How long do whole leaf hops last?

[GloHoppa]

So I'm going to be brewing something either tomorrow or Friday, and I have some hops that I picked last year. Now before you all say, "No way man! Those hops are toast!", keep this in mind: Right after picking, I wrapped them in paper towels, and put them in a small lunchbox in the freezer where I keep yeasts and pellet hops. This stuff has been basically undisturbed since last year. I know the volatile oils are just that, but I was thinking I would add them as a hopback while I'm adding the wort to primary.

Thoughts?

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

I would imagine that those hops are horribly oxidized if you just wrapped them in a paper towel and put them in a lunch box in the freezer. I personally wouldn't use them. Oxidized hop flavor really sucks. Package them in an air-tight container, preferably purged with CO2 or nitrogen and then put them in the freezer.

 

[beeber]

Did you dry them out? They seem to last longer if they are dried out. If they weren't dried out I wouldn't risk it.

 

[scottland]

Oy Vey.

A. You shouldn't keep your yeast in the freezer. Yeast die the freezer.

B. Did you dry these hops out before putting them in the freezer? If not, they are bad.

C. Considering you didn't seal them in something air-tight, they are probably oxidized, and bad.

D. Just buy some new hops, how many ounces could we be talking about?

 

[samc]

Let them come to room temp. Sniff - what do they smell like? Boil some water and throw one in, let it steep - are you getting some bitter?

If they smell ok, I'd consider using them but devaluing the bitterness level by ???

I doubt anybody has stored hops that way so not sure that any of us know the real value of them at this point.


Now if someone gave me a bunch of hops like that (yes they did btw) I'd toss them out (yes I did). Yeah, someone gave me a pound of almost pure sun drenched yellow hops with one greenish cone in the center, they must have been 5 year old hops that were just left out in a barn or storage shed.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

I have been paying a lot of attention lately in getting all oxidation flavors out of my beers and I can tell you that I noticed a huge difference on my last batch when I only used factory sealed hops(hopsdirect 1 lb bag pellets). I had previously been packaging my hops in those Ziploc bags that come with the vacuum. Both bags of hops (the hopsdirect one and the one I packaged) have been in my freezer for the same time, about a year and a half. The factory sealed ones still were nice and fresh while the ones I packaged and vacuumed were very oxidized.

I didn't notice the oxidized flavor as much in lower hopped beers, but I couldn't figure out where the oxidized flavor was coming from in my IPA's. So I did two beers, one with the factory hops and one with the ones I had sealed and had been using and re-sealing. It was night and day difference.

I am going to go to the method Gordon Strong describes in his book Brewing Better Beer. He uses large mason jars and purges them with CO2 or nitrogen and he says that they are good for a very long time that way when stored in the freezer. Obviously you still would have to compensate for AA degradation.

 

[unionrdr]

When I made my IPA,I had to use .5oz out of the 2nd pouch of each of 3 hops. I measured what I needed out of the 2nd one,then folded the top over & creased it. Then sealed it with packing tape (the plastic stuff for boxes,etc). I then put them back in a large zip lock bag,& squeezed the air out. They went back in the top of the freezer for the couple of weeks till dry hop time. They came out just fine. But that,imo,is only good for short term.

 

[unclephilly]

Dry 'em out and freeze them. They'll last an eon. ALSO, if you could vacuum seal them in a food saver...they'll last forever!

 

[GloHoppa]

I can't remember if I zip-locked em. I hope I did!

Luckily, the hop plants are ripe for the picking right now at my parents' house. Its no huge loss if they oxidized, just means more stuff to throw in the composter! I'll pull em out and see how they smell and go from there.

As far as freezing yeast, really I shouldn't? I have always kept dried yeast in the freezer in a soft lunchbox and never had a problem...

 

[Yooper]

Dry 'em out and freeze them. They'll last an eon. ALSO, if you could vacuum seal them in a food saver...they'll last forever!

Yes, once properly dried and vacuum sealed and put in the freezer, they'll last a long, long time. Wet hops (not dried) won't last very long at all, and without vacuum packaging, I'd use them up in short order.

Dry yeast is stored in the fridge at my house, for years. Freezing may work, but it's not recommended.

 

[unionrdr]

It's thought to be the same as,say,a frozen turkey. The frozen ones are denser & take longer to cook because the cell walls burst upon freezing. Yeast cells are thought to do the same thing. Thought to reduce viability. So I put'em in the little butter cubby on the fridge door. It has a roll top door of it's own to contain the packets.