Vacuum Sealers for hops?

I've got 3 lbs of hops from Hops Direct.
They've been sitting in my freezer for awhile now because I don't have anyway to seal smaller amounts once I open a bag.

Anyway what are you guys using to seal your hops?

FOODSAVER... they are PERFECT!


We just bought 50 POUNDS in a hop buy... FoodSavers are a must!

The Pol said:

FOODSAVER... they are PERFECT!


We just bought 50 POUNDS in a hop buy... FoodSavers are a must!

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+1 on the foodsaver

+1 on the foodsaver (or seal-a-meal, whatever you can buy). I had some fresh Nugget hops from a friend, and put them in 1oz bags myself just so I could easily apportion them out in my recipes.

Suck the air out, and then freeze. Simple as that, you end up with the equivalent of "plugs".

Ziplock vacuum bags are a cheap alternative to a food saver and work great.

Any specific model of Foodsaver you guys like?

They're pretty pricey for sure.

Umm I think they are all equally kick butt.

I bought mine with 2 canisters and several extra rolls of bag material for like $70 with a special coupon code this past spring. The retail was upward of $170...

They are all good, and for sealing hops, you dont need it to be fancy.

I am at this moment sealing up Ground Chuck into 1lb bags! I LOVE this thing.

I completely agree on Foodsaver vacuum sealer for larger quantitiess. But I really dig using the Reynolds Handi-vac sealer for smaller qty's (3-4 ounces or less). Check it out as an alternate option and it's inexpensive

Amazon.com: Reynolds Consumer Produ Handi Vac Starter Kit 00590: Home & Garden

Vacuum Seal And Freeze Food To Save Time And Money

I was in bed bath and beyond the other day and they had a knock off of that reynolds handivac for $7. I almost bought it to try out on hops but I was unsure of its vacuum abilities. I might go back and pick one up, if they have any left. There were like 4 of em on clearance.

Definitely get a Foodsaver if you also do any cooking much. One of the low-end models is fine. I bought it for hops, but it comes in really handy for sealing foods as well.

I've a Black and Decker knock off foodsaver and it works great as well.

Maybe pricy, but you'll only need to buy it once.

I got a cheap model of a food saver or seal-a-meal or whatever. Reminds me to break up that lb of cascade I bought. I've used mine for other things for a while and love it. Just would like to get the O2 bags for hops. Probably not critical since i'm goign to be freezing them anyway, but would be nice nonetheless.

I've been using the Reynold's handi-vac. I'd rather have the food saver but I can't justify the cost right now.

conpewter said:

I've been using the Reynold's handi-vac. I'd rather have the food saver but I can't justify the cost right now.

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I bought one of these recently and only about half of the the bags actually stay sealed. Anyone else have this problem?

You can also re-seal those bags from hopsdirect with a iron - when I ran out of foodsaver bags I just purged the bags with CO2 and hit them with a hot iron... it's a good second-best method if you don't have a food saver.

I vacume seal my stuff with Amazon.com: Reynolds Consumer Produ Handi Vac Starter Kit 00590: Kitchen & Dining

Buying 6 pounds of bulk chicken breast + this, was cheaper than buying the chicken from the butcher block by itself.

It really works great, and the freezer bags can be resealed, and re-vacumed easily in moments.

c.n.budz said:

I bought one of these recently and only about half of the the bags actually stay sealed. Anyone else have this problem?

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I put the hops in a regular baggie first, zip it almost closed, then I put (two usually) in the quart bags and suck the air out. Then I put a little piece of tape over the airlock part. I get 2 ounces in each quart bag, that is then separated to ounces in the inner ziplocks.

conpewter said:

I put the hops in a regular baggie first, zip it almost closed, then I put (two usually) in the quart bags and suck the air out. Then I put a little piece of tape over the airlock part. I get 2 ounces in each quart bag, that is then separated to ounces in the inner ziplocks.

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See, I am just too lazy.

Also, I got mine when they had that coupon code out and you could get a $170 unit for like $60

The Pol said:

See, I am just too lazy.

Also, I got mine when they had that coupon code out and you could get a $170 unit for like $60

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I thought about it at the time, but I prefer to have 10 - 15 gallons of beer for $60 at the time. If I save up some cash I may get a food-saver (which I did suggest) but my brewing budget is tight right now. I already tried passing it off on the kitchen appliance budget, no go.

Sorry, but the ziplock suction things do not work. Go with the real deal.

Avoid the Dani vacuum sealer. It's POS. I borrowed one to try out and it won't hold the seal worth a damn. I'll spring for a real Foodsaver as soon as I can save up some bucks.

r2eng said:

Sorry, but the ziplock suction things do not work. Go with the real deal.

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I'll go tell my ziplock bags in the basement freezer to loose their seal right away, thank you for the info! How dare they work when they shouldn't.

I've used both ziplock vac bags and renyold's bags with my handi-vac, they work.

Check out BM's thread about how to make them work
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-insure-proper-vacuum-seal-52705/

Thanks guys
Guess I'm gonna pick up a foodsaver off ebay.

I ordered a V2060 plus this weekend, I'll report back on how it works out if anyone is interested.

Get a FoodSaver and you won't regret it. They really suck..... OK, they don't blow.....ummmm, well, you know what I mean!

I used a foodsaver this weekend to break down 24 oz of hops into individual 1oz bags. Just used the manual seal to make 4 pouched bags. Worked like a champ. Not exactly sure which model, something like V28XX, may just have to go out and buy one.

K-Bizzle said:

I ordered a V2060 plus this weekend

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SWMBO has the V2040 and it works great for sealing hops.

Should be here tomorrow!
I can't wait.
I've been sitting on 3 lbs (centenial, cascasde, amarillo) of hops for a couple months now and haven't brewed because I've been waiting to break these down.

Gonna brew an IPA this weekend (probably a Two Hearted Clone).

I just sealed a pound of hopsdirect.com German Magnum pellets in a quart-sized mason jar using the Foodsaver Universal Lid, and it worked like a champ. The feedback I read on Amazon was that you shouldn't expect the seal to hold for more than about 3 months, but since I figure I'll be going back to use the Magnum in the next month, I'll just reseal it when I've taken out what I need. This isn't a long-term storage solution, but a great way to keep things fresh in between uses!

The foodsaver V2040 is the worst kitchen appliance I have purchased in a long time. I may have received a poorly made example but it does not work at all....