Using old hops?

[tacks]

Hi everyone, it's been about 2 year since I brewed, but now that I'm not in school, have a house and time, I'm jumping back in. I had previously bought hops by the pound from Hops Direct, and have 2 bags left. They were both left at room temp for the last 2 years, a pound of Chinook that is unopened, and about 5-6 oz of Belma that had been opened and was left closed with a binder clip. I have a feeling I already know the answer to this, but am I OK to use either of these? I know that the oils, resins and acids will have degraded over time, but I'm on the fence about the Chinook since it was nitrogen flushed and sealed in oxygen barrier packaging. I'm not worried about bacteria because obviously I'm going to be boiling, but are either of these OK to use still or should I just toss 'em? Thanks in advance.

 

[Kent88]

Maybe use them in a lambic?

 

[Mainer]

Aged hops work well for sours.

 

[flars]

Sniff the Belma to judge whether it is even suitable for a funky beer. Have another bag of Chinook on hand and then give the old ones the sniff test when getting ready to brew.

 

[z-bob]

If the Chinook smells okay, it's probably good for aroma/flavoring hops. There's no telling what its bitterness will be.

I found a couple of ounces of 10-ish year old Tettnanger hops that were stored poorly (open Mylar bag closed with a paper clip, room temperature) and they still smell very good. I haven't trusted them to use them, but I moved them to the freezer instead of throwing them out.

 

[Mainer]

Oh wait a sec... room temperature? I was assuming they were kept frozen. Jeez, I'm not sure.

 

[BigJoeBrew]

Use them! If you like a good hoppy IPA use the Chinooks in good amounts, if they have degraded in power, you might still end up with a good Pale Ale. After bittering with like 2-3oz and maybe the same at 10 minutes. Once you try the beer you can decide to keep or pitch the rest. I might just avoid dry hopping with any of them since they could be carrying something, but probably aren't.

 

[Gravity]

why would you keep them at room temp?

Of the the two, the Chinook may have survived. Do a small batch and test the results.

If you would have kept them in the freezer I would have given you resounding "use them!" However, If you don't mind a bit of experimpenaltion, I would use them

 

[tacks]

why would you keep them at room temp?

Of the the two, the Chinook may have survived. Do a small batch and test the results.

If you would have kept them in the freezer I would have given you resounding "use them!" However, If you don't mind a bit of experimpenaltion, I would use them

We moved, I left them with my other homebrewing equipment when moving and didn't remember to put them back, moved again into the house a couple months ago and found them buried in a box of hoses, siphons and airlocks. They smell fine so I'm going to use them, we'll see bkw they turn out. BTW I should have said cellar temp, stprage units in the apartments were in the basements, so about 60°F. Not as good as a freezer but not 75°F.

If they had been in the freezer I wouldn't even have bothered asking, like you say there wouldn't be a reason not to.

 

[Gravity]

We moved, I left them with my other homebrewing equipment when moving and didn't remember to put them back, moved again into the house a couple months ago and found them buried in a box of hoses, siphons and airlocks. They smell fine so I'm going to use them, we'll see bkw they turn out. BTW I should have said cellar temp, stprage units in the apartments were in the basements, so about 60°F. Not as good as a freezer but not 75°F.

If they had been in the freezer I wouldn't even have bothered asking, like you say there wouldn't be a reason not to.

good luck

 

[schematix]

I had hops from the same vendor, probably of similar age and vintage, and even variety as you mention, that i stored in the freezer in vac packs for several years during a brewing lull.

I brewed one batch with them and It changed my brewing practices forever. Now I only use hops from the most current crop year. For all the effort that goes into it, it's not worth having to labor through drinking a beer that isn't as good as it could have been.

 

[Gravity]

I had hops from the same vendor, probably of similar age and vintage, and even variety as you mention, that i stored in the freezer in vac packs for several years during a brewing lull.

I brewed one batch with them and It changed my brewing practices forever. Now I only use hops from the most current crop year. For all the effort that goes into it, it's not worth having to labor through drinking a beer that isn't as good as it could have been.

How many years?

Most brewers (home and commercial) will tell you that they keep sealed pounds of hops in the freezer for extended periods of time and experience no adverse affects. I easily have several pounds of unopened hops in my freezer and use them as I brew, all delicious. Maybe a loss in AA, however thats not a game changer

 

[Mainer]

How dry was the cellar? It would be a good idea to pour the bags out and search them for white spots, black spots, or other visible signs of mold before using. You never know whether moisture was collecting at the bottom of the bag.

 

[Morrey]

FWIW, there is a hop age tool built into BeerSmith. It takes into account storage temps, containers, sealed or open, age...etc. It will then take the original AA% and age it according to your data and give you a new adjusted AA% to see what the hop has lost to aide you in recipe design. Plugging in some random numbers as you outlined, you may see a loss of 50% of the AA% that you started out with. This loss could potentially make a significant difference in a beer you are used to making, so by accounting for your losses, you will come closer to IBU goal.

Mainer has a good point to make sure they "look" ok and nothing funky is going on.

 

[cannman]

If its not brown like cured hay, I'd say go for it... but even JZ did a brew with hay-like hops... um it was crappy so I hear....

 

[schematix]

How many years?

Most brewers (home and commercial) will tell you that they keep sealed pounds of hops in the freezer for extended periods of time and experience no adverse affects. I easily have several pounds of unopened hops in my freezer and use them as I brew, all delicious. Maybe a loss in AA, however thats not a game changer

About 3 years.

The bittering was OK, but they were no good for flavor and aroma.

Brewers also aren't storing 1-2oz bags of hops that have been repacked. They likely have 11 or 44lb bales that are packaged with the correct type of barrier and just due to the scale, has a low amount of surface area.

 

[secondbase]

I honestly would not use them in a beer given how they were stored. Get some fresh hops!

If you're hellbent on not letting these go to waste, you can age them further for use in sours and lambic style beers. The high AA% could be a deterrent though and could inhibit the lactic acid bacteria, as most aged hops are from low AA% hops (willamette, saaz, etc). You'll need a couple more years of aging time to be able to use them in sour beers.