Another thread about storing hops. One bag vs many 1oz bags?

[pshankstar]

I have searched the forum for a little bit and couldn't find a thread about this. I found various questions about storing hops and everyone says to get a vacuum sealer for them and keep them in the freezer. If there is a thread already on this topic, please feel free to share it.

I normally buy my hops by the pound and usually hold off on opening the hop package until I am ready to use the hops. I was buying my hops from Niko Brew and those bags were nitrogen flushed and sealed. Now that Niko is no longer around I have bought some one pound packages from other online vendors which sell the hops from YCH Hops. Those bags are sealed but not flushed like Niko Brew did. This is what led me down this path looking for some answers or to find what others are doing. Plus the other day I did something different than my normal routine.

Normally I would not open the bag(s) from Niko Brew until I was getting ready to brew. Then I would measure out the rest of the hops and vacuum seal them in 1oz bags with my vacuum sealer. Then store the 1oz bags in a single one gallon freezer bag to keep them all together in my chest freezer. Whole cones would take more than one freezer bag full of 1oz sealed bags.

So the other day (big brew day) I measured out the Nugget hops I had from an unopened 1 pound bag. Measured out the hops I needed but vacuumed sealed the rest in one single bag without portioning them out like I normally do. Now when I want to use the Nugget hops for a future brew, I have to open the single package, take what I need and reseal it and place it back in the chest freezer. Is this ok or with multiple openings and exposure to oxygen going to affect the hops? Granted it's minimum exposure, but it is exposure.

The other thing that made me think was the YCH Hops. I have two 1 pound bags that have been sitting in my chest freezer in their original package. Is this ok or should I vacuum seal these hops? This then made me think about my Nugget hops. Should I portion them out or is it ok to leave them in one large vacuum sealed bag?

So, what do you all do with bulk hops and storing them? Do you portion them out to smaller increments right away if the bags are not flushed? Do you vacuum seal them in one large bag, open it when needed and reseal the bag? Have you noticed any changes with the way you store your hops in a large bag and reseal? Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[cswis86]

I reseal the same large bag over and over like you did with your Nugget. I have a lot of hops in my freezer and sealing them all in 1oz packs would be insane. I personally like the 4oz vacuum sealed packs I get from Farmhouse Brewing Supplies. I typically use the whole 4 oz pack for a 5 gallon batch and don't have to worry about resealing. Are the hops from YCH vacuum sealed? If so I would just leave them in the bags they came in.

 

[stonebrewer]

I recently switched to vacuum sealing them in glass jars. I will post back results after a few months of storage. Seems easier than the bags and wastes less material. Shrug.

 

[pshankstar]

Thanks guys @cswis86 & @stonebrewer! Yeah it's a lot of work to portion out a few pounds of hops into 1oz bags, plus it's a lot of bags to use. Even though I can cut a pint bag in half and use each half for 1oz of pellet hops. This whole thing just made me think if one way is better than another or if I am simply over thinking it...

The YCH hop bags are sealed, but they are not vacuum sealed. It's like buying a bag of potato chips. The bag is sealed to keep oxygen out but there is room in there to keep the chips from getting crushed. Part of me thinks I should take them out and seal them up myself. But then part of me thinks they should be ok as is for now. Why would they sell them in a manner that is not good for the hops...

 

[IslandLizard]

Those puffy YCH (formerly Hop Union) bags ARE flushed and filled with Nitrogen. As long as they remain sealed they're fine and protected from O2.

After opening pound bags (HopsDirect, YVH, YCH, Farmhouse Brewing, Niko, etc.), either vacuum sealed or N2 filled, by snipping off a corner, I roll up the flap a few times upon itself, while squeezing the air out. I then tape the rolled up flap to the body of the bag. That's a pretty good seal. Then they go back into a box in the deep freezer.

I sometimes flush the bags with CO2 before rolling up, squeezing, and sealing, especially leaf hops.

I've never had any trouble with hop oxidation, loss of bittering, flavor, or aroma, even after several years of freezer storage.

 

[PartagasD4]

Once I open my pound bags I seal all hops in ball jars. It works great. 1/2 pint jars hold around 3-4 oz. Just a little warning about sealing, I have learned over the last 3 years to seal and let sit on the counter for a while and test the lid before storing back in the freezer. A couple times I have had hop dust buildup under the silicon rink causing the lid to lose its seal after maybe 10 minutes or so and you hear the lid pop. 1 time of discovering a jar not sealed in storage was enough to let sit a while and test before deep freeze

 

[brewcat]

After opening pound bags (HopsDirect, YVH, YCH, Farmhouse Brewing, Niko, etc.), either vacuum sealed or N2 filled, by snipping off a corner, I roll up the flap a few times upon itself, while squeezing the air out. I then tape the rolled up flap to the body of the bag. That's a pretty good seal. Then they go back into a box in the deep freezer.

That's what I do. I then close it in a ziplock freezer bag and write the date and amount left. I'd guess they would be good for years. But I use bulk hops often so they don't last too long.

I buy a 1 oz package if it is a variety I'll only use once or twice a year.

 

[pshankstar]

Thanks again everyone for your feedback. I may look into getting the ball jar adapter for my vacuum sealer. That seems like a good idea too.

