Old Hops

[Petrolhead]

I have a couple of foil pouches of hops which are a couple of years old. The pouches haven't ever been opened.

So here's the question, I was going to use them in a throw together brew but up the quantities. Am I being foolish and should throw them away? Or if I use them and up the quants then by how much?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It depends a bit on how they've been kept (room temperature or fridge/freezer?) and what variety they are - and just how old they are. Rather than repeat myself, see this thread on Jims.

 

[phildo79]

I had hops stored in a cupboard for years after they were opened. In the end, I decided to brew a batch specifically with those hops in mind. I was weary at first but the brew turned out fine. I didn't compensate by adding any extra, except when I just happened to have a few grams more.

 

[jceg316]

I've found hops 2 years old, stored in my freezer are fine. Only once I've thrown out a bag of hops: it was open, over 5 years old and stank really bad of cheese.

 

[An Ankoù]

So what was the harvest year? I'd use them for late additions and use fresh hops for bittering, but I've run an experiment with 10-year-old hops that should be ready for tasting. Thanks for reminding me. I'll post the results.

 

[An Ankoù]

Right. My old Centennial has been in the bottle for six weeks now and I've just had a bottle and I'm on the second.
So: I made my standard APA malt base coming in at OG 1060 and using recent Columbus to bitter to 40IBUs. Then used the old Centennial Hops thus: 12 litre batch. 12g -10minutes; 18g -5 minutes; 48g <80C steep for 20 minutes. I was going to do a 30g dry hop, but the beer was so pungent on racking that I decided against it.
These Centennial have travelled with me and spent at least 3 years in an uninsulated loft in Poole. They got hot and they got cold. I've had them for at least 10 years in an unopened 250g thick foil vacuum pack which was completely intact. When I opened the pack, rather than a powdery mess, I had a pungent, mass of hops with a very slight oiliness.
When I bottled the beer, the predominant tastes and smells where dank like Simcoe and a deep aroma of something that reminded me of church incense.

THE BEER.
After six weeks in the bottle, I can still taste a residue of priming sugar, but it's been cold down in sunny Brittany. The beer tastes lovely, though. The church incense thing has gone and it's like an IPA. None of the floral perfume of fresh Centennial, to be sure, but a sound beer nevertheless. Would I consider it one of my best? No. Would I think it was effing marvelous if a mate gave it to me to try and I didn't know what it was? Yes.

LESSON. It's the packaging that seems to count with hops.

I've also got a pack of WGV of same provenance.

 

[Petrolhead]

This has been a very interesting thread for me.

It would seem that providing the hops are foil and vacuum sealed they have quite a long shelf life probably improved if kept cool but maybe only marginally.

I think it is similar to many things food related in that the best before dates are the perfect world situation and maybe it takes very good taste buds to appreciate the benefit of freshness.

 

[BradleyW]

I would open them and give em a sniff, if they still smell of hops then they should be ok I imagine. I don't know much about brewing yet but can tell if something has gone off haha

 

[Northern_Brewer]

These Centennial have travelled with me...for at least 10 years in an unopened 250g thick foil vacuum pack which was completely intact...None of the floral perfume of fresh Centennial, to be sure

Well that's kinda the point - the most volatile compounds are the ones that reach your nose as "perfume" but they are the first to leave the hops. Which reinforces the point that old hops can be fine in the kettle but I wouldn't use them as dry hops.

It would seem that providing the hops are foil and vacuum sealed they have quite a long shelf life probably improved if kept cool but maybe only marginally.

I think it is similar to many things food related in that the best before dates are the perfect world situation and maybe it takes very good taste buds to appreciate the benefit of freshness.

It's a bit more than that - you're expecting specific compounds in hops, whose decline can be measured in different circumstances. Excluding oxygen and cold are both pretty effective (but better together) - as long as they're done well. But it may not be obvious when someone has excluded 99% oxygen versus 90% for instance, and that can have a big effect on the rate of decline. Also hop variety is very important - Cascade are notoriously fragile, and different compounds can decay at different rates - myrcene goes quite quickly whereas the more fruity/floral compounds tend to stick around and can even become more prominent with a bit of age.