Buying bulk hops

[BetterSense]

My LHBS has great prices, but I could save a lot of money by buying hops by the pound from HopsDirect. I just have a few questions.

How long can I store hops that I buy? If I put them in the freezer, are they good for a year or so?

I will have to standardize on maybe 2 or 3 varieties. If you had to brew on a desert island for the rest of your life and had to plant 3 varieties, what would they be? I mostly brew american ales and have used a ton of Centennial recently, but HopsDirect is out of those for the year. Suggest an alternative?

 

[Oldsock]

If you buy in bulk, invest in a vacuum sealer (like a FoodSaver). Simply placed in Ziploc bags, even in the freezer. Hops won’t taste fresh for very long.

For me it would probably be something like Citra, Sterling, Columbus… although that may just be because I have been brewing a lot of hoppy American stuff recently.

 

[logdrum]

you'd be suprized how quickly you burn through a pound of hops.

+1 on the foodsaver, worth every penny.

 

[mugzz819]

Another option would be to buy them from farmhouse brewing supply, great prices on hops in 4 Oz increments. I like it because I can get more variety and it's still way cheaper than lhbs.

 

[garcara]

http://brewerslog.appspot.com/HopAlphaCalc

Check out this small script I wrote that will help you calculate approximately how much AA is left in your hops. It is going to vary a lot based on the age, storage conditions, and the type of hop. Some hops lose AA much more quickly than others.

 

[bcgpete]

You want a variety of stuff based on what you make. I recently bought pounds of citra, cascade, columbus, amarillo, chinook, and warrior. Then I realized I needed some better bittering hops, so I got a pound of magnum.

If I had to choose 3 I would go EKG, amarillo, cascade.

 

[carp]

Regarding the general question 'will hops keep for a year?'. Lets say you go to the freshest highest turnover brewstore in the country in August and buy some US hops - how old do you think they are? They are a seasonal ag product, and therefore whether you buy 'em in October (after the harvest) or in August, they are the same age.

Regarding the foodsaver - I don't find that necessary. I wrap up the mylar bag very tightly with a bit of tape and keep them in the freezer, and they seem plenty fresh to me after a year. I'd just as soon have them in the oxygen-impervious (of course my bags aren't airtight when I roll the up but . . ) mylar than in plastic which is not impervious to oxygen, even when vacuum-sealed. Plus the cost, effort, and sheer plastic waste involved in the foodsaver thing is no good in my opinion.

FWIW I use about 10 lbs of hops a year.

 

[Ramitt]

Trick with the foodsaver is to get the accessory that works on ball jars. 1 quart just about holds a pound then stick it in the opened bag for some uv protection.

 

[carp]

That's a good idea. I would use mine a lot more often if I had that.
Maybe not necessarily for hops, but for other stuff for sure.

 

[copyright1997]

I have about 40-50 # of hops that I've bought from a variety of sources (Farmhouse, RiteBrew, HopsShack, and most recently a S__t load (31#) in a group buy.

Since I don't know when I will be using what, I vacuum seal everything, and store them in a freezer. If they came vacuum sealed with a tight seal, I leave it as is. If it didn't come vacuum sealed, or it appears there is air within, I reseal.

I bought 11# of cascade, and for this I sealed in 2# increments. For hops that I have 2-3 pounds, I will usually seal in 1# increments and also have a couple 8 oz bags. The 6x10 sealer bags easily hold 8 ounces (but don't quite hold a pound). The 8x12 bags hold 2# nicely. I've also used rolls, and they are somewhat cheaper, but they require sealing both sides and measuring as to how big. I double seal each end. Storing the hops is an issue...actually the issue is more FINDING the particular variety I am looking for.

What hops you will use most depends on what styles of beer you brew. I like hoppy APA's and IPA's. Because of this, things like Cascade (relatively inexpensive), Centennial (hard to get now), Chinook (somewhat more expensive), Columbus (cheap and easy to get) , Simcoe (hard to find in quantity), Amarillo (hard to find in quantity). I also seem to use a lot of EKG (English Ales).

It is still possible to get hops at reasonable prices from retail establishments. For instance, HopsShack has Columbus for $6.99/#, Cascade for $10.99/#, Brewers Gold for $8.19/#, Williamette for $6.99/#, Galena for $7.59/#, Nugget for $6.99/#.

FarmHouse Brewing has Centennial for $1.25/oz, Cascade for $0.90/oz, Chinook for $1.00/oz and a bunch of others.

RiteBrew has Cascade for $10.39/#, Centennial for $12.29/# (great price!), Chinook for $11.39/# (pretty darn good!) and a bunch of other stuff.

I've ordered from all three places with no issues at all. Given you will need to pay shipping, the key is to order a bunch of stuff as the shipping cost for 10 pounds isn't much different than for 1 pound!

Man, I wish I didn't look at RiteBrew, that Centennial and Chinook look tempting, and I don't have a lot of either (only a pound I think) in inventory.

 

[ylpaul2000]

I use canning jars, and purge with Co2. Of course they do stay in my freezer, but I feel I have had no ill effects on the hops (with my process) and I've kept them over a year (by accident).

 

[awarner322]

Are you guys talking pellets or leaf hops?

 

[ddrrseio]

buying tip: i got a brand new foodsaver 2240 with about $75 worth of vacuum bags and sheets for $60 on craigslist

use one of the national craigslist searches and you'll almost certainly come upon some great deals. the woman who sold me mine confirmed her trustworthiness by receiving/reciting a message from me on her 6000 feedback ebay account