 

[thaymond]

That's what I do. I then close it in a ziplock freezer bag and write the date and amount left. I'd guess they would be good for years. But I use bulk hops often so they don't last too long.

I buy a 1 oz package if it is a variety I'll only use once or twice a year.

I brew with my homegrown all the time. I store in 1 qt bags, which is anywhere between 4 and 7 oz. I gave up measuring out exactly how much was in each bag until it was totally sealed. Each 1 qt bag has a measured amountwritten on the outside of the bag. Every bag has its own number (e.g. 4.6 oz, 6.2 oz. Nothing really exact)

I'll open a bag and use what I need. I'll squeeze the air out, fold the plastic over a few times to create a faux seal, wrap it in tape, and re-freeze it. I have not had any issues. Most of the time the remainder of the bag goes in as a Dry Hop anyway. If I am going to store it long term (read: more than a month) I'll reseal it using the vacuum sealer.

Then again, this is all for house ales, and I'm not overly concerned with exact recipe replication or precise consistency. When I make something for someone else, it is exact numbers and going for consistency. Then I'll use exact amounts, and measurable AAs from commercial hops. The Anti Hero clone I just made turned out pretty good. The recipient had it polished off in 2 weeks on their own. I'd say they rather enjoyed it. With my house ales, variety is the spice of life. I rarely rebrew a house Ale exactly the same way twice.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I use the vac-sealer for all my hops, whether store-bought (almost always pellets) or home grown whole cones. The former go into a vac bag once the original package is breached, while the latter I package in four ounce cut-roll bags and re-seal any brew day left-overs.

For the home-growns vac-bagging is a necessity to have a prayer of fitting 11-12 pounds of dried cones in a top-freezer fridge. Once you get to that point, bagging the store boughts is nbd...

Cheers!

 

[Senormac]

What all vacuum sealers do you guys use ? Are they affordable ? I saw one at Wal Mart last year that was over $100 and decided it would take me years to make it pay for itself. Is there a thread about this already ?

 

[V-Fib]

When I have left overs or buy bulk I "seal" my hops by filling my sink with water and dipping a ziplock into with hops into the water. The water puts pressure on the bag better than my hands can and acts as a poor mans vacuum seal. So far I've used 6 month old hops with no big issue. I'm sure there is a loss in potency but nothing I have been able to pick up on.

 

[IslandLizard]

When I have left overs or buy bulk I "seal" my hops by filling my sink with water and dipping a ziplock into with hops into the water. The water puts pressure on the bag better than my hands can and acts as a poor mans vacuum seal. So far I've used 6 month old hops with no big issue. I'm sure there is a loss in potency but nothing I have been able to pick up on.

Keep in mind, ziplock bags are not oxygen barrier bags. They'll let O2 in over time. When vacuum sealed and stored in a freezer that may not be much of an issue, though.

 

[pshankstar]

What all vacuum sealers do you guys use ? Are they affordable ? I saw one at Wal Mart last year that was over $100 and decided it would take me years to make it pay for itself. Is there a thread about this already ?

I picked up the Foodsaver FM2000 from Target last summer for around $60 brand new. I found it to be worth its weight in gold not just b/c of the hops I buy by the pound but I also use it to freeze marinated meats and what not. It's amazing how quickly food gets freezer burn in regular freezer ziplock bags vs the vacuum sealed bags.

 

[day_trippr]

What all vacuum sealers do you guys use ? Are they affordable ? I saw one at Wal Mart last year that was over $100 and decided it would take me years to make it pay for itself. Is there a thread about this already ?

I'm using a 6 year old Foodsaver. I don't know of a practical alternative for storing ~12 pounds of dried harvested home growns.
If you're going to bother with the effort to grow your own it's pretty much a required asset.

If you'd only be using it for hops I recommend buying whatever full size Foodsaver model is on the best sale when you decide to pull the trigger.
A quick check on Amazon shows one for $66 delivered (with Prime)...

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

I have a Foodsaver that I bought at least 20 years ago. It was somewhat expensive but has paid for itself at least 20 times over..... I have saved hops for over 2 years and didn't really notice much degradation. I have been renovating my house and have not brewed for a while so my old hops are getting even older. We'll see.....

 

[stonebrewer]

+1 on Foodsaver. We use it for other things as folks mention above. Great for steaks and other higher end meats you want to freeze. I buy a lot of steak when on sale, freeze, and grill. Pays for itself over time and then get the side benefits when used for brewing stuff.

 

[thaymond]

I'm another satisfied Foodsaver user. I found mine for 5 bucks at my local Goodwill. No issues, works fine. It came with 2 boxes of one gallon sized bags and 2 boxes of one liter bags. I bought the create your own size bags from walmart, which are perfect for doing homegrown in large quantities (like 1 lb dry cones) the 1 liter bags can fit roughly 4 to 7 oz, depending on cone size and how compact you can get them before you seal.

 

[kh54s10]

Mine is an older version that looks like this one: https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-FM2000-FFP-Vacuum-Sealing-Starter/dp/B01D5TMBE0/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1495633380&sr=1-5&keywords=foodsaver

And as I have said I have had and used it for a very long time. Maybe 15-20 years.. I got it long before I started brewing.

 

[Sbe2]

Bought my food saver from Wallie World for $60. Bought my hops in bulk, and sealed in large bags.

Can't wait to use it on my own hops this year.