Hops Storage

[BasementArtie]

Obviously we all know flushed vacuum sealed hops will last a long while in the freezer and conversely hops stored at ambient temperatures in oxygen rich environments i.e air will stale pretty swiftly, some say 2 weeks however I believe it's much shorter.

Does anyone know how hops deal with a 100% CO2 environment which is ambient ~20C but humid with a lot of moisture?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Storage of hops is a really complicated subject, it's not a simple on/off thing - different compounds age out at different rates, it happens at different rates in different varieties and so on. But for instance alpha acids in Cascade (a bad storer) have a half-life of about 5 months in air at ambient, but cold and oxygen-free will age at <10% that rate or even less, and if either cold OR oxygen-free it's something like 20%.

But I can't imagine the moisture being in any way good for them. It might help if you indicated what scale and for what purpose you're doing this for?

 

[matt.]

Bumping this one up since I was about to post the same question.

How best to store small quantities of hop pellets once out of their vacuum seal packs?
At my 10 liter per brew rate, I would expect some to be a month+ old at times.

Thanks folks

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Bumping this one up since I was about to post the same question.

Storing under CO2 at ambient?

How best to store small quantities of hop pellets once out of their vacuum seal packs?
At my 10 liter per brew rate, I would expect some to be a month+ old at times.

The best answer is - try to avoid having open packs by being smart about hop usage. Much of the time I only have a packet of bittering hops open as my standard brew is some bittering and then a 100g pack of a single hop in 14 or 18 litres.

Crossmyloof are probably a good option for you, as they can sell you hops in any size pack, although VFM drops off below 50g or so as p&p becomes more significant than the hops. But if you really are only ever going to need 10g of Ekuanot in your life ever, then you're better off spending £2.84 on 10g with them, rather than spending £4.30 on 50g or £6.75 on 100g and worrying about it going off.

But to answer the question directly - the enemies of hops are light, heat and oxygen, so do what you can to reduce those three. I don't vacuum seal mine, I just squish the air out as best I can, roll up the open edge and then keep any open hops in the freezer, whereas unopened ones I keep mostly in the fridge.

 

[matt.]

Storing under CO2 at ambient?

The best answer is - try to avoid having open packs by being smart about hop usage. Much of the time I only have a packet of bittering hops open as my standard brew is some bittering and then a 100g pack of a single hop in 14 or 18 litres.

Crossmyloof are probably a good option for you, as they can sell you hops in any size pack, although VFM drops off below 50g or so as p&p becomes more significant than the hops. But if you really are only ever going to need 10g of Ekuanot in your life ever, then you're better off spending £2.84 on 10g with them, rather than spending £4.30 on 50g or £6.75 on 100g and worrying about it going off.

But to answer the question directly - the enemies of hops are light, heat and oxygen, so do what you can to reduce those three. I don't vacuum seal mine, I just squish the air out as best I can, roll up the open edge and then keep any open hops in the freezer, whereas unopened ones I keep mostly in the fridge.

Thanks. Sounds like good advice. I'll pop my small quantities in the freezer. Just to clarify; I'm using pellets not fresh hops.

 

[The Baron]

Either will freeze Matt and is the best way of keeping open hops. Fridge is fine for unopened sealed hops as most are flushed with gas and sealed.

 

[MashBag]

Thanks. Sounds like good advice. I'll pop my small quantities in the freezer. Just to clarify; I'm using pellets not fresh hops.

Vac pac and freeze.

If not vac just get as much air out as you can. Use from frozen. That way the rest never thaw. Pellets are so much easier.