hop storage

I'm thinking about buying bulk hops. I will need a scale for measuring and a vacuum sealer for storage. Am I missing anything else?

A freezer?

Nope, that should about do it! I use a sharpie to write on the type, the AAUs and the year. That's all.

YooperBrew said:

A freezer?

Nope, that should about do it! I use a sharpie to write on the type, the AAUs and the year. That's all.

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Does Brew Smith's hop AA loss function apply if you vac seal and freeze?

McCuckerson said:

Does Brew Smith's hop AA loss function apply if you vac seal and freeze?

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I think the correct answer is "yes". BUT, in my experience, and a friend who is a pro brewer who stored hops in a vac seal and freezer, the answer seems to be no. It seems like I've had very little loss of AAUs and unless the hops are particularly old or otherwise compromised, I've not had to adjust them.

For 2008 hops that have been properly stored, I think you'll find that they are fine. 2007 and older may have degraded a bit.

YooperBrew said:

I think the correct answer is "yes". BUT, in my experience, and a friend who is a pro brewer who stored hops in a vac seal and freezer, the answer seems to be no. It seems like I've had very little loss of AAUs and unless the hops are particularly old or otherwise compromised, I've not had to adjust them.

For 2008 hops that have been properly stored, I think you'll find that they are fine. 2007 and older may have degraded a bit.

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Sweet Yoop, thanks

YooperBrew said:

I think the correct answer is "yes". BUT, in my experience, and a friend who is a pro brewer who stored hops in a vac seal and freezer, the answer seems to be no. It seems like I've had very little loss of AAUs and unless the hops are particularly old or otherwise compromised, I've not had to adjust them.

For 2008 hops that have been properly stored, I think you'll find that they are fine. 2007 and older may have degraded a bit.

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Do I even need the vac sealer?

McCuckerson said:

Do I even need the vac sealer?

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Yes, you want to remove all of the oxygen.

Definitely want that vacuum sealer... definitely.

play with beersmith and the hop age tool, and you'll see that vacuum sealed, even cascade out at 100F for 3 months doesn't degrade as insanely as NOT vacuum sealed.

I would not weigh the hops first. I just stuff the bag with as many hops as possible. When I need them I cut open the bag and weigh the desired amounts. I then reseal the bag. Most beer recipes call for 1.5oz or 1.25 oz or .5 oz etc and we don't weigh them into these amounts. So to save time and bag cost just stuff 'em. You're gonna weigh them later anyway.

Better than bags iare mason jars with the jar sealing tool that comes with the foodsaver.
If your's doesn't try this link.

The link is for widemouth mason jars. There's a different one for regular jars. Seal and reseal indefinitely.

jldc said:

Better than bags iare mason jars with the jar sealing tool that comes with the foodsaver.
If your's doesn't try this link.

The link is for widemouth mason jars. There's a different one for regular jars. Seal and reseal indefinitely.

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Along this line, if you don't wanna shell out for the foodsaver, (I didn't), do an Alvin Vacuum Sealer. For $20 plus $10 for the mason jar sealer, you are set. I do this and love it.

Do you have a break bleeder? I've been using that, mason jars and a foodsaver jar sealer attachment. I've talked about it a couple times on here and use it for both hops and my specialty grains. I think it is a great option for someone who won't use a foodsaver for anything else.

Here is where I got the idea.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Alvin-Vacuum-Sealer/

jldc said:

Better than bags iare mason jars with the jar sealing tool that comes with the foodsaver.

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Better? How so? A jar would leave more air in contact with the hops, wouldn't it? You aren't pulling absolute vacuum.

I wouldn't call the jar better. You are right there is still air in contact, but not much.

I did a little experiment where I took an empty jar and sucked as much air out as I could at about 22 in/hg. I then took the sealed jar and stuck it straight down in a full sink and pryed the lid off, allowing water to come in. I then stuck the lid back on and pulled it out.
What I found was that I had evacuated about 90% of the air from the jar. For extra insurance, I shot co2 in each jar before packaging my hops.

You aren't pulling absolute vacuum with bags either. There's still air in there as well.

The key is, there's no air exchange. You are taking out 90%+ of the air in the container, and the other 10% will oxidize the hops a bit, then stop. No more oxygen can get in to do further damage.

Yeah, there's probably more air in a mason jar than in a bag, though how much? Do you get a bag down to -25 inches/hg as well? I feel that the bag restricts how much vacuum you can pull, so I'm betting you get a higher vacuum with the mason jar. 90% evacuation from a mason jar with an extra 20% volume over a bag, or 80% evacuation from a bag, and you get around the same air left over in the end.

To compete against this, I plan on filling the bottom half of my mason jars with popcorn kernels or the like after I get down to the 50% full mark to fill up headspace. My plan is to fill some baggies with popcorn kernels, not seal them, (just have them filled, and drop them in and fill hops on top. The baggies stop the two from mixing, the non-sealed part means air is still evacuated from interstitial spaces between kernels, and the kernels displace air so there's less left once I evacuate with the brake bleeder.

Either way, its still better than leaving the hops under atomspheric pressure.

I think jars are better than bags because you can easily pull out what you need and reseal, and you don't have to mess around with freezing dozens of 2 oz baggies full of hops. Just dump all the hops into one jar, seal, and freeze. It allows me to easily pull out odd amounts of hops, (0.5 oz, 0.65 oz, 1.35 oz), without having just a few hops remaining in the vac. sealed bag.

You do get a lot less space for the air with the bags, so I doubt you actually have more air with the bags than the jar. I'm not saying jars are bad, not at all, but I certainly wouldn't say they're "better" than bags. The bags reseal as well, you know.

Scimmia said:

You do get a lot less space for the air with the bags, so I doubt you actually have more air with the bags than the jar. I'm not saying jars are bad, not at all, but I certainly wouldn't say they're "better" than bags. The bags reseal as well, you know.

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Better is a matter of opinion, for sure. The jars are cheaper, and essentially infinitely resealable. The bags are not. As to residual O2 contact, that is a theoretical advantage, I suppose. I'll just say that they work well for me and that $10 of mason jars will last a lifetime.