44lbs of free Hops! But they're old! :(

[Bozed]

Hey folks!

New to the board. Been brewing for about 1.5 years. All grain and i brew everything under the sun! Love 'em all but i lean more towards german styles, dark beers and high ABV.

So one of my local brewerys gave away some free hops and I scored 44lbs of Mt. hood hops vacuum sealed from Hop Union.

heres a few things though.

According to hand writing on the front, i am guessing its from may 2010 (eep)

The vacuum seal seems compromised, i may have found a very small hole, pin size, and it still feels mostly tight but i got a feeling a little air got in there.

What do you guys think? Any calculator i use says the AA's are @ 0. lol.

Figure worth a try as a bittering hop but not sure how much to use.... my friend has a vacuum sealer so I will definitely try and seal some up properly.

 

[tgif]

Use them as aged hops for lambics

 

[WI_Wino]

Were they stored frozen?

 

[rhys333]

Send them to me and I'll make sure they're disposed of in an appropriate manner.

Maybe boil a small amount in water or DME and sample them to see if you have any bittering left. Do they still have any aroma left?

 

[ChefRex]

How do they smell? As long as it's not cheesey, they will be ok, not great but ok.
Bet you could make lots of new friends here if you offered some of them for the cost of shipping

 

[Chrisl77]

Not positive but pretty sure hops union does not vacuum seal there bags. They flush them with nitrogen and seal.

 

[secondbase]

These would be great for lambic style beers. I would be interested if my freezer wasn't already chock full of hops after this year's harvest.

 

[Bozed]

I definitely would be down to share the wealth! I'm in Canada Vancouver BC area.

So maybe I should buy an ounce of mt hood. Boil it in some water and compare it to the 44lbs I got.

They were kept cool not sure frozen. They are in the freezer at work now.

If it's filled with nitrogen is that why the pack seems a little loose despite being sealed?

My friend has a vacuum sealer. I was gonna go ham and vacuum seal a ton.

Any feedback and help would be great!! 44lbs omg

 

[LostBoyScout]

I'm also in Vancouver and I (and likely a friend or two!) would be interested in trading some beer or something for some of those hops! As a couple have said, they're perfect for a spontaneously fermented beer where you want maximum antimicrobial properties with minimal bittering. For a typical beer, they won't be great but might work

 

[gnef]

The easiest test to me is to smell and taste. If you've never used Mt. Hood before, read the descriptions on its aroma and flavor, and that should give you a good idea on the condition of those hops. It should be pretty easy to tell if they have gone downhill, and if they have, like others have said, it looks like you may have a lot of lambics in your future!

 

[Loodachris]

I'm just south of you in Tacoma WA and would take a little if your parting out? Let me know

 

[sudbuddy]

Hopunion purges with Nitrogen but does not vacuum seal. The purge is better because it fills the space with nitrogen, which is harmless to hops and leaves no space for oxygen, which is harmful to hops. They have a ridiculously expensive machine that does it. According to Hopunion, Mt. Hood's storage stability is rather poor (~55% AA remaining after 6 months). Now that you are at the 5-6 year mark, my guess is that there isn't much left in the way of alpha acids. I agree that they will make a nice lambic hop, but you sure as heck don't need 44 lbs of that! Dish them out to friends or your homebrew club as lambic hops and let everyone enjoy it. If they smell cheesy they will still be good for lambic, probably better actually. Nice score!