Hops/Yeast and Age

A couple newbie questions, its been awhile since my last brew. Now that I have moved ad have space, I can brew again, buts its been about year. Heres my question:

I found some hops (whole) that have been in the fridge for about year... Northern Brewer, in vacuum sealed bag... think they are good to use? Also I have some yeast that is about 3-4 months over the exp date... if i make a starter do you think its fine?

Thanks much y'all.

The hops will likely be OK. And if you get activity on your starter, the yeast will be too IMHO.

The best way to find out about the yeast is to just make a starter. Have a pack of dry yeast as back up and you shouldn't have a problem.

I'm not sure about the hops.

It will probably be OK. The hops may be degraded a little bit but if they are still sealed and been refrigerated they should be good to use. Lower alpha hops will degrade faster than high alpha hops. Do they have a crop date on them? For the yeast as mentioned, make a starter if you can and you might want to use it in a low gravity beer. I used a vial of White Labs WLP-001 that was close to a year expired. It worked for me but I used it in a low gravity pale ale.

I would hate to waste the hops you know... and trying a starter is a good idea. Yes! I always have a backup dry yeast pack lying around somewhere. But odds are that is expired as wel... thanks

Open the hops and smell them. If they smell cheesy, throw them away. If not, they should be good to use. It's best to keep them in the freezer.

The yeast will almost certainly be OK, but it will probably take a few days to start, so make the starter a few days earlier than normal to give it a chance to wake up.

-a.