Hop shelf life.
- Thread starter benzy4010
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How are they sealed? Are they in the original hopunion foil bags? Those are either purged with N2 or sealed under vacuum, so they should last a very long time in the freezer. If you've opened and resealed them in, say freezer baggies, they won't last nearly as long. In order to prevent oxidation, you really need to have them vacuum sealed with something like a foodsaver system.
Sounds like you're right, they probably will turn out to be original packaging. If so, quite a while. Months without losing any alpha acid potency. After that, you do see a slight decline in alphas, but there are good calculators online as long as you're working with unopened, vacuum sealed or N2 purged FOIL packets.
If they're just in plastic bags individually sealed, though, they've been split up from bales or pounds of hops, and won't last nearly as long even unopened.
If they're just in plastic bags individually sealed, though, they've been split up from bales or pounds of hops, and won't last nearly as long even unopened.
william_shakes_beer
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OK, I'm planning on a series of smash brews this fall and wanted to buy a pound of hops pellets to ensure I get the same hops harvest for the malt portion of the smash. 16 oz will probably last me 12 brews or so, which is a year. Does this mean I should bite the bullet and buy 16 1 OZ packets VS a pound packet? My LHBW stocks Hopunion if it matters.
zachattack
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You can always buy a vacuum sealer, you might find other uses for it!
OP
OP
benzy4010
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Got three different hops from three diff sources and one was frozen ad is going to measure out and sent to me revacumed sealed. Was frozen in a vacuumed sealed package but the others are in their own sealed packages
mewithstewpid
Well-Known Member
meh, ive had mine in the freezer after opening for a year now and they are fine.
i think they last a longer than people give them credit for. at least in the freezer.
i think they last a longer than people give them credit for. at least in the freezer.
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
I think I'll buy the pound package and keep the unused portion in a zlock in the freezer and see what happens. I'll report back in a year.
MachineShopBrewing
Well-Known Member
I buy 5-10 lbs of pellets every year from online sources at harvest time. I store them in the original packaging until I open them. Then I store them in quart mason jars and give them a CO2 flush every time I open them to take some out. This has preserved them for over a year just fine. I was not happy with the results I was getting storing them in ziploc bags. They were still getting oxidized, and vacuum sealing them every time I take some out was more of a pain in the ass than the jars as I tend to brew quite often.
MachineShopBrewing
Well-Known Member
It depends on which hop and where you get them. Columbus is a good cheap bittering hop that you can find online in the $7.99 range per pound. Most range from $8.99-$15 per pound depending on variety.
I have mine in pint mason jars after I open them in the freezer. Am I reading this correctly where people are saying I should be pumping some CO2 in there every time I open them? Because I open them every once in a while to take a sniff (can't help myself 
). They won't be in my freezer though for more than 6 months at a time after inital opening. Thoughts?
). They won't be in my freezer though for more than 6 months at a time after inital opening. Thoughts?Try hopsdirect.com or labelpeelers.com . That's where I just ordered a few pounds from!
Freshops.com is also a reputable vendor. They technically sell in ounce bags, and only whole flowers, but their prices are reasonable and they have difficult to get hops in stock (amarillo, centennial, and simcoe).
BrewinHooligan
Well-Known Member
Another vendor that I have been very happy with prices and fast shipping is yakimavalleyhops.com. 2012 crop is on pre-sale right now.
Thanks for the tip! Great prices on leaf hops!
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
And that's just fine for those of us that keg and have a tank of co2 hanging around. What about the rest of us? Will mason jarts keep them better than zlocks? I assume they're more air tight.
I keep the sealed pouches of hops in a zip lock freezer bag in the top off the freezer. I have a small shelf area above the icemaker that keeps them from getting squished or worse on the regular shelves.
They've lasted months in good condition this way. No need for getting fancy. I used some NZ hops I had stored this way a couple days ago that'd sat a couple months since being purchased. Fresh as can be.
They've lasted months in good condition this way. No need for getting fancy. I used some NZ hops I had stored this way a couple days ago that'd sat a couple months since being purchased. Fresh as can be.
BigJim_inFLA
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I keep my hops in quart mason jars that I vacuum seal. I don't use CO2. FoodSaver has an attachment for mason jars, and I can quickly re-seal if I only use a portion of a jar.
I forgot about seeing that mason jar rig on TV. How well has it been working for you?
MachineShopBrewing
Well-Known Member
I would highly recommend making the investment in a small CO2 setup even if you don't keg. There are so many uses for it other than kegging that are critically important to beer quality and shelf life. Flushing carboys, bottles, racking lines etc...
I have a dedicated 5 lb tank with regulator that I put a splitter on. One of the lines has a ball lock fitting for flushing kegs and the other line just has a picnic tap on the end for flushing everything else. If you keep an eye on CL, you can often find deals. Especially around the end of the college year. You can often find a fridge/CO2 setup for $100 bucks or so that someone was using as a commercial beer kegerator. Then you can sell or keep the fridge and you have your CO2 setup. I have done that many times to accumulate various pieces for my brewery. Find a package deal with one item that you want and sell the rest. Often you get the item you wanted for free or little money that way.
BigJim_inFLA
Well-Known Member
It works great! Certainly saves money over purchasing FoodSaver bags or rolls. The vacuum is strong enough that I don't use the rings to hold the lids on. To open I have to pry pretty hard on the edge with something. The only down side is it takes up more room. The bags collapse under vacuum and compress the hops. The jars obviously don't, but I have an upright freezer for ingredients so the space isn't a problem for me.
