I have a few ounces of Chinook and Cascade hops in my freezer from my the last few brews I did late fall 2011. I would say they’re 4 to 5 months old. The packages have been opened, but kept in Ziplock bags in the freezer. Would the Chinooks still be good for bittering, and would the Cascades still be ok for aroma?
Also, Is 1 oz of pellets the same as 1 oz of whole cone hops?
I would think they’d be fine but since they weren’t vacuum sealed, you probably should use them up sooner than later.
If you keep hops vacuum sealed in FoodSaver bags, I’ve found that they will last a very long time in the freezer…I have kept bulk purchased pellets and leaf hops that way for as long as 2 years and experienced very little (if any) negative impact.
If the time ever comes when you’re doing enough brewing to warrant buying hops by the pound, by all means make the relatively small investment on a FoodSaver or Seal-A-Meal unit. Considering the additional advantages of these for food use, it’s a spend you won’t regret.
[quote=“The Professor”]I would think they’d be fine but since they weren’t vacuum sealed, you probably should use them up sooner than later.
If you keep hops vacuum sealed in FoodSaver bags, I’ve found that they will last a very long time in the freezer…I have kept bulk purchased pellets and leaf hops that way for as long as 2 years and experienced very little (if any) negative impact.
If the time ever comes when you’re doing enough brewing to warrant buying hops by the pound, by all means make the relatively small investment on a FoodSaver or Seal-A-Meal unit. Considering the additional advantages of these for food use, it’s a spend you won’t regret.[/quote]
I’ve used hops that were in the freezer over 5 years that were still good. The key is really packing them well, with or without a vacuum sealer.
