Vacuum Bags and Whole Hops

[Saboral]

Iv'e been using my Foodsaver to bag my cascades, but I worry that the force of the sealer is crushing the hops. I suppose it doesn't matter, does it?

 

[brewerJase]

Hope not. I crushed the hell out of mine. Pellet hops are made under lots of pressure so I would assume all is good

 

[ffaoe]

When the commercial growers harvest their hops, they are compressed into bales. Vacuum sealers do not hurt whole leaf hops at all.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Nope, in fact, the smaller you can crush them the better. Get all that oxygen out of there!

 

[oakbarn]

I have used sealed frsh hops after two years and they still gave off a good aroma. Suck 100% Oxygen out and make sure you have your "seal line" clean. If there is any debris, it looks sealed but you might find them not a tight as when they are stored. I put mine in a freezer.

 

[Saboral]

Cool, I was thinking along these lines. Do they tend to still retain their structure when you empty the bag later? I ask because if not I am thinking it would be good to mason jar (vacuum sealed) some of them for when I want to use them in my hop back.

 

[TriggerHappy]

Mine maintain some of their structure but there are lots of leaves that fall off. I always put them in a muslin bag so I don't get clogs but I don't have a "hop back"

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Do they tend to still retain their structure when you empty the bag later?[...]

Totally. A bag of pressed-flat cones.

One thing worth mentioning is to be sure to winnow out any sticks before vac-bagging.
Sticks can poke holes in the bag and there goes your vacuum...

Cheers!

 

[tjpfeister]

The cones will actually regain the original shape once rehydrated in wort, it's kinda crazy