Hop questions

[redrocker652002]

As some of you may remember, I got a really cool supply of different hops from a user here who was slowing down his brewing and wanted to get rid of some stuff. So, I had about 7oz's of Columbus pellets I had my wife put in a vacuum seal bag. I am going to use the probably in the next week or two, so I took them out of the freezer to make sure I have enough as I am making a Morebeer run for some stuff I forgot to order. The bag was still frozen, but the seal might have been broken as they pellets were able to be moved around. Since they were in the freezer, them being open can I still use them? I don't mind either way as I am going to get other stuff too.

Also, they are labeled as Columbus, but my recipe calls for CTZ. I have done a bit of reading and they appear to be the same. Am I right there? Any input is welcomed.

Thank you in advance.

Oooops, I forgot to add, I will be posting this in another beer forum. So, reply accordingly.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Smell them, if they smell good, go for it, likely they should be ok. If they smell cheesy, toss them.

CTZ = Columbus Tomahawk Zues

So yes, interchangeable.

 

[Brooothru]

As some of you may remember, I got a really cool supply of different hops from a user here who was slowing down his brewing and wanted to get rid of some stuff. So, I had about 7oz's of Columbus pellets I had my wife put in a vacuum seal bag. I am going to use the probably in the next week or two, so I took them out of the freezer to make sure I have enough as I am making a Morebeer run for some stuff I forgot to order. The bag was still frozen, but the seal might have been broken as they pellets were able to be moved around. Since they were in the freezer, them being open can I still use them? I don't mind either way as I am going to get other stuff too.

Also, they are labeled as Columbus, but my recipe calls for CTZ. I have done a bit of reading and they appear to be the same. Am I right there? Any input is welcomed.

Thank you in advance.

Oooops, I forgot to add, I will be posting this in another beer forum. So, reply accordingly.

Yes, they'll work. CTZ stands for Columbus, Tomahawk, Zeus, all of which are basically the same hop that were all bred and brought into production at about the same time by different hop growers. Since they were pretty much identical, but with different names, it caused confusion among brewers. They eventually collectively became known as CTZ. But the parent hop was Columbus, so that name continued to be used as well. Today, the hops as well as the terms Columbus and CTZ are used interchangeably. No discernible differences.

 

[mac_1103]

I had about 7oz's of Columbus pellets I had my wife put in a vacuum seal bag.
...

The bag was still frozen, but the seal might have been broken as they pellets were able to be moved around.

1) Learn how to use the vacuum sealer. It's not hard.
2) Never throw your wife under the bus.

 

[Brooothru]

1) Learn how to use the vacuum sealer. It's not hard.
2) Never throw your wife under the bus.

If I ever tried to throw SWMBO'd under the bus , I'd soon be in need of one of these !!!

 

[Skeeter686]

1) Learn how to use the vacuum sealer. It's not hard.
2) Never throw your wife under the bus.

1) I recently had a batch of bags that was unreliable. No change in process, but I started getting bags that were losing vacuum. But yeah... ensure that you're doing it right.
2) I sleep with my SWMBO and she has plenty of opportunity to kill me in my sleep. I respect the lady.

 

[Brooothru]

1) I recently had a batch of bags that was unreliable. No change in process, but I started getting bags that were losing vacuum. But yeah... ensure that you're doing it right.
2) I sleep with my SWMBO and she has plenty of opportunity to kill me in my sleep. I respect the lady.

I'm told that I toss and turn, randomly kick my legs, and that my CPAP is too loud. SWMBO'd is an extremely light sleeper. I make sure that no sharp objects or heavy metallic instruments are within reach of the bed. I've also taken to sleeping with one eye open.

 

[Broken Crow]

Looks like this thread got a bit derailed because you threw your wife under the bus. ....no need to respond; I know she is supportive and this is just a "could've worded it better" thing since I've been paying close attention to you since you registered on here, and like me you are a very lucky guy to have such a supportive significant other....Back on track:
I've had a couple pounds or so of EKG's and Fuggles not vacuum sealed in my freezer and when I use them, I suspect the Alpha Acids have declined slightly, but not much...They're just fine. As an intentional experiment I also have let hops sit in a fridge and on a shelf at room temp. The room temp ones tasted like sh*t, but even the fridge ones, while they obviously contibuted less bitterness, had only 'just noticabley' less of their flavour than fresh or properly sealed and frozen ones.
If your aim is how good it tastes, you're good....If you're aim is to get your exact AA numbers, just add maybe one pellet/every month they've been stored in less than ideal conditions.

 

[Brooothru]

I use BeerSmith to design recipes, print out brew sheets, and record my sessions. There's a really handy Hops Age calculator with quite a few entering argument variables (including age, storage conditions, specific hop varietal, hop form, original AA%, etc) that adjusts the original AA% down to what the 'aged' AA% should be, and then automatically inserts that calculated value into your recipe. It's not an empirical measurement of Alpha acids, but is a very close approximation of adjusted value. Some varietals lose their bitterness and/or aroma faster than others. This calculator gives you a good basis to work from. I'm sure there are other online calculators that do the same thing, but the BeerSmith algorithm is seamless with the recipe builder so I use it.

