I am going to brew Edworts haus pale ale but instead of using cascade I want to use some centennials I have. I am a little concerned about the age because they are from a 2006 crop and the silver vacuum packed bag isn't fully vacuumed any more, there appears to be a small amount of air in it. My question to the more experienced brewer is how would you handle adjusting for possible loss of flavor, aroma and Alpha Acids?
How do you adjust for old hops?
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Pellets or whole hops?stever said:
A 2006 crop should still be good, assuming the hops were kept cool and dry. (Freezing cold and dry would be best).
AS long as they were not exposed to sun light or excessive indoor light, I think you'd be fine. If there's any doubt, you can always add additional aroma to the beer through extra dry hop additons.
These are whole hops and I wouldn't think they have seen any light since they are in the silver bags with the mirror finish but who knows where they were before I got them. I figured I could always just add a little more but I wasn't sure if there was some formula to calculate the effects age has on hops.
I'd say give them a good sniff, or even a small taste, to see if they're still good. bet they would be if they're still in the sealed pouch. As for adding more, I couldn't answer that. Unless you can measure the AA in the hops compared to the original, there's no real way to tell if they've changed much/at all.
Best of luck with your hops.
Best of luck with your hops.
Bob Loblaw
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I always add more hops if they look old. Who cares if its not per recipe, its still good and if you add to much, conditioning will mellow it out.
Promash has a hop aging calculator.
I use a tad more bittering hops if they're old, but I have never checked it against the Promash calculator. I also smell all hops before adding them to a brew. There have been a few occasions where this practice has saved a brew.
-a.
I use a tad more bittering hops if they're old, but I have never checked it against the Promash calculator. I also smell all hops before adding them to a brew. There have been a few occasions where this practice has saved a brew.
-a.
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