Older hops

[oxonbrew]

Hi All,

I've tried to brew a tank 7 clone (recipe modified from a BYO magazine).

I used some Amarillo hops that I bought in Denver (cobrew) in 2017, the Yakima website tells me they are 2016 harvest. I've kept the hops unopened in the freezer since I bought them.
They seemed fine when opened, the wort seemed fine after the boil, however the fermented brew (using Wyeast Labs #3724, fermentation temp up to 77f) tasted not quite right, but I can't put my finger on what it is, I'm hoping when it's carb'd it'll taste better.

So my question - are 2016 hops too old to use? (I have several other packets in the freezer...)

Cheers!

 

[smata67]

Sounds like you are bottling? Let it carb up for 3 weeks before jumping to conclusions that there may be something wrong. If hops look, smell, and taste all right, they are probably fine.

 

[kh54s10]

The hops will most certainly have lost some of their oompf. But they should not be bad. I don't brew clones but would prefer fresh hops if I wanted as close as possible to the original. If I am not to concerned with duplicating the original old hops would be OK with me. I have tons of old hops and they still make good beer.

Reminds me, I have to get back to brewing more so that I can use my hops, most of which are just about that old.

 

[Jag75]

As long as they're not oxidized and off colored and smell good they should be fine. I agree with the posts above .

 

[mashpaddled]

I'm sure they will be fine. I have some fairly old hops in the freezer I still use without issue. A friend who dropped out of homebrewing found about half a pound of various hops in his garage that were in unopened mylar bags but had sat out in the garage for probably a couple years through the seasons. He gave them to me so I opened a few bags to see how they were. Honestly they were not that much different from a recent harvest stored in the freezer. Sure, they have probably lost some alpha and some of the more delicate aspects but they were in surprisingly good condition.

I am going to put most of them together in an IPA and serve it up to him and see what he says because he was convinced they must be absolute garbage by now.