Hop Age Bitterness Loss

[lastdrinks]

I know that it must be fact that hop bitterness reduces with age. But i just want get some advice from more experienced brewers before i put down my first real AG lager. As from my Beersmith calculations says my vacuum packed 2007 Hallertau Tradition hops will have drop from 4.8%AA to roughly 2.02%AA. Which means i should use all 90grams for a 60 minute boil to get to mid twenties IBU.

Should i really be expecting such a large drop from vacuum packed refridgerated hops??? Either way it should work ok but was just curious if people adjust their hop schedule amounts for hop age????

 

[Kai]

Just out of curiosity, because I've never used Beersmith, if your 2007 hops were twice, three times, or quadruple the original alpha then does beersmith still drop the alpha proportionally, make the difference linear, or somewhere inbetween?

Hops definitely do lose AA over time but I'd be genuinely surprised to hear they drop that much.

 

[lastdrinks]

Beersmith has different deterioration rates for each individual hop.

 

[Screwtop]

I know that it must be fact that hop bitterness reduces with age. But i just want get some advice from more experienced brewers before i put down my first real AG lager. As from my Beersmith calculations says my vacuum packed 2007 Hallertau Tradition hops will have drop from 4.8%AA to roughly 2.02%AA. Which means i should use all 90grams for a 60 minute boil to get to mid twenties IBU.

Should i really be expecting such a large drop from vacuum packed refridgerated hops??? Either way it should work ok but was just curious if people adjust their hop schedule amounts for hop age????

As a rule of thumb, and this is just what I do, does not mean it is the correct way, just my way and works as a rule of thumb for me. IF the hops have been stored in a freezer and they are unopened I don't age adjust them. If the pack has been opened I binary split the age for the calculation in Beersmith. IE: 2006 crop = 4 years old (48 months) so I enter 24 months. Be interesting to see how others approach this.

Just out of curiosity, because I've never used Beersmith, if your 2007 hops were twice, three times, or quadruple the original alpha then does beersmith still drop the alpha proportionally, make the difference linear, or somewhere inbetween?

Hops definitely do lose AA over time but I'd be genuinely surprised to hear they drop that much.

Kai, in Beersmith the HSI for 6 months is a variable entered for each hop variety. Seriously doubt the accuracy of the figures included in the Beersmith Hop Database. Most likely this would change with each crop as does AA% etc.