Storing Hops...have I ruined all my Hops?

[jodrell]

I've not brewed for around 6 months due to time constraints but I'm not worried because all my ingredients are well stored, or so I thought.

I've got 5 different types of Hops that I'd brought dried for different brews I did last year and they're all nicely stored in airtight Kilner jars.

Talking to someone recently at a beer festival they mentioned that Hops should always be stored in the dark whereas mine are sat nicely in their jars on a shelf in my garage. my question is, have I ruined all my Hops?

 

[Hawks]

Store them in the freezer to keep them at their best - ideally vac pac, but I keep mine in sealed bags inside a tupperware. This is then in the depths of the chest freezer.

After 6 months in a jar they are not likely to be at their best

 

[jodrell]

Not at their best...does that mean I'd need to use more to achieve the same effect or just that the taste will be 'wrong' and I'd be better off chucking the lot, learning form the mistake and storing the next lot in the freezer??

 

[Hawks]

You could check them over and probably use them if they look / smell ok. You may need to use more as the AA will have dropped, and they can go a bit 'cheesy' ( but you should be able to smell this on them ). They will also have lost a lot of taste / aroma....

If it were me, I'd bin them to be honest - at around £2 for 100g it's not worth risking a cr*p beer.

 

[jodrell]

Yah, it's not like I'm chucking away hundreds of pounds worth of stock...and if I happen upon a brilliant brew I'm not sure I could replicate the state of the hops to recreate it :-)

Thanks for the info