Freezing Wet hops for storage?

Has anyone tried vacuum sealing and freezing wet hops? Any reasons not to do this? Seems like if you don't need to worry about shipping the hops it may not be worth the effort to dry them.

This was discussed a while ago as viable and a practice that VC of Russian River applies successfully. So, then I guess the question becomes how well do they fare after the freeze.

IIRC, the discussion was that the hops do need to be portioned properly as defrosting them turn them to hop mush whereas, proper portions can be pitched in the hot wort without the need to defrost.

And then, there is also the consideration that the non-dried hops may take a bit more storage space. IIRC, they do not compress as well as the dried hops do.

What is the equivalence of wet hops to dry hops?

From what I've read, it varies. However, the rule of thumb is to use 5 times as much wet hops as dry.

bnscherm said:

From what I've read, it varies. However, the rule of thumb is to use 5 times as much wet hops as dry.

Click to expand...

As I understand it; its the other way around. So you would use 1/5 the amount of wet hops. I could be wrong though

FlySpargeVorlauf said:

As I understand it; its the other way around. So you would use 1/5 the amount of wet hops. I could be wrong though

Click to expand...

No.

5 to 8 times as much as you would the dried versions to compensate for the water weight of which ~80% is removed through the drying process.

Taste varies tho' and it also depends on the hop varietal so, there is nor hard and fast rule. Some prefer to use less than 5 times, some more than 8.

A lot of this depends on the taste threshold of the chloropyll in the hop itself which will impart that "grassy" aspect.

ok, ok ...I knew that was wrong. Seems much easier to just dry them out...

could you dry them with a food dehydrator? or does that make too much heat?

mwhc22 said:

could you dry them with a food dehydrator? or does that make too much heat?

Click to expand...

You can but, the dehydrator will end up coated in resins and it'll take forever to dry the bulk down unless you have a huge dehydrator.

the easiest way by far is window screens and a fan.

Won't freezing tend to dehydrate the hops? I can imagine ice forming in the bag. I suppose that would change the amount you want to add to the brew unless you put the ice in also.

freezing would only serve to freeze the water in the hop. it would not be able to dehydrate.

GilaMinumBeer said:

5 to 8 times as much as you would the dried versions to compensate for the water weight of which ~80% is removed through the drying process.

Click to expand...

Related to this, what is the standard wort absorption factor for adequately dried hops? Do they take on the 20% moisture they lost in drying? Is there a quick & dirty factor to use as there is with wort absoprtion in grain (i typically use 0.1gal/lb)?

cactusgarrett said:

Related to this, what is the standard wort absorption factor for adequately dried hops? Do they take on the 20% moisture they lost in drying? Is there a quick & dirty factor to use as there is with wort absoprtion in grain (i typically use 0.1gal/lb)?

Click to expand...

Hops lose ~80% of their moisture in drying.

IIRC, a commonly used factor is 1/2 cup per ounce for loose water absorption. I think that is what I have been using too. I don;t rightly recall if there is a factor built in to softwares for this. If there is, it'd be in Pro-Mash for sure.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Hops lose ~80% of their moisture in drying. IIRC, a commonly used factor is 1/2 cup per ounce for loose water absorption. I think that is what I have been using too. I don;t rightly recall if there is a factor built in to softwares for this. If there is, it'd be in Pro-Mash for sure.

Click to expand...

Sure. Not looking for a specific setting in software or whatnot, just looking for a ballpark value for my own spreadsheet & calcs for when fall comes and i'm trying to find where some of my wort disappeared to.

0.125qt/oz sounds like a good place to start (0.03gal/oz for the gallon thinkers). Prost!