Does anyone buy hops in bulk and have a good source. My aunt found me a older foodsaver with rolls and bags that was used twice at garage sale. Works great! Always wanted one for vacuum sealing meat to keep from wasting it. Figured it would also work for some brewing ingredients. Are all hop varieties cheaper buying in bulk? Is it worth buying say a pound of hops and vacuum sealing them in oz amounts?
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I vacuum pack hops all the time. I grow my own and vacuum pack those, and order half pound/pound bags of varieties I use a lot of. I keep an eye out on homebrewfinds, and also just buy from Amazon. Just this weekend, I did some half ounce measures of flameout hops (blending Rakau, Citra, Amarillo) and vacuum sealed the leftovers for dry hopping in a couple of weeks.
Edited to add a tip- instead of packing by the ounce, vacuum seal all of them in a too big pouch. If you cut it open and take an ounce, you can reseal the large pouch again. Saves on bag use.
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^–This.
I’ve also vacuum sealed DME, pre-measured for making yeast starters. It makes the starter a no brainer, and there is no open bag of DME to turn into a sticky mess.
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I was buying 1lb bulk now I have a freezer full of hops I’m trying to use up. The bittering hops go fairly quick because I generally use the same ones. Some of theflavor hops take awhile to go through. It would be nice if you have some brewing friends you could split the lb bags of stuff you don’t use alot of
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Do buy hops in bulk for the brewery. Separate them in vacum bags.
I have a freezer full of partially used 1 oz bags of hops from various kits that I have brewed over the years that I really need to clean out. I’ve been contemplating going the bulk route myself but don’t yet have a vacuum sealer which is on the list. Out of curiosity, how long do you expect hops to stay sealed in freezer without diminishing? I imagine I would probably start with bittering in bulk and keep ordering aroma and flavor hops on a per batch basis.
Rad
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I buy 1 lb hops from Yakima Valley. Good pricing and flat rate shipping. Then seal in 2 oz packages and stick them in glass mason jar in freezer.
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I used the vacuum method for home grown hops last summer, but had such a back log of beer that I didn’t brew for several months. Just opened a bag of Kent Goldings that still smelled fresh. Anyone know if the bags are oxygen transfer resistant. My hops seemed in really good shape (based on aroma) after 10 months in the freezer.
I buy a lot of hops from Yakima Valley. Good prices, fresh good quality hops. I’ve bought off amazon a few times but last time i got pretty old hops so I’ve gone back to Yakima.
I buy the hops I know by the pound, break them into 2 oz super sucker packages… and freeze them… I will buy 2 oz packages of unknown hops and use them for the trial and taste brew… It is a bummer buying hops at the local home brew shop… They usually don’t have even half pounders… You’ll buy 5 oz’s for about the same cost as a pound… Sneezles61
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Same here I buy 1 lb bags from Yakima valley and vacuum seal 1 oz bags.
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