Life of Hops kept in Freezer
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I've had them work well up to a year later. I save mine in 1oz packs though.
yohoe
Well-Known Member
General rule is up to 1 year
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Hops are harvested once per year. How do the producers keep them?
Hopinista
Well-Known Member
Vacuum packed and/or frozen. Keep in mind NZ and Australian hops are harvested at the opposite time.
I usualy get a year out of mine, I store them in a freezer bag and then put them in a Ziplock vacum bag, pull the air out with the little pump that comes with them, and store them in the back of the freezer. I pull them out as I need them and then vacum the air out and throw them back in the freezer.
Packaged well, stored in the freezer, hops last a long time!
Check out the calculator here
http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16
I think a rule of thumb would be 5% loss per year, stored properly I would say a couple / few years easy, beyond that....add more hops.
Of course, fresher the better...but the degradation if stored properly is not that great.
Check out the calculator here
http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16
I think a rule of thumb would be 5% loss per year, stored properly I would say a couple / few years easy, beyond that....add more hops.
Of course, fresher the better...but the degradation if stored properly is not that great.
Hopinista
Well-Known Member
I also brew A LOT of Belgians, where I find a use for aged (old) hops.
Weezy
Well-Known Member
I do the same as bikerbrewer. I have two year old EKG that I use in Milds mostly and they don't give me off or stale flavors... yet.
Hopinista
Well-Known Member
They won't usually give you off flavors, they just won't give you flavors
I keep my hops vacuum sealed in my chest freezer. I have a lot of hops... Some from the 2011 harvest still.
I used some of the oldest ones in a brew on Sunday - still very aromatic and seem identical to when I bought them.
Bittering does fall a bit though.
Keep them sealed and frozen, either in vacuum bags or CO2 purged jars, they will last a lot longer than you might think.
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I used some of the oldest ones in a brew on Sunday - still very aromatic and seem identical to when I bought them.
Bittering does fall a bit though.
Keep them sealed and frozen, either in vacuum bags or CO2 purged jars, they will last a lot longer than you might think.
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Weezy
Well-Known Member
That's been my experience as well.
thegreatmaibockaddict
Well-Known Member
Actually there are cheesy and other stale flavors in old hops, and thusly why some deliciously funky Belgian styles actually call for old, stale hops.
If frozen, and vacuum sealed, they will last for years.
I have used them as old as 6 years old, with no loss of flavor or aroma noticed, but I generally try to use them up in 2 years if possible.
The AAUs are supposed to diminish, but that hasn't been my experience when well stored. I get them in the fall after the harvest, and vacuum seal them and store them at 0 degrees.
I have used them as old as 6 years old, with no loss of flavor or aroma noticed, but I generally try to use them up in 2 years if possible.
The AAUs are supposed to diminish, but that hasn't been my experience when well stored. I get them in the fall after the harvest, and vacuum seal them and store them at 0 degrees.
CGVT
Senior Member
Roadie
Well-Known Member
I use the GameSaver model from Foodsaver and love it!
Almost Famous Brewing Company
Almost Famous Brewing Company
I purchase hops in 1 lb packages that appear to be flushed and vacuum sealed. Once the bag is open, I just tightly roll the bag closed and seal it well with clips and sometimes put it in an additional bag, I then try and use it as soon as reasonable. I try and keep the lb packages unopened as long as I can, and try and only have several lbs open at a time.
I have often wondered if my lax hop storage was truly detrimental. I ran some numbers on the two calculators below
http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16
http://brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc
The three storage options given are shown below...with the predicted loss at 6 months /1 year for Cascade hops at an original Alpha content of 7%
Not sealed or sealed in poly bags 6.2 / 5.5%
Sealed in barrier packaging, airtight jars, but not free from oxygen 6.4 / 5.8%
Sealed in barrier packaging, airtight jars under vacuum 6.6 / 6.2 %
FWIW, I found this interesting that keeping your hops simply well wrapped and frozen appears to preserve them reasonably well compared to other more involved processes. I also ran some numbers storing the hops at ambient temps, and the degradation occurs much more rapidly. While vacuum sealing helps, and packaging "oxygen free" helps even more, it is not a night and day difference b/w simply wrapping well...of course YMMV.
I have often wondered if my lax hop storage was truly detrimental. I ran some numbers on the two calculators below
http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16
http://brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc
The three storage options given are shown below...with the predicted loss at 6 months /1 year for Cascade hops at an original Alpha content of 7%
Not sealed or sealed in poly bags 6.2 / 5.5%
Sealed in barrier packaging, airtight jars, but not free from oxygen 6.4 / 5.8%
Sealed in barrier packaging, airtight jars under vacuum 6.6 / 6.2 %
FWIW, I found this interesting that keeping your hops simply well wrapped and frozen appears to preserve them reasonably well compared to other more involved processes. I also ran some numbers storing the hops at ambient temps, and the degradation occurs much more rapidly. While vacuum sealing helps, and packaging "oxygen free" helps even more, it is not a night and day difference b/w simply wrapping well...of course YMMV.
redshift76
Well-Known Member
Same here, invaluable device for brewing & BBQ.
