What's the perfect bulk hops order?

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BangorBrewer

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I am thinking about putting in an order for some bulk hops with hopsdirect. I want to make an order that'll allow me the sort of versatility to brew many types of beers.

Can anyone here help me pick out an array of hops that I'll never grow old of/that have many uses?

Thanks.

MT
 
I can only tell you what's perfect for ME- but I can also give you some ideas for yourself. In my case, I ordered:

Pound of Magnum
- to me, the "perfect" bittering hop. It's fairly neutral, and good for all German beer styles, as well as American IPAs and APAs, or anywhere you want a "clean" bittering hop.

Pound of cascade
- 3/4 of the beers I love (and make) are IPAs or APAs and cascades are one of my favorites.

Pound of Willamette
-I have no idea why I bought these- I rarely use Willamette hops, but will have to start!

Pound of Amarillo
-My favorite hop. It is because of my strange love of my DFH 60 minute clone, which uses plenty of it.

Pound of Northern Brewer
-I use 3 ounces in my California common, and I make that beer about 3-4 times per year.
_________________________________________________

I already had a pound of centennial, and plenty of chinook, so my "C" hops are covered! I bought those hops because most of my recipes use them (except for the Willamette, as I said. I have no idea why I ordered a pound of them).

If you make English beers primarily, you'll definitely want different hops. Fuggles, or East Kent Goldings are wonderful in English styles.

For German beer styles, you can't go wrong with Tettnanger or Hallertauer hops.
 
Here's a question:

I've never bought hops in this sort of bulk before.

What are some ways of maintaining freshness after they've been opened that first time?

I know a food saver is a great option, but after dropping coin on pounds and pounds of hops, spending 100 dollars on a single-use item (and it really would be) doesn't seem feasible or practical.

Any suggestions?
 
Here's a question:

I've never bought hops in this sort of bulk before.

What are some ways of maintaining freshness after they've been opened that first time?

I know a food saver is a great option, but after dropping coin on pounds and pounds of hops, spending 100 dollars on a single-use item (and it really would be) doesn't seem feasible or practical.

Any suggestions?

To be honest, without a foodsaver (or seal a meal or whatever), I would NOT buy pounds of hops. They will deteriorate pretty quickly. You might get away with Ziploc bags and squeezing the air out, but it definitely isn't ideal. With a foodsaver, my hops will last a year or two.

I saw a cheaper version somewhere (maybe Revvy posted it?) that used some sort of ziploc bags and a handheld device. I think it was about a $25 item from Wal-Mart.

The other thought I had is that the hops come in a nice metallic bag. I suppose you could keep it in the freezer, take out the hops you need on brewday, and carefully squeeze the air out and roll it back up. That would still not be ideal (oxygenation is the enemy of hops) but it might work.
 
Here's a question:

I've never bought hops in this sort of bulk before.

What are some ways of maintaining freshness after they've been opened that first time?

I know a food saver is a great option, but after dropping coin on pounds and pounds of hops, spending 100 dollars on a single-use item (and it really would be) doesn't seem feasible or practical.

Any suggestions?

A foodsaver is not a single use item if you buy meat, (frozen or otherwise) marinade steaks or save left overs. SWMBO LOVES a foodsaver!
 
I'm a vegetarian. So I can't really think of many things I'd need to vacuum seal.

I'm going to keep my eyes peeled on E-Bay and Craigslist, as I know that a FS is the ideal situation.

Are the bags readily available?
 
I'm a vegetarian. So I can't really think of many things I'd need to vacuum seal.

I'm going to keep my eyes peeled on E-Bay and Craigslist, as I know that a FS is the ideal situation.

Are the bags readily available?

Yes, the bags are EVERYWHERE. From Wal-mart, to my local grocery store. However, they are very expensive! I think the sticker prize on my last quart sized were $13.99 for 20. (My son works at a discount store that gives him an employee discount).
 
Personally, I think you're better off with a food saver. It will re-seal a lot of things (chips, cereal, etc). The one I got has a pump and there are attachments so you can vacuum seal any mason jar - so, you can use it for just about anything in your pantry.
 
The other thought I had is that the hops come in a nice metallic bag. I suppose you could keep it in the freezer, take out the hops you need on brewday, and carefully squeeze the air out and roll it back up. That would still not be ideal (oxygenation is the enemy of hops) but it might work.

I've been doing this for about a year now. The hops seem to keep pretty well, though I keep thinking I should buy a foodsaver.
 
I have a Ziploc vacuum sealer that was only a few bucks. I found it at my local Wal-Mart. It's a hand pump that fits over a valve in the Ziploc bag. I cook a lot and tend to buy meats and other things in bulk. Foodsaver is too expensive at the moment for me, so I dropped a couple of bucks (maybe $4) on the pump. Bags are just a bit more than regular Ziplocs. So far so good, after a few months. It's not a Foodsaver, but it's way better than just squeezing the air out and sealing (something I've done for years).
 
Here's a smaller version of the Foodsaver that's for sale at Cabela's. This one got poor reviews on the site, so I'm leery of buying it. Anyone have any experience with this model? Should I just go by Foodsaver's reputation and get this?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat602009-cat570002&id=0048541517811a&navCount=6&podId=0048541517811&parentId=cat570002&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=QZ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true
 
I can only tell you what's perfect for ME- but I can also give you some ideas for yourself. In my case, I ordered:

Pound of Magnum
- to me, the "perfect" bittering hop. It's fairly neutral, and good for all German beer styles, as well as American IPAs and APAs, or anywhere you want a "clean" bittering hop.

Pound of cascade
- 3/4 of the beers I love (and make) are IPAs or APAs and cascades are one of my favorites.

Pound of Willamette
-I have no idea why I bought these- I rarely use Willamette hops, but will have to start!

Pound of Amarillo
-My favorite hop. It is because of my strange love of my DFH 60 minute clone, which uses plenty of it.

Pound of Northern Brewer
-I use 3 ounces in my California common, and I make that beer about 3-4 times per year.
_________________________________________________

I already had a pound of centennial, and plenty of chinook, so my "C" hops are covered! I bought those hops because most of my recipes use them (except for the Willamette, as I said. I have no idea why I ordered a pound of them).

If you make English beers primarily, you'll definitely want different hops. Fuggles, or East Kent Goldings are wonderful in English styles.

For German beer styles, you can't go wrong with Tettnanger or Hallertauer hops.

I recently bought a 1lb of Cascade, Magnum, Saaz, Amarillo & Crystal, so fairly similar to Yoooper. Only one that I am not wild about is Amarillo, but I will have to find a different recipe to use it with. Northern Brewer is next on my list as I also want to do a Anchor Steam clone.

I love having big quantities of hops. Allows me the option of pulling an ounce for tossing into a keg to refresh a dry hopping that has lost it's oomph!
 
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