Where to get the freshest hops?

So I've used places like northern brewer, and my LHBS. I like to buy from my LHBS, but. Sometimes the hops seem old. Anyone have any insight to the freshest hops?

 

Grow your own. If not, I usually order from Nikobrew and always get really good stuff from them at reasonable prices. Are you getting them from Southern now?

 

Thanks guys!

Do you think color has anything to do with the freshness? I bought some Citra from my LHBS a while back and they were pretty yellow. I'm wondering if that was the reason the beer didn't turn out great.

 

Yeah I buy from them sometimes.

 

Let me guess. Cascade and Amarilllo?

I'm going to wait until Friday, hopefully supplies last.

 

Pale color can indicate staleness. Especially if coupled with a lack of aroma.

 

You guys buy your hops by the pound when you do? I am wondering if this would help.

 

How would a pound help freshness? Are you thinking there would be less hop surface area exposed in the bag before opening?


The best hops out there that the homebrewer can get come from the Large companies.
Mylar AND foil packaging, and nitrogen flushdc package. These 2 things are huge for retaining freshness.

Behind the scenes stuff is huge too, How long do the hops sit out on the farm after drying? Did they get all the hops picked at prime time? How long do the bales sit around and at what temperature?
The best hops will always go the the highest paying customer. Which is why I say that bigger companies have the best hops.


Also a lot of hop destruction takes place when making pellets. More expensive equipment runs cooler and introduces less oxygen when compressing hops into pellets.


WHen you open a package of hops, the aroma should smack you in the face. You shouldn't have to crumble them or shake the bag around to get some aroma.




My favorites are HopUnion and Brewcraft. for these reasons.

 

It just seems as though the bigger sellers always sell by the pound. You don't exactly know how long the hops have been sitting on the shelf at the LHBS. My LHBS has a good amount of turnover but still doesn't label the year on the hops. They have quite a bit of the "exotic" varieties when others have sold out. I've bought Amarillo hops from them a number of times and they never seemed right. My most recent example is that I made a black IPA with Amarillo and Simcoe and it just tasted weird. I've always known this to be a good combo.

Why not make the effort to get the freshest hops right? We do everything else to make a killer beer!

 

Only order from places that label crop year.

 

Some people have said the Amarillo is odd this year.

I've never seen the year printed on packaging, maybe Farmhouse Nikobrew. That's an interesting point though. It should be front and center.

Also how come there is never any clearance sales on old items? I know online vendors clear out last years stock, but LHBS?? Probably because there is no date on the package... same goes for yeast, extract and grains.