Label Peelers says longer!

[swedishiron]

Today my order from LabelPeelers which was submitted on Nov 23rd was delivered by FedEx. All was good except the 8oz of Citra leaf hops were missing from the box. There wasn't a note on the invoice sheet so I called their contact phone number and actually spoke with one of their employees. I left my order number and they said they would call me to let me know when the Citra would be shipping. 15 minutes later they called back to let me know that a new shipment was being picked up in the morning and the missing items will be on the way ASAP.

Just wanted to pass along my experience dealing with LabelPeelers during the new crop hops feeding frenzy, overall it has been positive.

 

[Xpertskir]

Much ado about nothing. I received my full shipment of preorder yesterday.

Although the timing of what they said would happen an what did happen was different, overall I would have no qualms with doing it next year.

 

[allenH]

Waiting for me when I got home from lunch.

 

[SavoryChef]

Yup, received my 4# today!!

 

[hogwash]

Got mine today, a pound each of Centennial, Simcoe, & Amarillo. Now I'm wishing I'd ordered some others and will probably do so in the next day or two.

 

[jtejedor]

Yup got mine today. I was just getting a little worried they might not be able to fill the order but I am happy to have received everything I ordered.

 

[brewguyver]

Grrrr - thwarted by the (fedex) man! I threw a Barolo kit onto my order at the last minute, and Fedex refuses to deliver without an adult signature. Not that I can do anything with the hops between now and then, but I still want them in my house.

Looks like I'll be picking them up on Friday!

This has nothing to do with Label Peelers per say - I'm just an ijt.

 

[HoppinThruTX]

My pounds of Citra, Centennial, Amarillo, and FF 7 C's were delivered today. Glad I ordered from them and would do so again.

 

[Dirty25]

Got my 2lbs Amarillo and 1lbs citra today!

 

[kman6234]

Got my lbs of citra and Amarillo today

 

[graduate]

Got my Citra,Simcoe, and Chinooks today. Looking forward to the weekend.

 

[theBFG]

Mine came in yesterday and I picked them up from the apt office today! 1# Citra/Amarillo.

(kinda)

How long do these hopunion bags stay fresh? Is it better to leave the pellets in these until I use them (no idea when) or vacuum seal them (these are definitely not vacuumed sealed, although I swear last time I got them in these bags they were, but perhaps I was mistaken)?

 

[Xpertskir]

Mine came in yesterday and I picked them up from the apt office today! 1# Citra/Amarillo.

(kinda)

How long do these hopunion bags stay fresh? Is it better to leave the pellets in these until I use them (no idea when) or vacuum seal them (these are definitely not vacuumed sealed, although I swear last time I got them in these bags they were, but perhaps I was mistaken)?

The hop union bags are nitrogen flushed which is far better than vaccum sealed.

Leave them in the hop union bags until you use them and keep them at a cold and stable temperature. From my understanding a self defrosting freezer is not your best option because of the warming that takes place when defrosting. I currently use a vegetable crisper drawer, because it my best option until I get a chest freezer Im actually going to use as its intended.

 

[theBFG]

^^ Gotcha. Thanks!

I laughed at the "use as its intended". I too have a chest freezer, but its used as not intended.

 

[bottlebomber]

Mine came in yesterday and I picked them up from the apt office today! 1# Citra/Amarillo.

(kinda)

How long do these hopunion bags stay fresh? Is it better to leave the pellets in these until I use them (no idea when) or vacuum seal them (these are definitely not vacuumed sealed, although I swear last time I got them in these bags they were, but perhaps I was mistaken)?

Honestly the best thing to do is break each pound into 4 ounce bags and seel-o-meal the bags. You won't typically be using more than 4 ounces of one variety so this had been working well for me.

 

[mooshimanx]

The hop union bags are nitrogen flushed which is far better than vaccum sealed.

Leave them in the hop union bags until you use them and keep them at a cold and stable temperature. From my understanding a self defrosting freezer is not your best option because of the warming that takes place when defrosting. I currently use a vegetable crisper drawer, because it my best option until I get a chest freezer Im actually going to use as its intended.

The defrost cycle does not warm up the food in your freezer in the manner you are suggesting. If the defrost cycle worked in the manner you're alluding to, all of your food items would be ruined because they would continually melt and refreeze and your ice cubes would melt and then refreeze into a giant block. The vegetable crisper in your refrigerator portion is inferior because the temperature is simply higher. Even assuming for the sake of argument that the temperature of the hops themselves really did fluctuate like that, it wouldn't create the kind of damage you would have to food from that because pellet hops have almost no retained moisture - i.e. they do not conventionally "freeze."

