How long to hops stay fresh in the freezer?

I'm looking into buying hops 1 lbs at a time to try and save a little money, but I'm unsure as to how long they stay fresh and how to properly store them. Vac seal?

General idea is u dont lose any AA% until the 6 month mark... As long as they stay sealed (vaccum) u can get a little longer.. for me i have at least 4 pounds in the freezer at a given time and it usually dosent last more than 6 months at a time, so i dont get to truly test it.

vacuum sealer + freezer = good for months, if not a year or more.

mkringii said:

General idea is u dont lose any AA% until the 6 month mark... As long as they stay sealed (vaccum) u can get a little longer.. for me i have at least 4 pounds in the freezer at a given time and it usually dosent last more than 6 months at a time, so i dont get to truly test it.

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Untrue. Hop varieties vary in how much AA they lose over time (known as Hop Storage index). Cascade, for example, loses 50% of its AAs over 6 months. See http://beersmith.com/hop-list/ for HSI for other hops. However, if you keep hops vacuum sealed and frozen, then there's no downside to buying in bulk. You'll lose AAs, but no more than you would if you bought in ounces, considering hops are only harvested once a year.

Bottom line: Buy in bulk. Vacuum seal and freeze. Buy the freshest hops you can.

Gavagai said:

Untrue. Hop varieties vary in how much AA they lose over time (known as Hop Storage index). Cascade, for example, loses 50% of its AAs over 6 months. See http://beersmith.com/hop-list/ for HSI for other hops. However, if you keep hops vacuum sealed and frozen, then there's no downside to buying in bulk. You'll lose AAs, but no more than you would if you bought in ounces, considering hops are only harvested once a year.

Bottom line: Buy in bulk. Vacuum seal and freeze. Buy the freshest hops you can.

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What time of the year are hops harvested?

Most hops are harvested in September, but you will likely only see hops listed by year. So right now you should be buying 2012 hops.

There are a lot of factors at work. I'll give you the simple answer, and then a longer one.

Simple answer: Kept in a freezer, in the dark, away form oxygen, hops will last for a couple years. Both from an aromatic and alpha acid stand point. Pellets better than Leaf, but they both will do well.

The important things are freezer, and no oxygen. ziplock bags won't cut it. You need plastic/mylar/something that is not oxygen permeable.

Long answer: The HSI (hop storage index) measures how much alpha acid is lost over a 6 month period of time when the hops are stored at 68*F. This is a good indication of how well a given hop holds up over time. CTZ for example is very poor, and Apollo is excellent. Keep in mind the HSI number is at 68*. Chemical reactions occur twice as fast roughly every 10C. Your freezer is probably -10C or colder, therefore we're talking 8x slower. That doesn't mean the hops will last 8x longer, but you get the idea.

Hops oxidize and skunk quickly, so getting them sealed, and out of sunlight (UV light) is your number one goal. Mylar bags and a vacuum sealer work. I use mason jars, as glass is inert, isn't oxygen permeable, and they are re-usable. My vacuum sealer has a mason jar attachment. Kept in the freezer, they last a long, long time.

I'm still using plenty of 2011 hops (harvested September 2011), and they smell just as good as the fresh 2012 stuff.

I vacuum seal mine in mason jars and keep them in the freezer. Makes it a lot easier for measuring and resealing the hops.

The regular vacuum sealer bags/rolls are oxygen impermeable (otherwise they couldn't hold a vacuum). You don't need mylar bags...

Cheers!

mason jar attachment?? What sealer are you guys using? I don't think my food saver has that.. but it does have a place to connect a tube, so maybe that's an attachment I can buy?

I have an ounce each of amarillo and centennial that are still in the vacuum sealed 1 ounce packages from Hopunion. Looking at my recipe spreadsheet, I bought those as extras for a recipe I made in December 2011. They have been in the freezer since the day I bought them.

I am thinking about using them to dry hop an upcoming beer. It sounds from what I am reading here, that they should be fine. Does that sound right

Different hops do decay at different times, but this is really only crucial when talking bittering potential. In terms of your hop usage throughout the year, your bittering hops are usually a very small percentage. I have a great picture of Sierra Nevada using two year old whole cascade. While it's AA has dropped considerably, it's flavor and aroma were relatively stable because of good storage conditions, like those listed above.

I just used up the last of my year+ old columbus. It was starting to yellow a little bit but the aroma was amazing. Also, while kept in a freezer, I just stuffed it into a ziplock bag, squeezed out the air, then into another ziplock bag. I only vacuum seal my orders that are a pound or more.