How long do hops keep?

[user 30639]

I have some left over hop pellets from the last kit I brewed. I put them in a zip lock bag, got all the air out that I could, and stuck them back in the fridge.

I assume they'll go bad eventually, how long do I have?

 

[conpewter]

If properly stored (vacuum packed in the freezer) they can last many years. If they are just in a zip lock bag in the fridge, it would be less, but still a fairly long time (I'd still use them after 6 months as long as they still smelled good)

 

[Shawn Hargreaves]

Hops don't ever really go bad, they just fade in intensity until there is no flavor left.

How fast this happens depends both on how you store them (sealed away from oxygen, and in the freezer, is best) and also on the variety of hop.

Beer Smith includes a great utility for calculating this. It comes with data about how quickly different hop varieties degrade, and a tool where you can put in how long your hops have been stored and at what temperature, and it will estimate what their AA% will be.

Or you can just guess: if they've been in the freezer six months, you want to use around 1.3 times as much as when they were fresh, for instance.

 

[shaundesjardins]

Hops don't ever really go bad, they just fade in intensity until there is no flavor left.

How fast this happens depends both on how you store them (sealed away from oxygen, and in the freezer, is best) and also on the variety of hop.

Beer Smith includes a great utility for calculating this. It comes with data about how quickly different hop varieties degrade, and a tool where you can put in how long your hops have been stored and at what temperature, and it will estimate what their AA% will be.

Or you can just guess: if they've been in the freezer six months, you want to use around 1.3 times as much as when they were fresh, for instance.

Thanks.
I just purchased BeerSmith and I didn't know it had that feature.

 

[Shawn Hargreaves]

Hops don't ever really go bad, they just fade in intensity until there is no flavor left.

How fast this happens depends both on how you store them (sealed away from oxygen, and in the freezer, is best) and also on the variety of hop.

Beer Smith includes a great utility for calculating this. It comes with data about how quickly different hop varieties degrade, and a tool where you can put in how long your hops have been stored and at what temperature, and it will estimate what their AA% will be.

Or you can just guess: if they've been in the freezer six months, you want to use around 1.3 times as much as when they were fresh, for instance.

 

[Shawn Hargreaves]

Sorry for the double post - I have no idea how that happened, my browser took like 10 minutes to post and then ended up with two copies!

And now I don't see any way to delete the second one - am I just being dim or do these forums not allow post deletion?

 

[conpewter]

I know members can delete their posts, I'm not sure about free accounts.