How old is too old for hops?

[menoetes]

Hey Brewheads,

I was ordering some gear off of Craft brewer and browsing their hops when I saw that they had a clearance special on some old glacier hops. They're dirt cheap but then again... they are about 6 years old.

Question; what effect does age have on hops? I understand that the alpha acid percentage can drop but how does that affect flavour and aroma?

 

[Yob]

5 years is a good ceiling, Temple here recently gave away about 50kg of hops that had hit the 5 year mark... that said, stored well, they are still usable for some time beyond 5 years.. not not as good and may start to go a bit cheesy

 

[menoetes]

Thanks for the quick reply Yob. For $3 I'll add them to my order and see how they are when they arrive.

 

[JDW81]

I'd suggest if they are coming from craft brewer then they'll have been well stored and handled in the time that they have been in Ross's hands.

JD

 

[real_beer]

I enjoyed the Ron Pattinson interview below with Brad Smith, not exactly answering your question but he discusses hops around the 24 minute mark. I mention this because the modern slant on hops is mainly all about fresh & new whereas past brewing history with all the wars & shortages this wasn't possible. Meaning older hops might not win you any awards these days in most beer competitions but they can still make you a delicious drink to enjoy & savour. I like all my gadgets & fresh ingredients but I think this has reached new heights of unnecessary worry for the new or average brewer. All this is great if you really want to do it, but not worth losing sleep over if you don't. I just got an Excalibur Dehydrator and was amazed at the length of time some items keep for: Potatoes 20-30 years; Apples 20-25 years; Corn 8-12 years; Peppers 8-12 years; Powdered Eggs/Milk 15-20 years; most Fruit 3-5 years. Buy a vacuum sealer to reseal or repackage your hops into smaller amounts, even just put the bags you bought from the shop straight in the freezer & use them without worry when required throughout your lifespan (or the next 10 to 15 years whichever comes first :lol .

http://beersmith.com/blog/2014/02/14/vintage-english-beer-brewing-with-ron-pattinson-beersmith-podcast-75/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog+%28BeerSmith.com+Home+Brewing+Blog%29

I hope you like the podcast if you listen to it.

Cheers

 

[Yob]

There is also a pod cast from Stan Hieronymus... the bloke who wrote "For the Love of Hops" on there as well..

BS Podcast which is also a good listen

 

[menoetes]

Thanks guys. Good to hear that I might not have thrown my cash away. I'll crack them open when they get here and give them a sniff, if they still smell good then I'll use them in a Mexican cerveza for that lemon hit.

 

[real_beer]

Thanks guys. Good to hear that I might not have thrown my cash away. I'll crack them open when they get here and give them a sniff, if they still smell good then I'll use them in a Mexican cerveza for that lemon hit.

If you ever have any old flower hops you don't want to use in a fresh beer, bung them in a brown paper bag & put them in your shed near the roof, or up in your house ceiling for a year and use them too make a lambic. I haven't done this myself as I'm old and don't want to waste my time making one and then carking it before I can drink it.

 

[bradsbrew]

Thanks for the heads up, just grabbed a pound for around 13 bucks, although it did prompt me to buy other stuff just to make the courier cost more "cost effective". Bloody Ross and his "bargains" :blink:

 

[Bribie G]

I've still got hops from a BB years ago run by Birkdale Bob IIRC and we met up at Chappo's so work that one out
Mostly used for bittering - Chinook, Magnum, etc. However they still smell perfectly good to me.

I often get a not enjoyable cheesy twang from Australian craft brews, it was very noticeable in a Wicked Elf IPA recently and I wonder if the cheesiness is a feature of many C type hops, even when fresh.