Hop Storage & Freshness

[BearsWickedBrew]

I went out & bought a scale now that I have taken off my training wheels and brewed without a kit. I am interested in buying hops by the pound and I was wondering how long I could keep them in my freezer without having any issues? 3 months? 6 months? 1 year?

....the addiction just keeps on brewing.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I went out & bought a scale now that I have taken off my training wheels and brewed without a kit. I am interested in buying hops by the pound and I was wondering how long I could keep them in my freezer without having any issues? 3 months? 6 months? 1 year?

....the addiction just keeps on brewing.

It all depends on how you repack them. Oxygen will reduce the efficacy of hops. If you can vacuum seal them, I'd imagine a year would be fine. I don't really use anything more than 6 months old though.

 

[boo boo]

I keep all my hops, vacuum sealed in my freezer and have some that are 2 years old. As long as they don't smell cheesey when you go to use them, they should be fine. Just allow for AA degradation from the long storage, especially if you use whole hops. Pellet stores better longer.

 

[david_42]

Look at it this way, by August of 2009 people will be selling hops that have been stored for most of a year at (more or less) room temperature. Buying in the Fall and freezing hops is a good idea. I have Columbus pellets that are two years old & the lost in bittering ability is minor. Aroma & flavor changes are well below my ability to detect.