Are very frozen hops still good to use?

[MarcGuay]

Hi folks,

I grew some Challenger hops last summer and harvested them in the fall and stuck them in the freezer in a freezer ziplock bag. I haven't had a chance to use them since. Just took a look and there is basically snow inside the bag along with the nice-looking and smelling green cones. Any opinions on whether these are still good to use?

Thanks
Marc

 

[gtibrews2]

they could produce off flavors.....

 

[TX_Brewing]

If they smell good I would go for it. Ideal, no, but give it a whirl.

 

[MarcGuay]

Thanks. Maybe I'll make a little tea and see what it's like first...

 

[petrolSpice]

I'd use them. Get them out, let then thaw, and smell for freezer burn. You may want to use more than the recipe recommends as they probably have lost some of their oomph.

 

[brewcat]

Since they are frosty, they probably needed to dry out more.

 

[MarcGuay]

Does the frost indicate that I didn't let them dry enough before freezing?

 

[jekeane]

not necessarily but its possible. if they weren't vacuum sealed and moisture would condensate and freeze eventually. I like your hop tea idea personally. freezer burned (ice crystals) food can be pretty nasty so not sure if it would be the same for hops.

 

[MarcGuay]

To be fair I got the hop-tea idea from another thread in the forums...

 

[MarcGuay]

For anyone coming across this in the google-search-future, the Beersmith software has a "Hop Age Tool" that helps to calculate oil losses to different types of storage.