I have been meaning to dry hop my IPA but ran out of time tonight. I left them out to warm up before dry hopping to warm up the oils. If I wait until the morning, is there any harm to the hops, or do they need to stay cool in the fridge or freezer?
Can hops stay at room temp?
- Thread starter trevorc13
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Overnight should be fine. They can oxidize faster at room temps, but I doubt you'll have much of that overnight, that being said, how hard would it be to just put them in the freezer overnight
bgrayson726
Well-Known Member
It depends on how long they are room temp. Obviously their shelf life is longer at colder temps, but I've kept hops at room temperature for a few days and they turned out fine.. I also kept hops stashed away (forgotten about) for a month or so and they lost all flavor (i tasted it) and aroma.
To RMitch: My hops that I forgot about were in a vacuum sealed bag and they lost everything... I'd suggest just putting them in the fridge or freezer if you have the room
To RMitch: My hops that I forgot about were in a vacuum sealed bag and they lost everything... I'd suggest just putting them in the fridge or freezer if you have the room
You could just remove them about 30 minutes before you dry hop, right? I'd imagine they'd be fully "thawed" by then. I'm pretty methodical and don't like to leave anything to chance. A compromise could be putting them in the fridge if you really don't wanna throw them into the freezer.
No! Always keep your hops in the freezer!
(overnight is fine
)
(overnight is fine
)
superjunior
Well-Known Member
not true
I think boiling it would be overkill, plus I would guess that the heat from boiling may effect the hops taste(edit that is change not ruin). I would say just dunk it into some sanitizer along with the scissors you'll use to open the bag. That should be more than adequate.
superjunior
Well-Known Member
the purpose of dry hopping is for aroma, not taste. infection from hops just doesn't happen but sanitizing the scissors is always a good idea
I've been keeping my sealed pouches (the lil 1oz gas purged ones)of hops in the butter drawer (with cover) on the fridge door. Real good new GE fridge that'll keep something frozen that you put in there to thaw! It's been great so far. I think it'll be fine for the time it'll take to get to the dry hop faze...:rockin:
Hops are a natural preservative. Sanitize your bag, don't worry about your hops, unless you dropped them in fresh grain or cow manure.
Why? I've never heard that adding dryhops at warm temperatures is better. Can you explain why?
I toss them in, right out of the freezer into the beer. (Gently). The hops will thaw in the 65 degree beer.
jwplessner
Well-Known Member
I remember a hop expert on the basicbrewing.com webcast recommending that you do it, but he doesn't specify dry hopping vs. boil.
September 8, 2005 episode. He recommends bringing them out of cold store 24 hours before use to "get rid of the undesirable hop oils which evaporize [sic] by warming up."
September 8, 2005 episode. He recommends bringing them out of cold store 24 hours before use to "get rid of the undesirable hop oils which evaporize [sic] by warming up."
OP
OP
trevorc13
Well-Known Member
Gerard Lemons spoke about this in a podcast of Basic Brewing Radio:
http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr09-01-05.mp3
or
http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr09-08-05.mp3
He actually suggested making a hop tea before dry hopping, to get the oils in the beer easier. I'm sure that the oils will still get into your beer straight out of the fridge, but I think his idea is that the warm oils will be extracted from the hop easier, thus less time dry hopping. I have made a hop tea with all of my ipa's, although this time I just dropped in the pellets because of the small one gallon jugs. Making a hop tea with 2 ounces of hops (.5 oz in this case) is more like making a hop mush, and I wanted to make sure I got everything in there. Pellets compared to the tea is waaaay easier.
samc
Well-Known Member
BS alert, LOL at Mr Lemons.
What happens to hops after they are picked in the field? Do they get tossed into the freezer on site and magically transport themselves into your home freezer? The hops spend a lot of time at non freezing temps and any oils that he claims are undesirable have a lot of time to dissipate or off gas. I take my hops out and weigh and bag them for dry hopping, and by the time they are ready to go, they are not frozen in the least.
I am pretty happy with my dry hopping results and I imagine most HBT'ers are as well.
