THA: New and Old Hops

[coypoo]

I'll be making Two Hearted Ale next week and it calls for 4 oz of Centennial hops. I've got 2 oz of old hops (~3 months old) that have been in the freezer and I just bought 2 oz of new Cent's today. My question is, should the older hops be used as bittering or aroma additions? I'm thinking bittering as the aroma compounds are likely the first to degrade? Thanks,

 

[Kokopuff829]

That's what I would do.... But I'm not 100% sure that's right

 

[bannonb]

In Beersmith there is a menu item that allows you to adjust your hops because of age. It uses knowledge that there is a 25% loss of Alpha Acid % in 6 months.

Given that, it is possible that 3 month old hops could have lost some small percentage of Alpha Acid.

Personally I would never worry about that small amount of IBU correction and just use your most current hops for flavor and aroma. Each brew I make at home could be slightly different, but until I can measure it, I have to disregard it or risk correcting something that's not broken.

 

[coypoo]

Cool, sounds good thanks for the input

 

[JoeBuch]

I've done the same with older hops for bittering

 

[iaefebs]

I only use old hops for aroma addition not for bitter and only if they still smell good

 

[gerbache]

My guess would be that hops from 3 months ago are from the same crop as hops bought today. As long as they've been stored properly in both cases (meaning, freezer, preferably vacuum or nitrogen sealed), I can't imagine that there would be much difference. Now if we were talking about hops from years ago, that would be different.

 

[Calder]

In Beersmith there is a menu item that allows you to adjust your hops because of age. It uses knowledge that there is a 25% loss of Alpha Acid % in 6 months.

Given that, it is possible that 3 month old hops could have lost some small percentage of Alpha Acid.

Personally I would never worry about that small amount of IBU correction and just use your most current hops for flavor and aroma. Each brew I make at home could be slightly different, but until I can measure it, I have to disregard it or risk correcting something that's not broken.

Before anyone panics about their hops, that % loss is a standard measurement and varies with different hop types, and is the % loss of alfa acids if left open at 70F. Centennial is 40%. But if stored correctly (in freezer) it would lose less than 10% in 6 months if kept in a plastic bag. If kept in freezer and vacuum packed, it goes down to less than 5% over 6 months.

If stored correctly, hops will keep well for a couple of years.

 

[coypoo]

They've been in the freezer but only in a ziploc bag with all of the air out. Not ideal, but this was, and probably will be, the only bulk hop purchase for a while

 

[Yooper]

My guess would be that hops from 3 months ago are from the same crop as hops bought today. As long as they've been stored properly in both cases (meaning, freezer, preferably vacuum or nitrogen sealed), I can't imagine that there would be much difference. Now if we were talking about hops from years ago, that would be different.

Right. No matter WHEN you actually bought the hops, they are either from the 2010 or 2009 crop (Probably 2010, but I've seen some older ones around!). So, the hops are the same age. As long as they were stored properly, they should be exactly the same.

I keep hops in my freezer- some are nearly 2 years old by this point as they are harvested in the fall. If vacuum packed, kept sealed and frozen, they will be fine. Once opened, not so much so try to at least squeeze all of the air out of them when you stick them back in the freezer! A food saver ($50 clearance priced) has saved me a ton of money on bulk hops.