 

[Yesfan]

Plot twist:

That's not @redrocker652002. That's his wife pretending to be him. She hijacked his account to see if we are a worthy bunch for him to be hanging out with.

Act accordingly gentleman.................

 

[redrocker652002]

Plot twist:

That's not @redrocker652002. That's his wife pretending to be him. She hijacked his account to see if we are a worthy bunch for him to be hanging out with.

Act accordingly gentleman.................

OK, now that is funny.

 

[redrocker652002]

1) Learn how to use the vacuum sealer. It's not hard.
2) Never throw your wife under the bus.

Thankfully she has a great sense of humor, and even better is she has no interest in any of this, so she would never read it, but good point!!!!!!!

 

[redrocker652002]

I'm told that I toss and turn, randomly kick my legs, and that my CPAP is too loud. SWMBO'd is an extremely light sleeper. I make sure that no sharp objects or heavy metallic instruments are within reach of the bed. I've also taken to sleeping with one eye open.

Solid advice there. I sleep on the couch most nights because she snores like mad and I am a light sleeper due to working graveyards. But I understand your idea's LOL

 

[redrocker652002]

Looks like this thread got a bit derailed because you threw your wife under the bus. ....no need to respond; I know she is supportive and this is just a "could've worded it better" thing since I've been paying close attention to you since you registered on here, and like me you are a very lucky guy to have such a supportive significant other....Back on track:
I've had a couple pounds or so of EKG's and Fuggles not vacuum sealed in my freezer and when I use them, I suspect the Alpha Acids have declined slightly, but not much...They're just fine. As an intentional experiment I also have let hops sit in a fridge and on a shelf at room temp. The room temp ones tasted like sh*t, but even the fridge ones, while they obviously contibuted less bitterness, had only 'just noticabley' less of their flavour than fresh or properly sealed and frozen ones.
If your aim is how good it tastes, you're good....If you're aim is to get your exact AA numbers, just add maybe one pellet/every month they've been stored in less than ideal conditions.

Should I be a bit worried about that part? I am a pretty boring guy, so not much to get too excited about. LOL. But hey, if you wanna keep tabs, go for it. LOL. (Kidding of course, I am glad somebody is watching me, sometimes I can get pretty stupid after a few)

 

[Broken Crow]

Should I be a bit worried about that part? I am a pretty boring guy, so not much to get too excited about. LOL. But hey, if you wanna keep tabs, go for it. LOL. (Kidding of course, I am glad somebody is watching me, sometimes I can get pretty stupid after a few)

It's not 'keeping tabs' as such,.. Most new folk who are in the begginer phase of their brewing journey and sign up to ask a question, usually give so little information or context to their problem that it's difficult if not impossible to answer without continually and repeatedly asking them to tell us exactly what they are working with and what they want to do with it. When you first showed up, you included detailed descriptions of what you are working with and what you are trying to do and were very clear about what your level of experience in your first paragraph....quite refreshing to not have to wait 2 days and 2 or 3 pages of back and forth to get the OP to finally share the critical detail needed to answer them.
I'm in the "when you stop Learning, you are dead" camp, so when going over subjects I know very well, I'm able to revisit past learning through other perspectives and often find improvements I can make to my own established practices.
Detailed posts are rare, so I remember the names of those of you that post them and look forward to maybe being able to share as well as acquire new info and methods when it comes up.

 

[redrocker652002]

It's not 'keeping tabs' as such,.. Most new folk who are in the begginer phase of their brewing journey and sign up to ask a question, usually give so little information or context to their problem that it's difficult if not impossible to answer without continually and repeatedly asking them to tell us exactly what they are working with and what they want to do with it. When you first showed up, you included detailed descriptions of what you are working with and what you are trying to do and were very clear about what your level of experience in your first paragraph....quite refreshing to not have to wait 2 days and 2 or 3 pages of back and forth to get the OP to finally share the critical detail needed to answer them.
I'm in the "when you stop Learning, you are dead" camp, so when going over subjects I know very well, I'm able to revisit past learning through other perspectives and often find improvements I can make to my own established practices.
Detailed posts are rare, so I remember the names of those of you that post them and look forward to maybe being able to share as well as acquire new info and methods when it comes up.

Hey, thank you very much for the compliments. I learned from other forums I have been on that the devil is in the details so to speak. I appreciate the input and, as always, the information I have gotten here as well as the encouragement. Seems each brew day comes with a new set of questions and I figure the more I learn maybe I can pass it along to the next "newbie". LOL.

Anyway, thank you again for the response and please, feel free to continue to keep an eye on me, drunk texts usually don't go to well. LOL