Hops from Yakima Valley - 1 bag not vacuum sealed

[RyPA]

I ordered hops in bulk from Yakima Valley, with plans to vacuum seal and freeze them for future batches.

4 out of 5 bags have a tight vacuum seal while 1 bag is not tightly vacuum sealed. It appears that the bag itself is sealed from outside air, but there is some type of gas trapped in there, not sure if its o2 or co2 -- it's just not tight like the others and hops can move freely in the bag. Worried that during packaging, o2 got in there, possibly oxidizing the hops.

Do you guys think it's worth contacting Yakima, or do they package with co2 in some cases?

See the left-most bag of Galaxy compared to the others.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I ordered hops in bulk from Yakima Valley, with plans to vacuum seal and freeze them for future batches.

4 out of 5 bags have a tight vacuum seal while 1 bag is not tightly vacuum sealed. It appears that the bag itself is sealed from outside air, but there is some type of gas trapped in there, not sure if its o2 or co2 -- it's just not tight like the others and hops can move freely in the bag. Worried that during packaging, o2 got in there, possibly oxidizing the hops.

Do you guys think it's worth contacting Yakima, or do they package with co2 in some cases?

See the left-most bag of Galaxy compared to the others.
View attachment 759784

Yes, contact them and inquire before opening the bag. They will want to make it right IF the hops have degraded. Some companies will nitro flush.

 

[MaxStout]

Yep, you should contact them. All those other bags were vac-sealed, so it follows the Galaxy bag should have, as well.

 

[smcinco]

Fwiw has happened to me and they shined me

 

[MaxStout]

You did get some O2 in that bag. If the vac seal was broken, air would be drawn inside.

Lay the bag flat on a table and press gently. Do you hear air escaping and does the bag slowly sink under your hands? If so, you got a leaker.

 

[smcinco]

You definitely have air in there. I’d they were nitrogen flushed all of the bags would be loose. Not the end of the world though imo.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I would perhaps give them the benefit of the doubt just in case the AU hops were shipped to them packaged like that. Most likely they were shipped in bulk, then packed in smaller quantities here, but since I don’t work for them I wouldn’t know and would just call and ask.

 

[Konadog]

FWIW, I received a 1/2 pound bag of the same hops (Galaxy) just last month that was the same way. Hops seemed fresh and unchanged. I just figured that they were packaged differently at a different place.

 

[RyPA]

I did inspect the bag, and it seems sealed, just with some type of gas inside. If I squeeze it, there's no sound or smell of hops present. I just hope it's not oxygen in there, or if it is, the fact that it's sealed maybe has less of an impact over time, versus fresh air having access to get in and out?

Good to hear @Konadog, maybe all/many of their galaxy bags are like this.

I sent an email to explain the situation, with a picture, and asked them to provide their thoughts. For the amount of business they do, I hope they do the right thing. They seem customer oriented.

 

[Konadog]

I thought the same thing when I unpacked them. I put a heavy book on the bag overnight to see if it would push out any gas (O2, CO2, Nitro?). Checked in the morning and nothing changed so I used them that day.

 

[PCABrewing]

Absolutely contact them.
Including today I have received two orders from them in the past three months, all were tightly packed and sealed with vacuum. Last order contained Galaxy and they were vac sealed as well.

They seem pretty focused on good service in my experience.

 

[PCABrewing]

You definitely have air in there. I’d they were nitrogen flushed all of the bags would be loose. Not the end of the world though imo.

You can nitro flush and vacuum too.
I believe that is their process.

 

[RyPA]

I received a response..are hops really this resilient to oxygen? Taking months of exposure to see a noticeable difference..

"Thank you so much for letting us know about the unsealed bag! Great news for all; hops and especially hop pellets are actually extremely durable. It would take months of heat, light, and oxygen to degrade the alphas or oils noticeably at all. I will attach a light (wink wink) read on this for you!

Pop those puppies into a Ziploc bag and/or reseal them as tight as possible and put them in cold storage. Just above freezing is best. We keep our units at 33 degrees.

If you are still finding yourself uneasy about the hops, I can definitely replace them. Just say the word!"

 

[VirginiaHops1]

It's happened to me. No leak, just not completely vac sealed. I didn't even complain to them about it. I'm pretty sure they flush the bags so didn't seem like that big of a deal to me.

I find the part about cold storage(above freezing) as best practice the most interesting part of this thread. I always freeze them, hmmm

 

[RyPA]

I asked for them to be replaced but now wondering if I should just give them a shot, now that 2 in this thread have had this happen. I assume your hops were fine?

 

[BrewSomeMore]

I have had 1 or 2 bags from YVH not sealed. They smelled fine and I just vacuum sealed them. From what I understand temperature is more of a factor than O2 with hops. Also, at my local HBS, they left out Calypso hops for people to smell and they smelled pretty good. I asked how long they were left open. He said they were open for about a week and half. The hops still smelled fresh to me.

