Hops storage with Wine Preservation Spray

[sauceman16]

Does anyone have any experience trying this with their hops? I'm considering a vacuum sealer but they would still leave some oxygen in the package. I thought this technique might work well when buying hops in larger quantities and using something like a gatorade bottle filled with hops and inert gas.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AS4NCM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Here is the item that I am describing.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

I would think it would be more beneficial and more cost effective in the long run to just pick up a small CO2 tank to do this with. I have a separate 5 lb tank that I use just for purging things like my mason jars full of hop pellets that go in my freezer.

If you look around on craigslist you can often find a small tank setup for a good price. In fact, what I look for is people getting rid of a keg fridge that was set up for commercial kegs. They often don't realize the homebrew value in these items and you can get a great deal on them. Then you have the CO2 setup, plus a fermentation fridge. That is how I got both of my fermentation fridges, plus another for my neighbor and multiple CO2 tanks.

 

[one-L]

No experience with anything like that, but I do have a vaccum sealer. I guess I would ask how long are you planning on storing? I have hops coming up on a year old now that have been broken down into 2 oz packages in foodsaver bags and kept in the freezer and I have seen no appreciable loss in quality over that time. Still smell the same when popping them open now as they did when I broke them all down. Plus I use the foodsaver for all sorts of other things so its basically paid for itself. I have about 6 lbs of hops in the freezer.

 

[sauceman16]

I have been trying to resist the full investment into kegging for a while now but your reply makes a lot of sense. A kegerator with an extra hose seems like a very appropriate way to do this if I can find one for a cheap. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

I have been trying to resist the full investment into kegging for a while now but your reply makes a lot of sense. A kegerator with an extra hose seems like a very appropriate way to do this if I can find one for a cheap. Thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, if you look around you can find some good deals. I paid around $100 each for my two fridges and they came with CO2 tank, regulator, and a bunch of fittings.

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated brewery room in my house where I keep a 5 lb tank on my work desk that has two lines coming off of it. One line has a keg connector for flushing kegs and pushing beer for filtering and one line has a picnic tap for flushing things with CO2, including my hop jars.

I can't remember where, but I heard or read something from a source that would know, that pellets stored in jars flushed with CO2 in the freezer should keep them good for 4-5 years if you wanted to.