Dry hopping with leftover hops?

[Moezart]

Hello everyone, it's me again!!!
Thanks for all your help with all my previous issues, I am getting better at this thanks to you all!
So, my question today is :
I have a batch sitting in primary for 2 and 1/2 weeks, and it is due for bottling in 3 days. I have three 0.5 Oz open packages of low Alpha hops chilling around my fridge, and I was wondering if I could use those to dry hop this batch?
I have never dry hopped a beer before, this will be my first time, so I don't want to risk any infections or anything like that.

Ps. Recipe is 5 gallon ale with 2 packs of muntons yeast (6 Oz each) (low flocculant yeast)
So should be OK throwing those leftover hops in at this point to gain some aroma in this brew?
Thanks a lot!

 

[Jag75]

Heck , go for it . 3 days of dry hop is fine . What hops do you have ?

 

[Moezart]

Heck , go for it . 3 days of dry hop is fine . What hops do you have ?

Yeah, I guess!!! I have 2 × 0.5 of tettnager, and 0.5 of German hallertau. These were opened about 6 months ago, you don't think they would be problematic sanitation-wise?
Thank you.

 

[Dgallo]

You won’t have an infection issue, however, old hops that are open will be stale(oxidized) and they will not provide you the same flavor or aroma as they would if fresh. Always best to dryhop with your top quality hops

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

If you are looking for some 'science' behind how well hops store under various conditions, the chart mentioned here https://old.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/bwttu0/how_long_do_hops_last/eq0x7er/ may be interesting.

 

[Dgallo]

If you are looking for some 'science' behind how well hops store under various conditions, the chart mentioned here https://old.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/bwttu0/how_long_do_hops_last/eq0x7er/ may be interesting.

From my recollection, that chart is solely based on the alpha acids of whole cone hops. which would not apply to the terpens and/or other aroma/flavor compounds within the hops especially if they are t-90 pellets.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

From my recollection, that chart is solely based on the alpha acids of whole cone hops. which would not apply to the terpens and/or other aroma/flavor compounds within the hops especially if they are t-90 pellets.

Your recollection may be be right. My experience with hops tends to match the chart and Brulosophy's Maintaining Hop Freshness Podcast (episode 046). So I guess MMDV (my mileage does vary).

 

[Jag75]

All I know about hops are that they smell good , taste great in beer and could kill your dog if they ingest ....so make sure you dont drop any for your buddy to eat .

 

[micraftbeer]

I've made different beers using partial bags of hop pellets that have been taped over and kept in my fridge for varying lengths of time. It always disappoints. Lack of flavor. I wouldn't recommend it as an experiment "to see what effect dry hopping has", because it won't be typical of future dry hopping experience for you.

 

[Jag75]

What about kept in the freezer ?

 

[micraftbeer]

I've never tried that. I assume Friday would be better than fridge, but I suspect the lack of air-tight sealing is going to be the biggest factor. But again, I haven't tried that.

 

[Dgallo]

What about kept in the freezer ?

It’s the oxygen exposure. If you have a food/vacuum sealer than anything below 38 is good short term, the closer to 0 the better