Hop pellets - how long will they keep when opened?

[welly2]

Just got my Pride of Ringwood and Cascade (Mmmm.. smells like beer) hop pellets and had to open them up for a sniff. How long will they keep once opened? The recipe I'm brewing up on Saturday will use 36g of the cascade in total so will have the rest kicking around until I'm ready for another brew (and given I have two fermenters, it might not be long before the next brew day). I'll be keeping them in the fridge - which I assume to be the done thing.

Cheers

 

[sponge]

Keep them in the freezer in an airlock bag if possible, or even better, vacuum sealed.

Oxygen and warmth do not go well with long term storage of hops.


EDIT: Hops will keep for years if kept sealed and in the freezer. I am sure I have recently read a member still using hops from a bulk buy in 2006 with no noticeable degradation, although it's probably best practice to use them within a couple of years.

 

[Black n Tan]

I assume you don't have a vacuum sealer.If not place them in a zip lock back and remove as much air as possible, then seal and keep them in a the freezer.

 

[welly2]

Ok, sounds good. I can do the airlock bag at least. Thank you!

 

[QldKev]

I'm the one that mentioned about the 2006 hops I'm still using in my Aussie beers. If someone told me I don't think I would believe them. :lol:

Ziplock/airlock bags are no where near the same as a decent grade vac bag. But a ziplock/airlock bag is a lot better than leaving it open. If you don't have a vac sealer I would pack them in zip lock bags in usable sized quantities and then wrap them up in glad wrap tightly. Then keep in the freezer, if not then the fridge.

 

[Bribie G]

Ellerslie Hop recommend fridge storage, not freezer. Interestingly major hop sellers such as CraftBrewer and MHB keep their vac pacs in the fridge.

I use ziplocks, not vac sealed, and find they keep for years in the fridge - Aurora aroma hops in a recent brew were great and probably about 18 months old by now.

I'll get a vac eventually, probably next time they come up at Aldi.

 

[tavas]

Ellerslie Hop recommend fridge storage, not freezer. Interestingly major hop sellers such as CraftBrewer and MHB keep their vac pacs in the fridge.

I think from memory that thread was talking more around flowers. The freezer destroys the cell walls when the flowers are frozen, but in the case of pellets the cells are essentially destroyed anyway as part of the pelletising process. However I am happy to be corrected.

I would say shops use fridges for a) reason above, b) turnover of stock so not freezing not essential, and c) save on having fridges and feezers for yeast and hops. Brings it back to 1 storage area.