If I’m not able to brew my wet hop recipe when the hops are ready to harvest how can I save them to use later? And how much later?
Hops, like any other plant part, will begin to deteriorate as soon as they’re picked. Fresh is best in this case. I’m sure you can prolong the freshness for a short while by keeping them in the fridge but I have no idea how long as I haven’t played around with fresh hops. I prefer mine dried and don’t really care for the grassy character that wet hops lend to the beers. I’ve seen the distributors ship them overnight to brewers packed in coolers so I’d assume they’re probably (at least) a few days old before they’re used. Just some observations ~ good luck!
I would not refrigerate, you’re asking for mold. I would put them in a ziplock bag, squeeze all the air out possible, and freeze.
Sounds stupid but debbie meyer green bags work wonders for fruits and vegetables. If you have enough to experiment with try out a couple of different methods and let the forum know of your results.
Good Luck!
Based on trying it once, I think you’re going to be disappointed in frozen wet hops.
Yeah if you freeze them, the water in the hop will expand. Once thawed the hop will turn into mush.
Freezer did me no good one year but simply leaving them on the bine until you’re ready to brew has given me the best results for that " fresh hop ale".
