Freezing hops in zip lock bags - displacement method?

[seilenos]

I brewed last weekend and have a few half-bags of hops that I want to preserve for a few weeks till my next brew since I will probably be doing the same recipes.

I don't have a mason jar attachment for my vacuum sealer but I wondered if I could borrow a technique from sous vide cooking to seal them temporarily in zip lock bags.

"Displacement method" uses a pot of water that you dip a mostly closed zip lock bag in to. As the bag enters the water the pressure pushes excess air out the opening. As the opening gets to the water level, you seal the end. The content stay dry and a significant amount of the air is removed without putting the contents under a true vacuum.

Has anyone had success with this method?

 

[Yesfan]

For my unused portion, I just roll the bag until all the air is out, seal it (if it has one like a Ziplock bag), wrap it with a rubber band to keep it rolled, then put it in my freezer until the next Brew Day. Seems to work for me.

 

[kh54s10]

Do you have bags for your vacuum sealer? That is what I use for all my hops (pellet). If not, I don't see anything wrong with your idea other than it seems a pain. I would just lay the bag on the table, put my hand on the side and push down. When you remove as much of the air as possible, seal it. For a few weeks, just toss that in the freezer.

 

[seilenos]

Well, I'm not a patient man.

I took 5 minutes of the 14 since I started this thread to grab a bowl, fill with water, and seal up a few bags. I probably could have gotten the vacuum sealer out and hunted down the bags, but that would have taken longer.

From the responses and the timings involved, what I did was probably overkill. Though it actually does a pretty good job getting rid of excess air.

I'd rather spend the 5 minutes now than to be pouring that first pint and cursing myself because I didn't take a few minutes to even attempt to seal the bags.

Thanks, y'all!

 

[bleme]

I seal all but a corner, then suck the air out with my mouth then seal real fast.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

I've learned 2 things.
1) don't store hops in zip lock bags long term unless you like the taste of zip lock bags.
2) Vacuum seal those puppies with the vacuum bags and throw them in the freezer.

That's it.

 

[seilenos]

I've learned 2 things.
1) don't store hops in zip lock bags long term unless you like the taste of zip lock bags.
2) Vacuum seal those puppies with the vacuum bags and throw them in the freezer.

That's it.

What do you consider "long term"? I'll use them up in about 3 weeks and want to know if I should move them to vacuum bags and or mason jars in the meantime.

 

[Yesfan]

What do you consider "long term"? I'll use them up in about 3 weeks and want to know if I should move them to vacuum bags and or mason jars in the meantime.

I think you'll be fine if you know you'll use them in three weeks. I've had mine in the freezer a lot longer with no ill effects.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

What do you consider "long term"? I'll use them up in about 3 weeks and want to know if I should move them to vacuum bags and or mason jars in the meantime.

Long term is any period of time.
I used to put my hops in a zip lock bag for very brief time periods and they reeked of ziplock. Even the real ziplock brand and not the generic.
Just don't do it. If you have vacuum sealer and bags just use it.

If you are anything like me, I say I'll be brewing this weekend and in reality it ends up being a month later.