Hop storage?

[Thor]

How long do hop pellets last? What is the best way to store them for maximum usability? I have several half-packets left from recent brews, and would hate to toss them.

Thanks!

 

[Cheesefood]

I bought a box of small zip lock bags (halfies) and usually use them to store my leftover hops. A Sharpie does a good job of writing on the bags so I know which are which.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I keep them in zip lock baggies in the freezer.

Hmm.. I have to admit I feel like a pot dealer when I pull out the baggies full of green hops and throw them on my scale...
Speaking of, I was looking for a scale a few weeks ago and everytime I asked where I could find a food scale the sales staff would give me a very strange look....

 

[rewster451]

I store mine in the fridge in ziplock bags. I don't use the freezer because when things with any degree of water in them freeze, the water gets pushed out and crystalizes on the outside. This makes the overall product slimy and dehydrated at the same time. You wouldn't freeze lettuce, right?

This could be misguided and wrong, but it's my thinking on it.

 

[ScottT]

I store mine in the fridge in ziplock bags. I don't use the freezer because when things with any degree of water in them freeze, the water gets pushed out and crystalizes on the outside. This makes the overall product slimy and dehydrated at the same time. You wouldn't freeze lettuce, right?

This could be misguided and wrong, but it's my thinking on it.

Well please, let me try to correct your thinking. Hops are a dehydrated product. It's not the same as freezing lettuce. It doesn't matter whether you are storeing hop pellets or whole hops, you want to keep air away and freeze it to slow down oxidation from the air that is in contact.

From BYO magazine:

http://byo.com/mrwizard/897.html

"Mr. Wizard replies: This is a good question with a very straightforward answer — storing hops at freezer temperatures does extend their life and will not damage the hops. How can I be so definitive, one may ask? Because when hop processors store hops, they store them at temperatures ranging from 20–30° F and keep them in this temperature range until they are sold. If the hop variety has good storage properties, and if it is packaged properly, hops will remain fresh for two to three years. Most pellets are vacuum packed to minimize oxygen in the package. This is key since oxygen is the primary concern during hop storage. The other two concerns are time and temperature. Storage time can be maximized whenever exposure to oxygen and temperature are minimized. "

 

[Tony]

Being an eBay freak, I bought a brand new vacuum sealer for 15 bucks, and a roll of bags as well. I sat with my supposed "pound" of fresh hops from HopsDirect (more like 1 3/4 pound) and made up a bunch of individual ounces and other increments. I feel my better knowing they are well protected from air and contaminants now. (Now I have a few more pounds of other varieties to bag up as well.) Highly recommended item for hops.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I buy my hop flowers by the pound. Then I break it up (I feel like a pot dealer when I'm doing this too) into 1.1 oz size bags. Because they are whole hops you need to use 1/10 more hops so I measure them that way. I also use a digital scale. That REALLY makes it easy and accurate.

Any "extra" (that which do not weigh out to 1 oz) I usually measure several 1/2 oz bags (actually measured to .55 oz) just in case a recipe calls for a 1/2 oz.

I also use a Seal-A-Meal vacuum/sealer machine. It sucks out the air and seals the bags to any size cut them to. I generally write on the bags before I fill them.

I put the smaller bags into the large bag they were shipped in and place it back in the freezer. It's easy to do inventory this way. I also have a few plastic trays where I store other hops that I have in smaller quantities.

 

[david_42]

I keep them in the freezer of the keggerater along with extra extract and grain. I had some Saaz that got brown after a year, which I tossed. Since then I've learned that some ozidation in noble hops is considered desirable.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I keep them in the freezer of the keggerater along with extra extract and grain. I had some Saaz that got brown after a year, which I tossed. Since then I've learned that some ozidation in noble hops is considered desirable.

It's always that way, ain't it?

There's always exceptions to the rules....