3 year old hops

[Horton]

Ok. I’m sure this question is answered but here goes. I bought a ton of Yakima valley hops back on late 2021. Was a bit over zealous with my inventory ideas. I brewed a few times then went on a hiatus from mid 22 to January 4 this year. All these hops I vacuumed sealed and have had them in my deep freeze since. I also have a few of the 16 oz nitrogen purged cans n there as well. The ones you get from Yakima valley box subscription. Should have gotten the 8 oz-ers.
My question is, while I’ve used them, is this ok to do? All of my inventory is from the same era. Dry yeast, some expired, some not, same with grains. All properly stored, air tight. However, I’ve brewed 4 batches so far this year and only one is drinkable. I’m still dialing in my Clawhammer Supply 120v system. It’s think that’s why I didn’t get proper starch conversion.
I got bitten by that Homebrew bug again. And I’m desperate to make great beer.

Skal!

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Your hops are likely fine, may have lost a little in the way of IBU's, but it should make a decent beer if they were stored in a mylar or of something equally effective as a oxygen barrier. The yeast should be fine, provided it was kept it's original package and is still sealed.

The only thing I would question is the grain. I don't believe the diastatic power is reduced much by a long storage, but the flavor may not be very good. Just like any grain product, it can get stale. I use old grain to make starter wort, or it just gets tossed to the birds.

 

[Miraculix]

The hops can be ok. Make sure to smell them when opening a pack. Anything onion or unpleasant should be discarded. Otherwise they might have lost a bit of aroma and alpha but you can compensate that by using more of it.

If the grains were stored crushed, throw them away. If they have been stored dry, relatively cool and uncrushed, there's a good chance that they are also still ok to use. Same as with the hops. Smell them, chew a few and judge by taste and smell.

The dry yeast is most likely fine.

 

[MaxStout]

I just used up the last of the 2019 Triple Perle hops I bought back then. They had been vac-sealed and in the deep freeze the whole time. They still smelled good, though I dialed back the AA number for it in BeerSmith to compensate for some loss.

It made excellent beer. I'm betting yours will be fine, too.

 

[G_robertus]

I can almost never get fresh hops, so I'm used to older batches. Usually it's fine, so go off your own senses. I'm currently getting out everything from before 2022 except for a big bag of bittering hops I got for cheap. You can calculate the AA loss with the hop storage index (HSI) and the conditions your hop was stored at. I feel like that is a reasonable approximation.

 

[An Ankoù]

My question is, while I’ve used them, is this ok to do? All of my inventory is from the same era. Dry yeast, some expired, some not, same with grains. All properly stored, air tight. However, I’ve brewed 4 batches so far this year and only one is drinkable.

Why were the other three not drinkable? What was wrong with them? What beers were they?
I've got some grains of that vintage and they're still good. I find crystal (caramel) malts go off pretty quickly but whole base malts tend to stay good.
When you consider that a new bag of flour for making bread and cakes is going to sit in a paper sack in a hot steamy kitchen and is expected to be usable for about a year, it kind of puts it into context. Not that I'm recommending old grain, fresh is best, but older can be OK, too.

 

[An Ankoù]

After storing, shipping and hanging about at the suppliers, alpha acid declarations are [MODERATOR EDIT] a toss up.

 

[IslandLizard]

Dry yeast, some expired, some not

If they were stored unopened in the fridge (or best in the freezer) they should still be alright, as long as the kernels are dry. I've "revived" 10+ year old dry yeast like that without any issues.

 

[Horton]

Why were the other three not drinkable? What was wrong with them? What beers were they?
I've got some grains of that vintage and they're still good. I find crystal (caramel) malts go off pretty quickly but whole base malts tend to stay good.
When you consider that a new bag of flour for making bread and cakes is going to sit in a paper sack in a hot steamy kitchen and is expected to be usable for about a year, it kind of puts it into context. Not that I'm recommending old grain, fresh is best, but older can be OK, too.

I didn’t get the proper enzyme conversion I believe. I bought the 120v Clawhammer system while I was on hiatus hoping it would revive the urge to brew. So the first 3 brews I couldn’t get the mash temp right. Kept rising. Upper 170s. 177 at one point. I put too much trust in the module. I have since learned how to dial it in. I think this was the root cause.

 

[Horton]

The hops can be ok. Make sure to smell them when opening a pack. Anything onion or unpleasant should be discarded. Otherwise they might have lost a bit of aroma and alpha but you can compensate that by using more of it.

If the grains were stored crushed, throw them away. If they have been stored dry, relatively cool and uncrushed, there's a good chance that they are also still ok to use. Same as with the hops. Smell them, chew a few and judge by taste and smell.

The dry yeast is most likely fine.

Everything smells fine. The grains are not crushed. Kept in viddle vaults. Some high temp ranges at points as my shop/brewhouse can get a little toasty in the Texas summer heat. Grains smell fine, taste fine, and are still crispy. Just can’t stomach the idea of tossing so much. Especially due to my laziness. I can always soak them a bit and feed them to the chickens. Or just power through and brew with them. Fingers crossed. At least I can dial in my system even if the beer is below par.

 

[An Ankoù]

I didn’t get the proper enzyme conversion I believe. I bought the 120v Clawhammer system while I was on hiatus hoping it would revive the urge to brew. So the first 3 brews I couldn’t get the mash temp right. Kept rising. Upper 170s. 177 at one point. I put too much trust in the module. I have since learned how to dial it in. I think this was the root cause.

Glad you've got it sorted. Yeah 177 is far too warm. Good luck with future brews.

 

[IslandLizard]

Everything smells fine. The grains are not crushed.

First smell, then chew a few kernels.
If they smell or taste stale or worse, probably best to feed them to the chickens, they're not as choosy.

I had a few pounds of 6 year old, leftover flaked wheat that was certainly past its prime. I toasted it in the oven (on baking trays) for a couple hours, scooping them over every 10-15 minutes. They tasted much better after the toasting, and the resulting wheat beer (60% flaked wheat in a cereal mash) turned out fantastic! Used Sabro hops.

 

[Miraculix]

Everything smells fine. The grains are not crushed. Kept in viddle vaults. Some high temp ranges at points as my shop/brewhouse can get a little toasty in the Texas summer heat. Grains smell fine, taste fine, and are still crispy. Just can’t stomach the idea of tossing so much. Especially due to my laziness. I can always soak them a bit and feed them to the chickens. Or just power through and brew with them. Fingers crossed. At least I can dial in my system even if the beer is below par.

I bet the beer will be fine. We're probably talking just about nuances here between fresh grains and yours.

 

[Yesfan]

My last batch used up some hops from 2018. Dry yeast, I've used some that was 3 years past expiration. You should be good if the hops and grains smell and taste good.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, there have been times I've used hops from the freezer that were 5+ years old and really didn't notice anything amiss, either with potency or character quality. I think a good freezer will pretty nearly hold hops in suspension wrt aging...

Cheers!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/understanding-the-importance-of-the-hop-storage-index

If there's newer research, I'm interested.

 

[InspectorJon]

The grains are not crushed. Kept in viddle vaults. Some high temp ranges at points as my shop/brewhouse

@grampamark is a grain farming member. He has said that our grain likely sits in bulk storage for years before we get it. A couple more years should not have much, if any effect provided it’s not crushed.