Dry hopping with previously opened hops

stosh · Feb 22, 2018

I came across two bags of opened hops in the refrigerator. Half ounce of cascade and half of chinook. They were from a batch I brewed recently and flat out forgot about them. They have been in the fridge, rolled up in their respective bags and then in sealed sandwich bags.

Can I use them to dry hop with? If so, do I need to sanitize them and how?

RM-MN · Feb 22, 2018

One of the reasons to use hops in beer is that they are naturally antiseptic. As long as they still smell good, I'd just dump them in. If you are really worried, spritz a little sanitizer on the outside of the bag.

BrewingAroundtheRrealm · Feb 22, 2018

I purchase hops in 8 Oz. and 1 Lb. bags then store them in the freezer. I've used opened bags stored in this manner up to several months later with out issue. If I had a vacuum sealer, I wouldn't have an issue going a lot longer. Storing them in the refrigerator the way you describe then dry hopping with them is fine.

I've never been concerned about sanitizing the outside of a hop bag. Up till now I've never even considered it.

stosh · Feb 22, 2018

Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and tossed 'em in.

kh54s10 · Feb 22, 2018

I put my dry hops, one ounce in a one gallon paint strainer bag. As many bags as needed for my dry hop. I buy more hops than I need for a recipe so most of my hops have been at least a month old. I open, weigh out what I need, roll up the package then put it in a Foodsaver bag and vacuum it. That then goes into the freezer. I had about a 1 year hiatus when I worked on my house in RI preparing for sale then a move to Florida. Most of my hops are at least 1.5 years old now. I have brewed 3 beers with them since moving. I use a little more hops. One is done and very good. One is bottled and the FG sample was good. The third, an IPA, smelled fantastic before dry hopping.