Storing hops - Barrier bags and sealer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

WBC

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
2,164
Reaction score
11
Location
La Puente, CA
Does anyone seal their hops in barrier bags (mylar)? I am looking for a good source for bags and a vacuum sealer that works with these bags.
 
I posted something similiar to this a week or so ago. Sourcing the mylar bags retail will be tough. They are usually for ESD sensitive equipment, and carry a steep price tag. The consensus was to contact your LHBS and see if they stock them and if you can buy direct from them.

I decided on a vacuum sealer and small cooler. I vacuum seal my hops in 1 oz pouches, label them appropriately, and then store them in the cooler. The cooler sits in my freezer and keeps the light out and maintains a nice steady temperature.

Others suggested using a sandwich baggy and then putting them into a vacuum pouch.
 
The problem with regular bags is that they do not keep out oxygen and keep hop flavor in the bag. I have noticed that even when I double bag the hops loose their pungency. With hop prices being this high we really need to protect our hops (GOLD).
 
I agree. Mylar is damned expensive... Also, it seals at a different temperature than the plastic vacuum systems, so you may be looking at a completely different setup
 
My foodsaver reseals mylar bags so I assume they all will. I noticed that zip lock freezer bags do a better job than regular (less hop smell when I open the freezer so it's not scientific). When I used the foodsaver and their regular bags, I can't smell any hops in the freezer. I think the mylar is overkill unless you're storing for 3 years.
 
Bobby_M said:
My foodsaver reseals mylar bags so I assume they all will. I noticed that zip lock freezer bags do a better job than regular (less hop smell when I open the freezer so it's not scientific). When I used the foodsaver and their regular bags, I can't smell any hops in the freezer. I think the mylar is overkill unless you're storing for 3 years.

That's it Bobby, I want to be able to not worry for 3 years because I am growing hops now. I also want to be able to reseal when I open 1 LB bags into 2 or 4 oz bags too. If nitrogen makes a big difference then I would get a cylinder of it and purge the bags just before vacuum sealing.

I think this hop problem we are all experiencing may well last until 2010 and want to be as good as I can be to the hops I already have or will have.
 
Most food savers will not vacuum the air out of the mylar bags, they will however seal them, most of the HB distributors just squeeze all the air out they can and seal the mylar.
You can purge with Co2 and then seal in mylar for long term storage.
The bags are expensive, the pellet size bags will run you from 25 to 30 cents each.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention the trick to the mylar bags is to insert a coffee stirring straw in the opening to give the air a place to flow. When it goes to seal, it just melts it shut.
 
OK then I think I will just buy a impulse sealer because I know they work with mylar.
 
I may be off base... but wouldn't any vacuum seal bag need to be an O2 barrier? I mean if O2 can get in, eventually the bag would no longer have a negative pressure in it, no more vacuum...
 
NoClueBrewMaster said:
If you are going to use an impulse sealer, are you going to just flood the pouch with Nitrogen?

Yes and then seal. CO2 was suggested but I don't know how good that would work. I beleive that nitrogen is what is used to preserve coffee and potato chips when barrier bags are used for packaging.
 
Has anyone tried storing hops in mason jars? Perhaps the vacuum sealing techniques with preserves could be used (i.e. heating up the jar and sealing while its hot). I'm just brainstorming here. Maybe someone has tried this?
 
I use the Food Saver canisters for my pellets and loose hops. You can suck the air out of the canister and toss it in the freezer, then open it up to remove what you need and reseal it for the next brew. They also make a lid that fits onto standard Mason jars that allows you to suck the air out.

I like these options far better than using the bags, since I never know what quantity I'm going to need for a recipe four months from now, so it doesn't make sense to spend the time apportioning the hops in 1oz bags or 1/2oz bags when I can just toss them in a canister and be done.

I have some more of these lids on my Christmas list, and have been pushing them with the family!
 
I bought about 5 lbs from hopsdirect, split them into 6x6 mylar bags (ebay apr $.20 / each shipped). I could not get the bags to evacuate with a cheap old foodsaver, so I put those bags into foodsaver material, folded the mylar over, evcuated and sealed the foodsaver material. They came out as hard as a rock, similar to the way they felt when they were shipped.

There is youtube vid about sealing mylar bags with a foodsaver, but I couldn't get it to work (my foodsaver is really old craigslist special). I didn't try the coffee straw idea, but I might next time. The mylar bags wll definately seal with the foodsaver.
 
How about just storing bagged hops in a spare corny, purged with CO2?

But I just use my foodsaver, and freeze them. Seems to do the trick for me, and I have hops 3 years old in my deep fridge.
 
We vacuume seal on a regular basis. The system I use to seal the dehydrated fruits and veggies from our farm as well as hops I purchase in bulk for brewing is the place them into a ziplock bag and then place the ziplock bag into the plastic vacuume bag. This gives you protection in the event that you lose the seal on the vacuume bag. Mylar is nice but pricey & not necessary unless you plan on storing something for the very longterm (5>years). I use a commercial grade machine from Cabellas and you can also find them at Tractor Supply or a number of farm supply stores. Personally not crazy about the Foodsavers brand. You purchase the bags in bulk rolls and cut to size. Montanaandy
 
Back
Top