 

[RyPA]

Thanks @BrewSomeMore, I think I'll try them and cancel my request to replace them. Going to split all of these bags up into 2-4oz vacuum sealed packs and freeze them. Should be good on hops for a while

 

[wepeeler]

I've had that happen quite a few times. I called them, and they say it's a normal occurrence during shipping, especially in a bulk order (where the cram 5 1lb bags into a medium sized priority box). They told me not to worry about it, and they would replace them if I opened them and they smelled funny. Never had an issue.

 

[BrewSomeMore]

I used to put them in separate bags but just found it easier to seal a bag around the mylar bag. Therefore you get the benefit of the O2 barrier of the mylar and also you don't have to relabel because the label is already on the original bag.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I asked for them to be replaced but now wondering if I should just give them a shot, now that 2 in this thread have had this happen. I assume your hops were fine?

Yeah they seemed fine to me, no different from the vac sealed packs.

 

[RyPA]

I emailed them back saying I no longer needed a replacement and the representative said they had already created the replacement shipping request based on my initial email and to do a side-by-side when I get the replacement, so it looks like I may end up with another pound of Galaxy, leaving me with:

2 lbs of Galaxy
8oz Lupomax Citra
8oz Lupomax Mosaic
8oz Lupomax El Dorado
8oz Lupomax Columbus

I vacuum sealed 4 x 2oz packs of all of the Lupomax, and 4 x 4oz packs of the Galaxy non-Lupomax, and put it all in the freezer. If I do get another pound of Galaxy, I'm definitely doing a single hop Galaxy NEIPA.

 

[Beermeister32]

I think you will be OK, I’ve stored hops in ziplock bags for years without a vacuum sealer, never had an issue.

If you are really worried for a hop heavy IPA, save them for bittering additions.

 

[RyPA]

They looked and smelled completely fine, and I think my packaging process should keep them fresh for a long while

 

[Steveruch]

I think you will be OK, I’ve stored hops in ziplock bags for years without a vacuum sealer, never had an issue.

If you are really worried for a hop heavy IPA, save them for bittering additions.

I had a pound of amarillo hops stored without vacuum sealing that I used the last of almost five years later and they were still good.

 

[RyPA]

I got a shipping confirmation email, and it looks like the representative replaced my entire order, not just the Galaxy. I feel guilty, should I call them? I don't want the poor girl to get fired.

 

[Beermeister32]

Offer to send the extras back to clear your conscience. In reality, it is a low value food product, I don't think they aren't going to want them back, product and general liability. Brew on...!

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I got a shipping confirmation email, and it looks like the representative replaced my entire order, not just the Galaxy. I feel guilty, should I call them? I don't want the poor girl to get fired.

Nobody's getting fired. They're just trying to keep a customer happy and the incremental cost of all those hops is pretty minimal to them. Just take them and appreciate it, and remember they did it for you.

One of the reason's I didn't complain about this when it happened to me was because of their awesome customer service, the few times I've interacted with them

 

[RyPA]

I think it was a mistake, why send me 4 extra bags and not just replace the problem package? Either way, you're right likely nobody would get fired over it.

This was my second time ordering from them, and my first ever bulk hop order which was over $100. I will definitely stick with them..they responded to my initial email pretty quickly.

 

[MaxStout]

The cost for them to replace the whole order isn't even a rounding error to their business. They're doing it out of good will (and probably easier for the order clerk to re-enter the entire order rather than to parse out the one variety). They went above and beyond and I'll give them credit for their customer service.

I'm glad you had a good resolution to this.

 

[RyPA]

The package came today, and it is only the 1 bag of Galaxy, so no guilty conscious. And it is vacuum packed very well.

 

[smcinco]

You can nitro flush and vacuum too.

Thanks. I have a gas flush chamber sealer just like theirs (except mine has two seal bars for added security) so I'm familiar with the process.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I asked for them to be replaced but now wondering if I should just give them a shot, now that 2 in this thread have had this happen. I assume your hops were fine?

Three

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I had a pound of amarillo hops stored without vacuum sealing that I used the last of almost five years later and they were still good.

Before "vacuum seal all the things", one would read many stories like this.

[Supplier replied with]
"Thank you so much for letting us know about the unsealed bag! Great news for all; hops and especially hop pellets are actually extremely durable. It would take months of heat, light, and oxygen to degrade the alphas or oils noticeably at all. I will attach a light [...] read on this for you!

Can you share the "light read" that was mentioned?

 

[Beermeister32]

Send them to me, I'll take care of this problem!

 

[BongoYodeler]

Three

Happened to me last year with an 8oz. or 1LB bag of hops, I forget which. I shot them an email and their reply was basically "Yeah, that happens occasionally. They should be fine to use without any issues, but if they don't produce as expected reply to this email." I used them and they were fine.

 

[mashpaddled]

I think you will be OK, I’ve stored hops in ziplock bags for years without a vacuum sealer, never had an issue.

If you are really worried for a hop heavy IPA, save them for bittering additions.

Same. I have hops in ziplocs in the freezer going back to 2014 that smell fine and work just fine in beer. Granted, they aren't the more fragile high oil varieties.

Once a friend gave me a bunch of pellets he left in his garage in ziplocs for years. I made an IPA with them. They were like 90% good.

I definitely would not worry about a few weeks.