Hops - How Long They Keep

[adam77]

Wondering how long hops should keep in the freezer?

I am planning on doing a bulk buy, but don't want to get too many.

Thanks,

Adam.

 

[3G]

I like to use with in 1 year. If you can vacuum pack after opening you can get longer. Promash has the ability to adjust recipes for the reduced AA% for different lengths of time and storage conditions. Also different hops keep better for different times.
I suppose like all food freshest is best but you can get away with long storgae conditions if handled correctly.

 

[Adamt]

Well, they won't go off completely - they will lose potency though with time. Degradation is complex and depends on the hop breed, storage method and temperature. You can expect negligible degradation when vacuum sealed and frozen for 6-12 months. When not vacuum sealed you could estimate maybe 10-20% AA reduction per 6 months.

I know Beersmith (not sure about Promash but most likely also) can estimate this for you and contains stability data for many hop breeds.

 

[Katherine]

I have heard they get a cheezy smell when they get to old.

 

[davewaldo]

Some of the experts interviewed on Basic Brewing Radio say that a frost free freezer is BAD for Hops as they run a warm cycle every so often which is damaging to the hops long term.

They recommend storing in a non frost free freezer or if you only have a frost free freezer store the hops in a container with plenty of ice to help balance the temp shifts (hops in bags in the container of course).

I'm yet to do this as I only listened to the podcast this week. But it sounds easy to do, so I think I will.

 

[drsmurto]

From my limited understanding, the degradation rate of hop alpha acids is measured at standard room temp and pressure.

ie. put your hops on a plate and leave it on the kitchen bench.

In the freezer the rate of degradation will me much MUCH less, more so if you vacuum seal them to reduce O2 contact.

Reducing the AA of your hops in your brewing program by the % amount nominated in said brewing program will be massively underestimating your IBUs (IMHO) - unless you store your hops on a plate in your kitchen ..... h34r:

 

[Adamt]

Reducing the AA of your hops in your brewing program by the % amount nominated in said brewing program will be massively underestimating your IBUs (IMHO) - unless you store your hops on a plate in your kitchen ..... h34r:

Beersmith uses correlations involving the STP stability to estimate AA reduction based on (user inputted) storage time, temperature, and storage method (air-tight, vacuum sealed, etc.)

 

[newguy]

I've stored them in my freezer, set @ -19C, for up to 2.5-3 years. They were still fresh smelling up to about 2 years but did start to lose aroma beyond that. Store in an airtight bag and you can squeeze 2 years out of them with no issues as long as they're stored around -20C.

 

[jayse]

I think in the current craft bewing enviroment there is little need for bulk buying hops only to have them sit in the freezer for any length of time if your using 250g per brew it might be worth while but I think at 10 bucks 100g is pretty good value.

As far as the hop age calculators they seem to have a lot of science gone into the workings but even so I am not sold on how accurate they really can be but with a bit of experience you can generally get within 5 ibu of what you aim for.

In some cases it can be as easy as going 5 ibu higher than you normally would and you generally hit your mark in the balance of the beer, in some beers the difference between 5 ibu higher or lower can be little anyway.

Personally I'd go down to somewhere like beerbelly and get the latest supply of fresh hops for every brew rather then try save a couple dollars only to end up with a freezer full of god knows what hops a year down the track.

 

[pdilley]

I have hops from 2005 left. They lose a lot of the aroma and bittering but the preservative qualities remain. Old hops with no smell or taste are prized by Belgian monks for lambics. I've put an old packet through a bog standard Ale as a test of its readiness and it still works, just very mild but fine otherwise. Mmm lambic time soon


Cheers,
Brewer Pete