He said they had a little ice in them when he pull them out. He suggested just refreezing. I threw them in my freezer after a warm ride across town. They were still frozen in the center, but not around the outside. He said he sun-dried them before freezing.

Do you think refreezing will be a problem? Should I pull them out and redry them?

Thanks for your help!
Todd
Portland, Oregon

surfbrewer · 07-28-2008, 03:36 AM

I am no expert on this but it sounds like they were not completely dry when he froze them, otherwise they wouldn't have frozen solid. Ideally, you don't want any moisture in the hops when they are packaged and sealed.

A year in that state may have been a bit rough on them but if they have been frozen and don't have any musty, moldy, mildew smells they are probably alright. I would suggest drying them completely and then vaccum sealing them. I think that having them frozen as is could lead to freezer burn and give you potential off-flavors in your brews. Just my 2 cents.

twhitaker · 07-28-2008, 07:16 PM

It wasn't frozen solid or anything, I would describe it more as damp. Probably from the condensation in the bag thawing somewhat. I hops smelled great and looked pristine. I vacusealed about 5 - 4oz. bags from one of the bags. They had some moisture tho. Do you think the refreezing would harm them?

Thanks again - Todd

**david_42** · 07-28-2008, 08:52 PM

Refreezing is the way to go, the sooner the better.