 

[Xpertskir]

The defrost cycle does not warm up the food in your freezer in the manner you are suggesting. If the defrost cycle worked in the manner you're alluding to, all of your food items would be ruined because they would continually melt and refreeze and your ice cubes would melt and then refreeze into a giant block. The vegetable crisper in your refrigerator portion is inferior because the temperature is simply higher. Even assuming for the sake of argument that the temperature of the hops themselves really did fluctuate like that, it wouldn't create the kind of damage you would have to food from that because pellet hops have almost no retained moisture - i.e. they do not conventionally "freeze."

Actually the defrost cycle does work as I suggest, hence freezer burn on the outside of foods, and the large blocks of ice cubes after extended periods of not using your ice dispenser.

As far as temperature fluctuation being bad for hop storage in self defrosting freezers, that come straight from jamils mouth(not saying he knows it all). His suggestion is to put the hops in your ice storage so as to minimize temperature swings during defrost cycles. Edit, he isnt suggesting freezer burn would occur to the hops, just that a stable temp is less detrimental to AA degredation.

The long and short of it is that the difference between a veggie crisper drawer at <40 and your freezer is probably negligible for periods under a year, especially in nitrogen purged bags.

 

[Calichusetts]

Got my citra, centennial and summit yesterday. Anyone one else get centennial...whats up with the 8%? Saw it in the picture above as well. Seems low, can't complain since that means I can use more but I've never seen it that low

 

[allenH]

Got my citra, centennial and summit yesterday. Anyone one else get centennial...whats up with the 8%? Saw it in the picture above as well. Seems low, can't complain since that means I can use more but I've never seen it that low

8-11% is the average range. I believe the hop union stuff I had last year was pretty low too. I do have some organic Cascade that comes in at 8.1%, which is higher than the AA range for them.

 

[theveganbrewer]

I noticed that too, had over 10% last year. Oh well, I'll have enough to get by, I think I have 2 pounds of Centennial still.

 

[brewguyver]

Just got mine - very excited. The only surprise is how small a # bag of pellets is. Next year I'll have to go big with leaf hops.

 

[theveganbrewer]

Just got mine - very excited. The only surprise is how small a # bag of pellets is. Next year I'll have to go big with leaf hops.

I hate leaf hops. They are huge and a major PITA to get into smaller bags. If I'd have known I was guaranteed Citra pellets, I'd have never bought Citra leaf.

 

[dbrewski]

I hate leaf hops. They are huge and a major PITA to get into smaller bags. If I'd have known I was guaranteed Citra pellets, I'd have never bought Citra leaf.

I hear you on that. I have an unopened pound of citra leaf right now, I am out of space and sitting on a number pounds of Citra pellet and don't really need them (the leaf).

I started brewing a long time ago before I took a very long break, back then I only remember using leaf hops. When I got back into I used leaf hops out of habit. Then I started to understand some of the convenience factor of pellets. I may never go back.

 

[bottlebomber]

I think leaf hops taste better, and I actually find them easier to use since try don't clog my equipment. They are also great for dry hopping and leave way less mess in the fermenter.

 

[allenH]

I think leaf hops taste better, and I actually find them easier to use since try don't clog my equipment. They are also great for dry hopping and leave way less mess in the fermenter.

I used my Centennial leaf the day it came in the mail to dry hop my Two Hearted (as close as it gets) clone. After it was carbed, it knocked my socks off, I finally understood what centennial is supposed to taste like. I have dry hopped plenty of beers with pellets, I have never had these type of results.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I think leaf hops taste better, and I actually find them easier to use since try don't clog my equipment. They are also great for dry hopping and leave way less mess in the fermenter.

I can't say that I think one taste "better" then the other, but I do think leaf and pellet hops of the same variety taste differently, and I also appreciate these other features.

That said, if I'm not going to recycle/reuse yeast, and I'm going to dryhop in the fermenter I still prefer pellets. But for the boil and dryhopping in the keg, I prefer leaf.

 

[berrywise]

Just ordered up three pounds of leaf hops (Cascade, Citra, Centennial).

An FYI for anyone looking to order they are running a promo right now for 20 percent off.

Use code NEWYEAR at checkout.