Old hops

[Lunkerking]

So I made a keg of double sunshine ipa clone that I have made before. When I tried it tonight it really did not have a good hoppy aftertaste and doesn’t have the same smell it normally does. I believe this maybe due to old hops. Can I add in some new dry hops to enhance the taste at this point?
Thanks !!

 

[day_trippr]

Maybe not enhance the taste per se, but you can certainly up the aroma voltage with some serious dry hopping, and as those two sensory perceptions are so intimately linked, the latter could drown out the former

Plus, it's a low risk/potentially high reward play. Under similar circumstances I'm pretty sure I'd give it shot...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

Just stick the hops in a roomy mesh bag, so the pulp can expand, it will, and the beer can permeate it easily. A little agitation from time to time will help extract and disperse the hops oils. Weigh the bag down with a stainless T or so, so it stays submerged.

If you want to retrieve them at some point late on, suspend them from the keg lid. Or just leave them until the keg kicks.

 

[IslandLizard]

How were those hops stored? Pellets?

 

[Lunkerking]

In a freezer in vacuum bag that probably didn’t seal as well as it should have. A couple years old.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've used Citra and Amarillo that was 5 years old, opened, purged, squeezed (no vacuum) and stored in the freezer. I used 50% extra for good measure (both in whirlpool and dry hop) and was amazed how well that had kept. Beer was very hoppy.

 

[day_trippr]

Two of my favorite hops - how do you sit on them that long? Lost in the back of the freezer?

Cheers!

 

[Lunkerking]

Just stick the hops in a roomy mesh bag, so the pulp can expand, it will, and the beer can permeate it easily. A little agitation from time to time will help extract and disperse the hops oils. Weigh the bag down with a stainless T or so, so it stays submerged.

If you want to retrieve them at some point late on, suspend them from the keg lid. Or just leave them until the keg kicks.

So should I purge the keg. Turn off the co2. Drop in the bag for a week or so agitate a couple times. Then remove and carb it up again?

 

[Golddiggie]

I'd just add the hops (in either a bag or stainless mesh item made for doing so) into the keg and let them stay until it kicks. I typically use 1oz in a 3 gallon keg. I don't shake, I don't remove, etc. I add them when I fill the keg. Since you've already done that, get the hops into what they'll live inside (while in the keg), disconnect the keg from CO2. Vent and pop the lid (sanitize as you would normally) and put the hops in. Since I do this at transfer time, they sit in the keg for two weeks (or more, depending on life) before I pull the first glass. Never been disappointed.

I've had hops in kegs this way for a few months without issue. Just keep the keg chilled and you'll be fine. If anything the keg will drain faster once you've gotten the taste from doing this.

 

[IslandLizard]

So should I purge the keg. Turn off the co2. Drop in the bag for a week or so agitate a couple times. Then remove and carb it up again?

What @Golddiggie said. ^
After adding, purge the headspace a few times, and leave under pressure.

If there's no sludge in the keg you could swirl it once or twice a day to get some movement and quicker extraction/dispersion. Counting on diffusion alone is much slower, IMO.
Make sure he hops can swell in the bag or mesh container, without restriction, or plugging it up.
I've seen those canisters being pulled where the center was still dry after being in the keg for weeks. That's hampering extraction.

 

[IslandLizard]

Two of my favorite hops - how do you sit on them that long? Lost in the back of the freezer?

Cheers!

Sorta, they kept being pushed back in the freezer. Using fresher hops first... FIFO. Then one day they're old.

 

[Beermeister32]

Keep the fresher hops for your late additions for flavor and aroma. You can use up the older hops for your 60 or 90 minute bittering additions.

 

[Lunkerking]

OK so I added 3 ounces of Citra to a mesh bag and put a couple of marbles in it in order to weigh it down a bit. To my surprise the bag floated when I put it in there, oh well. After one day I poured a beer ....to my surprise the beer was super hazy...I expected the mesh bag to to contain the hops. The flavor had greatly improved. But am in trouble ? Will all the hops eventually leach out and clog the the tube ? Other mistakes?

 

[Beermeister32]

You are not in trouble. All is well. If they clog the tube, reverse the CO2 poppet connector and clear it by blowing some CO2 down the outlet tube. Hops often leave haze.

 

[Lunkerking]

I have to figure the first few beers will be super hop heavy...but then the taste will mellow a bit as it clears up since I’ve been drawing from the bottom of the keg.

 

[Brewing Wolverine]

I've used Citra and Amarillo that was 5 years old, opened, purged, squeezed (no vacuum) and stored in the freezer. I used 50% extra for good measure (both in whirlpool and dry hop) and was amazed how well that had kept. Beer was very hoppy.

This is the key is using older hops from the freezer - using extra hops to account for oils lost over time. Cheers!