Frozen hops directly into wort during boil

[tsatsa]

I have several oz of different hops that I keep in the freezer. I usually unfrozen them before use. Did anyone used them directly frozen? Like with regular food, I'm scared that unfreezing and refreezing hops may ruin their properties.

I was planning to just get them out of the freezer and put them directly into the wort during boil / dry hop. Any experience about this technique?

 

[porterpounder]

I think the moisture level is low enough that it doesn't really matter. Measure out what you need and toss the rest back in the freezer and toss them in.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, the pellets are small enough to thaw & start working in fairly short order in my mind.

 

[SuperCoolGuy-Brewing]

There is a very early basic brewing radio podcast about using hops from some major brewer, I don't remember who, but his advice was to pull your measured hops from the freezer the night before to allow them to really breath. Completely anecdotally, I have been doing this ever since and the one time I forgot to do it I noticed a sharp decrease in the pleasant aroma of the beer. So following this advice, I suggest pulling your measured hops at least 12 hours before they hit the hit wort.

Specifically in reference to your question, I would avoid continually thawing and refreezing your hops. Room temperature air holds much more moisture than cold freezer air, so as your hops thaw they get humid air in the bag. Once it goes in the freezer some of that moisture can condense on your hops and get them slowly full of water or ice. So doing It once, probably not a problem, but doing that to a 1 pound bag over and over might negatively impact their properties. It can also lead to long term storage issues I believe.

 

[unionrdr]

I always thaw mine first thing with the yeast, any LME, etc. But he forgot. Stuff happens sometimes.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I just throw them in. Never noticed anything that may be considered off.

When I am heating the wort to a boil and waiting out the hot break I pull my hops out of the freezer and measure out my additions. From there I throw them in the boiling wort as dictated by my hop schedule. hops will thaw rather rapidly at room temp, and I have thrown some into boiling wort straight out of the freezer for each addition with no issue.

No need to worry.

 

[Yooper]

I just throw them in. Never noticed anything that may be considered off.

When I am heating the wort to a boil and waiting out the hot break I pull my hops out of the freezer and measure out my additions. From there I throw them in the boiling wort as dictated by my hop schedule. hops will thaw rather rapidly at room temp, and I have thrown some into boiling wort straight out of the freezer for each addition with no issue.

No need to worry.

That's what I've always done as well. I open the frozen hops, weigh them, reseal the bag if I didn't use them all and then stick them back in the freezer while I go ahead and use the ones I need.

Oxidized hops (the ones that "breathe") do change flavor but not for the good in my opinion.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I can't imagine letting hops "breath" other than a really harsh bittering type hop being a good idea and even then I wouldn't. I've thrown whole frozen wet hop cones into a black IPA and didn't have issues... (other than the boil slowed down significantly but I just bumped up the propane to full blast and it was back within 60 seconds, the beer turned out fantastic and am going to enter it into competitions)

 

[unionrdr]

I leave the packets of hops sealed while they come up to room temp. Better that way I think?

 

[SuperCoolGuy-Brewing]

That's what I've always done as well. I open the frozen hops, weigh them, reseal the bag if I didn't use them all and then stick them back in the freezer while I go ahead and use the ones I need.

Oxidized hops (the ones that "breathe") do change flavor but not for the good in my opinion.

I am curious about your opinion on oxidizing hops. From what I have read the oxidation process is really quite slow, and from that I assumed it would have almost no impact on the hops to be unrefrigerated for 24 hours.

 

[drainbamage]

I've always been careful to minimize oxygen exposure of my hops, so I just pull them out of the freezer and measure out quantities as I'm getting the water up to boil. Any leftovers get resealed and put back in the freezer as quick as possible.

I've never actually considered any benefits to taking them out hours ahead of time to warm up to room temp.

 

[Yooper]

I am curious about your opinion on oxidizing hops. From what I have read the oxidation process is really quite slow, and from that I assumed it would have almost no impact on the hops to be unrefrigerated for 24 hours.

But I would take mine out of the package, as I buy hops in bulk and just take out what I need. Once you open the package, the time would start ticking.

If you had an unopened one ounce package and took it out of the freezer today to use tomorrow, I don't think it would be an issue. But, I see no benefit at all either.

 

[SuperCoolGuy-Brewing]

For anyone who is interested, the Basic Brewing Radio episode is from 2005 (and oldie) but the guy (Gerrard Lemmens) talks about how he suggests taking hops out 24 hours before to get rid of some of the less pleasant volatile hop oils before adding them to the wort/beer. It is possible that there is actually no point, because the heat of the boil would in theory drive these compounds off anyways (unless it reacts to the wort), but in any case i noticed listening the second time round that he is not very specific about what he's suggesting you drive off, or why beyond "it's unpleasant".

Link below: He says it in roughly the first 3 minutes FYI

http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr09-08-05.mp3