Vintage hop AA%

[bolts]

I'm sorting through my pile of hops in the freezer trying to figure out what year's crop they are from. Does anyone have historical data on the AA% for a given year? The hops in question are Freshops brand. I think they are mostly '09 with maybe some '08.


...my next question is -- at what point is it appropriate give up on old hops and start aging them for a lambic? I keep them stored in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer.

Citra
AA - 11.0%

Cascade
AA - 7.0%

Mt. Hood
AA - 4.6%

Magnum
AA - 15%

 

[Walker]

If the hops are vacuum sealed and in the freezer, they will lose about 10-15% of their bittering potential every year. The curve isn't exactly linear, but that's a pretty good approximation.

The temp has a lot to do with it, too.

example:

Hops that were 10% AA originally, vacuum sealed and stored at 0*F, will have an effective AA of about 6.9% after 3 years.

Same hops stored at 20*F will have an effective AA of about 5.3% after three years.

Same hops stored at 70*F will have an effective AA of about 1% after three years.

 

[bolts]

Thanks for the info Walker -- you're getting to my next task of figuring out what AA% is left in them.

Right now i'm really just trying to figure out what year these hops are. The theory being that each years hops have a different AA% .... and if I could find that, I could figure out if I have '08 or '09 hops

 

[Walker]

i don't know that you'll be able to sort out the year by looking at AA. The farm they came form will be another factor.

I have citra hops in the freezer, both are last year's harvest, and not all of the bags have the same AA.