Hops freshness

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winvarin

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Not sure if this is the right forum, so I apologize if this should be in another location.

I have a question about the length of time hop pellets will stay fresh in a vacuum sealed oxygen barrier bag. I bought several ounces of hops from Rebel Brewer last year when they were running a sale. The order was placed in early November.

Fast forward a year, and I am making space in my keezer and re-arranging things over the weekend. To my surprise, I found a 2 ounce bag of Horizon pellets still sealed in the oxygen bag.

They have been sealed and refrigerated since I received them. But we're now 10 months out from my original order. What do you think? Still good, or best not to chance it?
 
I brewed once using >1 year old centennial pellets. I used the hop age calculator in Beersmith to approximate the alpha acid degradation to adjust the IBUs. Result: way over-shot my bitterness. IMO, properly stored pellets degrade very slowly, it's hard to say when they really have reached a point where your bitterness will be affected. I've heard on the brewing network that year old pellets showed almost no degrading of alpha-acid. I think it was the IBU formula Brew Strong show.
 
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