What happens to hops after they are picked in the field? Do they get tossed into the freezer on site and magically transport themselves into your home freezer? The hops spend a lot of time at non freezing temps and any oils that he claims are undesirable have a lot of time to dissipate or off gas. I take my hops out and weigh and bag them for dry hopping, and by the time they are ready to go, they are not frozen in the least.
I am pretty happy with my dry hopping results and I imagine most HBT'ers are as well.
McGarnigle
Well-Known Member
Whatever else has been said here, I would point at that kits such as Brewer's Best and True Brew include packets of hops and they are not typically refrigerated (at least not at my LHBS). That may not be best practice, but hops aren't highly perishable.
The LHBS I go to (JW Dover) keeps the hops in a fridge,as they do with the yeast. Unless it's in a kit. They smelled great when I cut open the pouch.
OP
OP
trevorc13
Well-Known Member
Those are generally vacuum sealed for longevity and are fine at room temps. I should have clarified that I took about .5 oz out of a vacuum sealed package and stored them in aluminum foil until ready. I should have asked how long they can stay out in contact with air at room temp.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
So if you open the original vacuum sealed pouch, pull what you need out, then vacuum seal them again, are they good in the fridge, or is it best/better to put them into the freezer? I've been keeping my pellet hops in the fridge (the LHBS keeps them in a fridge) so far. I do make sure to vacuum seal the hop bag again (using a larger vacuum bag to place the reflective bag into) before putting them back into the fridge.
I did just put all my vacuum packed pellet hops into the freezer. Since enough people say they freeze theirs, I'll assume that freezing pellet hops won't do harm. Same is true with whole hops, right?
Side question... With hops being a natural preservative, and all, what's the chance of pellet, or whole dried, hops getting mold on them if vacuum packed and in the fridge? I'm going to assume that the chance is pretty much 0 once you put them into the wort at boil. What about when you dry hop? I've not dried hopped yet, but it's something I'm interested in trying with some future brews...
I did just put all my vacuum packed pellet hops into the freezer. Since enough people say they freeze theirs, I'll assume that freezing pellet hops won't do harm. Same is true with whole hops, right?
Side question... With hops being a natural preservative, and all, what's the chance of pellet, or whole dried, hops getting mold on them if vacuum packed and in the fridge? I'm going to assume that the chance is pretty much 0 once you put them into the wort at boil. What about when you dry hop? I've not dried hopped yet, but it's something I'm interested in trying with some future brews...
So then how to sanitize the bag dip it in Star San solution?
Then hops go inside then toss into secondary?
UnchartedBrews
Member
If you don't have a vacuum sealer and have some left over hops (pellet), should you still put them in the freezer with a bag clip or something similar?
If I remember correctly, you said you wrapped them in some foil? If so, then I'd just spray the out side of the foil with Star San before you open it.
Gordzilla
Well-Known Member
Ive been brewing from kits, im new and its a great way to get started. Should i be refrigerating my hops when the kits show up?
SumnerH
Well-Known Member
Yes. Vacuum sealing is wildly overrated.
Freezing is far more important than vacuum sealing; hops in an otherwise unsealed paper bag in the freezer will lose about 15% of their alpha acids after a year (if you shrink-wrapped them, it'd be 10%; shrink-wrapping is really pretty immaterial to long-term storage if you keep them cold).
Shrink-wrapped hops at room temperature will lose about 45-50% of their alpha acids in a year (again showing that shrink-wrapping matters only in the margins; storage temperature is by far the most important factor in hop storage).
There's a calculator here that you can use:
http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16&u=eng
The real takeaway is that by far the most important thing you can do to preserve your hops is to keep them in the freezer.
Gordzilla
Well-Known Member
so i should be freezing my hops in their vac sealed bags....off to the freezer i go...quality in quality out right?
SumnerH
Well-Known Member
Yes. Unless the freezer is full, keep all your hops in the freezer. It's by far the most important thing you can do to keep them fresh.
If you have a vacuum sealer and are keeping things more than a month, go ahead and seal them; it's probably not worth buying a sealer just for that, though, since it only extends the life very slightly to have the vaccum sealed and frozen vs. just frozen.
