To follow further, what's the outside limit, in your own preferences, for dealing with stored hops? And by stored I mean exactly as mentioned. In a bag, in the fridge. I've been rightly accused of keeping things around too long in the past. IS there a drop-off schedule for hops? Do they suddenly just hit the wall and lose a lot of potential?
I'm still trying to learn the exact interaction each component has with the other and the hops are obviously a large part. When we buy packaged hops, from LHBS or mailorder, how old should we assume they are at arrival?
Thanks