TheMarquis
Active Member
I left some hops out on the counter in my 70-75 degree basement for about a week. They were in the foil package they came in which was folded over tightly at the opening but not completely air-tight. Are they still good?
Hops still good after being left out?
- Thread starter TheMarquis
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Suthrncomfrt1884
Well-Known Member
Smell them. If they smell cheesey, I wouldn't use them. I'm sure they've lost a little potential, but they're still most likely usable.
dale1038
Well-Known Member
Yes, they are still good!
TheMarquis
Active Member
Literally like cheese? They definitely smell like hops, maybe cheese and hops, I can't tell.
SumnerH
Well-Known Member
A week is nothing. Even totally unsealed (sitting in an open bowl), they'd only lose about 2% of their alphas at those temps (e.g. going from 10% AA to 9.8% AA).
There's a useful calculator here for determining alpha loss due to hop aging: http://brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16&u=eng
There's a useful calculator here for determining alpha loss due to hop aging: http://brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16&u=eng
SumnerH
Well-Known Member
The cheese thing is very obvious. If you can't tell, you don't have it.
samc
Well-Known Member
If someone said throw them out if they smell like oatmeal cookies I think you would have been predisposed to thinking oatmeal. More than likely they are fine, however if they were already in a bad state, that time and temp can push them over the edge. Let someone else smell them and don't alert them to the cheese thing.
Heck, some stores don't even keep their hops in a fridge/freezer.
Suthrncomfrt1884
Well-Known Member
I'd be a little concerned about buying hops from a shop that doesn't keep them cold. Unless they do very high volume sales and the hops are only out for a week or so, I'd be too scared to buy them.
