Storing open hops --> Beer with no hop flavor!?!

[sudsmcgee]

So here is my story. I bought a lb of Cascade hops to be used to make 10 gall batches of EdWort's Haus Pale Ale. The first batch I made was excellent and everyone raved about how great it was.

Fast forward ahead about two months. I made a second batch exactly the same way I made the first one using the same cascade hops, only this time the beer has zero hop flavor or aroma. The bitterness is about right, but the beer tastes bland and boring with no hop character at all.

Is it possible that my hops lost their character that quickly (about 2 months in the freezer)? I taped their original container closed, then put that into a ziploc bag and closed the bag, and then put this inside ANOTHER ziploc bag and closed that one too. Is it likely that too much air still got in and the hops are now worthless?

P.S. I just bought a food saver yesterday so this never happens again.

 

[Rivenin]

thats REALLY weird, i've stored hops like that for 9-10 months with minimal loss of anything. do they still smell like hops? did you try munchin on some to see if the flavor is still there?

 

[sudsmcgee]

thats REALLY weird, i've stored hops like that for 9-10 months with minimal loss of anything. do they still smell like hops? did you try munchin on some to see if the flavor is still there?

The hops smelled great, although the aroma did go down a little bit. Still,when I opened the bag the hop aroma came wafing out as you would expect it to. I'm really stunned by this as it's never happened before and I don't want it to happen again.

Maybe the hops I got were already old and I just happened to buy them at the end of their usable shelf life?

All I know right now is that I'm going to start doubling up my flavor and aroma additions with the rest of this pound until it's gone. I'd rather it be too hoppy than what it is right now. This beer would be great as is if it had some malt backbone, but alas, it doesn not.