About two years ago I ordered 13 lbs of hops from hops direct. Needless to say, I still have about half of them. They have been stored in the freezer in vacuum sealed bags after use. Some of the original packaging has not been opened. How long will the hops last?
I did brew a double IPA with them last night. Guess I’ll find out in 4 weeks if they still produce flavor.
[quote=“Roddy”]About two years ago I ordered 13 lbs of hops from hops direct. Needless to say, I still have about half of them. They have been stored in the freezer in vacuum sealed bags after use. Some of the original packaging has not been opened. How long will the hops last?
I did brew a double IPA with them last night. Guess I’ll find out in 4 weeks if they still produce flavor.[/quote]
you’re probably getting toward needing to use them up - I try to keep it under 2 years if leaf, you can go 3 if pellet. They won’t be bad necessarily after that point, but like any living thing, they deteriorate.
I too have a couple pounds left from hopsdirect that I have not used yet. They are just two years old. Bags are marked 10-13-10. I am not sure why I bought two pounds of Northern Brewer. I only make one beer that uses them and it only uses a couple ounces for 20 gallons.
Because they were like $5 a lb… 
Man, I should probably clean out then. I’ve got a bunch of hops that are in ziploc’s, with as much of the air squeezed out as I can get and I’ve had them for at least a year. They still seem to produce decent flavor and aroma. But maybe I should think about downsizing the amounts that I keep on hand. That or get a vacuum sealer. Or both. Probably should do both.
I have my homegrown hops in vacuum-sealed bags in my freezer, and I have all of my hop pellets in snap-lid Tupperware which are in my refrigerator. As long as you have them sealed somehow, refrigerated or frozen, and exposed to minimal oxygen your hops should be fine. At the brewery I apprenticed at, we had hops in the cooler that didnt get used very often (due to use in only 1 beer), were two years old and still produced aroma and bitterness that would be expected from fresh hop pellets. As I said, just refrigerate them or freeze them and you should be fine. If they are old, the only thing that is going to change is the AA% and aroma. Just use more if that’s the case 
Definitely get a vacuum sealer. Here’s one… REAL cheap. I paid 2x this price 2 weeks ago for the same model, then someone posted this on my homebrew club website just the other day.
http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2011/10/ri ... m=facebookmost beer programs adjust hops by how old they are, I would brew a couple really hop forward beers and they will be gone in no time
[quote=“dobe12”]Definitely get a vacuum sealer. Here’s one… REAL cheap. I paid 2x this price 2 weeks ago for the same model, then someone posted this on my homebrew club website just the other day.
http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2011/10/ri ... m=facebook[/quote]I’ve read reviews that that sealer isn’t that good. I was gonna go with a Foodsaver.
It also says they are sold out.
How do you reply with a quote under this new format?
I don’t know what you’re talking about. The format didn’t change for me.
Seriously?
About a week or two ago, the pages started showing up differently on all my computers. I no longer shows the “quote” icon.
I wonder if it’s just a mac thing.
I really don’t like how it looks.
Change your preference to sub-silver - it remains the same.
[quote=“Roddy”]Seriously?
About a week or two ago, the pages started showing up differently on all my computers. I no longer shows the “quote” icon.
I wonder if it’s just a mac thing.
I really don’t like how it looks.[/quote]
Change your board style to subsilver2. All the quoting and smilies come back. It’s in User Control Panel under Board Preferences.
[quote=“Beersk”][quote=“dobe12”]Definitely get a vacuum sealer. Here’s one… REAL cheap. I paid 2x this price 2 weeks ago for the same model, then someone posted this on my homebrew club website just the other day.
http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2011/10/ri ... m=facebook[/quote]I’ve read reviews that that sealer isn’t that good. I was gonna go with a Foodsaver.[/quote]
+1 I’m on my 2nd Foodsaver in 16 years. We use it a lot.
I’ve ruined a couple german lagers using old hallertau hops. Now i always give them a good sniff after weighing to make sure there is no “cheese.”
I’ve never had the “cheesy” smell, but maybe just not a strong hop smell because they’ve been in the freezer for so long…
[quote=“mrv”][quote=“Beersk”][quote=“dobe12”]Definitely get a vacuum sealer. Here’s one… REAL cheap. I paid 2x this price 2 weeks ago for the same model, then someone posted this on my homebrew club website just the other day.
http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2011/10/ri ... m=facebook[/quote]I’ve read reviews that that sealer isn’t that good. I was gonna go with a Foodsaver.[/quote]
+1 I’m on my 2nd Foodsaver in 16 years. We use it a lot.[/quote]
That’s encouraging. I need to clean out my old hops, get new ones and a foodsaver and start from scratch.
I threw in some 06 Columbus pellet into a plinyish thing this weekend. :shock:
I figured they couldn’t do too much damage.
If you have old hops, brew some styles for which those are recommended. Berliner Weisse works well with them, and I’ve read about Lambic brewers who love them.
