Storing hops

[Portreath]

What is the best methods of storing hop pellets once opened. I've resealed mine and put them in the fridge, is this an OK method?

 

[foxbat]

Most people put them in the freezer not the fridge

 

[big yogi]

freezer for me

 

[Leon103]

Yeah use the freezer

 

[Martybhoy]

Freeze them bad boys

 

[Stephenj]

Seal as best as possible and freezer. Not sure how long is too long I there but seems ok for a while

 

[chthon]

I bought fresh hops from cultivator, and the package says to store at least at -5 °C.

 

[Portreath]

Thanks for the responses. Guess it's the freezer then. Have a great weekend Guys.

 

[GerritT]

Not a freezer.

 

[Martybhoy]

Below is a response to an email I sent in 2016 to The Malt Miller about hop degredation, and using calculators to work out remaining effectiveness.

 

[Sadfield]

Not a freezer.

View attachment 14090

Not ideal.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[GerritT]

Not ideal.

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Yet somehow good enough.

 

[Sadfield]

I suppose it's similar to the salad aisle in the supermarket, unrefrigerated is good enough for a short while, but most of us know the benefit to shelflife of putting produce in the fridge once we get it home.

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[simon12]

I was a bit shocked when I went to Larkins brewery where they grow and dry most of there hops on sight and keep them in massive unsealed bags in a the cool 12C-ish room where they keep the filled casks.

 

[chthon]

But I wonder at the turnaround time of hops in brewing shops, seeing as the ones I use still have hops from 2016 and 2015, and nothing from 2017 yet. Made me decide to order hops at a cultivator. Positive: really fresh frozen. Somewhat (but not that much) negative, have to order in 500 g. So I ordered 500 Merkur (which seems to be a more disease resisten version of Magnum), and 500 g Eastwell Goldings. Well, I just use bigger batches of hop and adjust timing, so that next year I can order fresh hops from 2018.

 

[Malt Muncher]

I got a cheap vacuum sealer from Amazon for 20 bucks to store hops after the pack has been opened, then stick them in the freezer. Probably doesn't matter so much if you're gonna use them quick, but I tend to bulk buy and use them over a year or so. I guess different storage methods will have an impact on the levels of alpha and beta acids in the hops and hence bitterness of your brew, so gotta take the recipe calculators with a pinch of salt if you've stored the hops for a while.

 

[Dmet]

I guess the ones shown in the chiller above are ok because they are in vacuum sealed bags. One of the ways hops degrade is through oxidization so unopened they will be exposed to air so degrade. Guess it is also like food, the colder they are or frozen the less likely they are to give up their oils and lose their properties.

 

[Hoppy]

The most important thing is temp and oxygen. Air tight and freeze.

Commercially brewers use hops very quickly, so they might use hops in 2-3 weeks, then have another delivery. You will find for hops not used regularly will be in the freezer. Plus they may use whole bags in each brew.
I, like Simon 12 was surprised, this is really the exception, rather than the rule.

Rob at the Malt Miller is correct, these calculators are way off. For example, Columbus bales will lose 50%+ of its AAs at room temp after 6 months (as will Cascade & Mount Hood) whereas Apollo will have 90%.
Storage for alpha acids depends on the Alpha:Beta ratio. AAs when oxidised turn to beta, even though these have 80% of the bittering potential of AAs and are less soluble during the boil, the bittering potential does not degrade as quick as the AA decomposition.
Aroma is a different matter........
I see the quote from The Malt Miller 'Ask a hundred brewers a question and you will have a hundred different answers back'
We have 2000 in the UK...........

 

[dafbach]

I have bought a small vacuum packer to pack my hops into smaller quantities, however before I do, for those that freeze them in larger batches and want to use say half of one frozen batch is it easy to take say 20g out of a batch of 50g, or do they clump together?

I mostly use pellets.

Thank you in advance.