IsoAlpha extract shelf stability

[DaveSeattle]

I'm looking at getting some isomerized extract for post-brew bittering adjustment, as well as for some experimentation, but the stuff is pretty expensive and it will take me many batches to use a full container. Do any of you know if this stuff will keep well once opened? Seems like it might oxidize pretty much immediately unless stored in a vacuum?

Specifically I'm looking at this stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=as2&tag=hombrefin-20&linkId=LGEURHDMJIZYYT4S

I know there's also this stuff:

http://www.hoptech.com/products/iso-alpha-extract-2-oz

But it's $12 to add 16 ibu to 1 barrel ($1.25/BU/barrel) while the KalSec stuff is $75 to add 10 IBU to 50-75 barrels ($0.10/BU/barrel).

 

[ten80]

Buy some 10ml syringes (from ebay or Amazon) and fill them directly from the bottle, then purge any air bubbles and cap and freeze them till needed. You can then dispense measured amounts as needed without exposing the stored extracts to oxygen.

 

[DaveSeattle]

Oh yeah, great call, thanks! I even have a bunch of syringes that I got to use with CO2 extract (which isn't isomerized so can't be used for bittering without boiling).

 

[bierhaus15]

Once opened, it is best to keep it cold and use it within a few months. Most of them do have a use by date on the packaging.

That said, I would not bother using either of those products, unless you are consistently having issues with bitterness. As much as these hop products claim to not impact flavor, they can impart an artificial quality and its very easy to add to much.

 

[DaveSeattle]

The main place I've been having issues is with beers undergoing extended aging - even though I up the bitterness in the recipe to compensate, sometimes too much bitterness drops out during aging and the beer is unbalanced. I was also thinking of making a "science beer", a beer as close to artificial as possible, just to see if it could be done with decent quality . But it sounds like it would not taste very good.

I should have done some math on the number of batches in the big bottle - it's 300. At one dose a month (more than I hope to have to dose for sure!), the big can of extract will last 25 years. So, small shot it is.

 

[agrazela]

...I would not bother using either of those products, unless you are consistently having issues with bitterness. As much as these hop products claim to not impact flavor, they can impart an artificial quality and its very easy to add to much.

I mostly agree with this.

I've used the HopTech stuff (though not the other one). I found that it imparted a strange, "soapy" flavor, and that it did not add as much bitterness (to my palate) as claimed.

OP, you did mention the CO2 extracted hop extract (like HopShots); yes that needs to be boiled, but man that material is 1000x better than the pre-isomerized stuff. I suppose if you wanted to make your "science beer" (with, I guess, as little cooking as possible?) you could side-boil some HopShot in a small pot of sugar (or extract) water?

BTW, what else do you see going into your "science beer?" e.g., What are you doing for malt (replacement)?

 

[DaveSeattle]

Interesting, thanks for the review. Guess I'll boil up a HopShot and use that instead.

Besides hop extract, I was thinking I could use maltodextrin for body, sugar for alcohol, lactose for a bit of residual sweetness, and food coloring. And force carbonate obviously . It would be an IPA. I think it will need some sort of additional flavor to approximate malt, but haven't figured that part out yet - obviously that's a crucial part of it. I'm wondering if there's some sort of flavoring blend, maybe for gluten free cooking, that I could leverage. Hop extract is still kind of cheating since it's derived from natural products, but I doubt there's a way to replace it. v2 might even omit the yeast and just add grain ethanol directly - if that works, I would have "instant beer". It will be both more expensive and worse-tasting than a normally fermented beer, but "instant beer" would be pretty cool. This makes me think I should put some DME in my emergency kit .

 

[slym2none]

So... you aren't really making beer?

 

[DaveSeattle]

Mostly I'm making beer the normal way, using a 3-vessel AG system. But I thought it would be fun to see how close to beer I could get using only artificial ingredients and as little prep as possible, ideally getting to instant beer where you just mix the ingredients together and drink. Just a fun idea, not going to be the main product of my brewery or anything.

 

[slym2none]

Got it. Interesting experiment!