my LHBS doesn't refrigerate their hops?

[size]

they have a fridge they keep their backstock in, but the packages on the display are kept at room temperature.

is this a huge deal?

what about with yeast?

because if it's a big deal i'm going to say something to the guy, or just head to one about a half hour away where they refrigerate everything.

 

[JMSetzler]

I guess it would depend on how the hops are packaged. Most hop pellets are sealed in nitrogen and won't have much of an issue with being at room temperature. Dry yeasts would be the same way. Liquid yeasts need to be refrigerated though...

 

[The Pol]

Hops and yeast are BEST refrigerated. I have never seen a LHBS that kept any of them outside a fridge/freezer

Odd that they keep SOME in a fridge, and others not. If it werent an issue at all, why refrigerate ANY of them? Hrmmmm.

 

[ChshreCat]

One shop I stop at on rare occasions has all their dry yeasts in a display rack at the front counter. I don't usually go there though. My main LHBS keeps all their hops and yeast in coolers.

 

[enderwig]

Personally, I would shop somewhere else. As ThePol said, I have never been to a lhbs that did not refrigerate.

 

[rsmith179]

My LHBS doesn't have any hops in coolers either. They are all vaccum sealed though and should be quite fine without cooling. Just make sure that the package is still tightly sealed and try to get the freshest ones possible. All of the kits I've ever purchased also came in those vaccum sealed pouches, so I would assume the big boys like Midwest don't refrigerate them either.

Yeast on the other hand... I would definately want to see that in a cooler. My LHBS does have a small cooler with all of its liquid and dry yeasts. I would never buy a vial of yeast that is not cooled somehow.

 

[The Pol]

Id bet dollars to doughnuts that Midwest chills thier hops as well. All vaccuum sealed hops I have seen, have been in fridges or freezers as well.

Is there any truth to the idea that if you vaccuum seal them, you dont need to refrigerate them? All hop AA loss formulas I have seen take into consideration the temp that the hops are stored at.

 

[yeasty]

all the kits on all the shelves of the 3 home brew stores i have been in sit un-refrigerated. if you buy the ingredients separately you get the ones out of the fridge (although i doubt they were shipped refrigerated). they are in identical packaging as the ones in the kits.

 

[david_42]

Is there any truth to the idea that if you vaccuum seal them, you dont need to refrigerate them?

No, the de-composition of the alpha acids is a function of temperature. Vacuum-sealing will prevent oxidation of the oils.

 

[kryolla]

look at the hops and if they are brown in color I wouldnt use them.

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

You definetly want your hops to be stored cold, and without O2 hanging around. When we et hops in they go straight to the freezer. When take them out to package them down into ounces, then back into the freezer. We vacuum seal all the hops in foil bags. I would not think anyone would want anything less than that.

Ed

 

[Beerrific]

One of the stores local to me does not refrigerate its 1 oz. hop packages. But, they go through hops very fast. There is a person there filing hop bags all the time. I think that is the key, if they are on the shelf for a couple days it is not really a big deal.

 

[yeasty]

so are you guys saying some LHBS places have all their KITS in the fridge as well ? i have never seen that. i guess i need to re-think buying the kits and get everything individually.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

A lot of stores have the hops cold if you are buying hops. But they have thier kits pre-made on the shelf at room temperature with the hops in them. Even some of the big ones. I don't want to say which ones.

We make the kits as they are ordered. With over 800 recipe kits we have to do that anyway. Freshness is king.

Forrest

 

[knownikko]

The "kits" at my LHBS are really just a bag of pre-crushed/mixed grains and some extract. Then you consult the label which tells you quantities and types of hops / yeast to grab from the cooler to complete the recipe.

I think that approach works pretty well.

 

[gingerdawg]

Id bet dollars to doughnuts that Midwest chills thier hops as well. All vaccuum sealed hops I have seen, have been in fridges or freezers as well.

Yes, they do refridgerate them. The extract kits are stored at room temp, but they go through them rather quickly. Every time I have been there, they are restocking the extract kits. The specialty grains are not pre-crushed. they will crush them if you ask.
They don't have all-grain kits on the shelf, so they must make them to order.