Old hops dilemma.

[JonM]

I decided to brew the hop-forward Pilsner lager from the Sept/Oct. 2015 Zymurgy. It's a simple pilsner with four late additions of Ultra hops (10, 5, whirlpool, and dry hop).

The recipe calls for each Ultra addition to be 2 oz of 3%AA Ultra hops.

I ordered 8 oz. of Ultra at a super price. They are, however, from the 2014 harvest. They come from a great retailer and I assume they've been well-cared for and stored properly.

Here's the dilemma: The hops listed are 7.5%AA. If they're stronger than the 3%AA in the recipe, that would mean I'd need 1 oz at each addition rather than the 2 called for in the recipe. Running them through a hop age calculator, however, shows that they would have lost about half their potency even with proper storage and that they should be around 3.5%AA now.

So whaddya think? Should I go with the assumption that the formerly 7.5%AA hops are now 3.5%AA and use 2 oz at every addition? Thanks much!

 

[SeeMont]

I'll give this a try, Looks like all your hop are late additions finished with a dry hop addition. With the late additions you are after more aroma rather than bittering. With that I would use the heaver hop load and then see what this brew is like when you rack into a keg or into secondary. At that time you can add more hops to your dry hop. Good luck.

 

[Terek]

i would go with the regular 2 oz additions. i have found aging calculators are pretty accurate, plus in the late additions, AA are less impactful

 

[JonM]

Sounds good. I'll go with the 2 oz additions. Thanks!!

 

[Calder]

Ultra hops will lose roughly half their AAs if stored POORLY for 12 months (left open to the air at 70 F). They supposedly have an HSI of 27%.

If stored properly (vacuum packed at 0 F), they would lose roughly 5% of their AAs.

I think you need to re-check your hop age calculator.

These are late hop additions, so supposedly are mainly for flavor and aroma, so the AAs should not be much off an issue. I'd go with the 2 ozs additions.