Beer Forum

I bought some bulk hops about 18 months ago and have used them in a couple batches, so I have made my money back by buying them in bulk. They have been in a freezer in Ziploc bags, but not vacuum sealed. What are the chances these are still good to use. I think the likliehood is pretty low, but I thought about using them before I threw them out. I believe they are Northern Brewer, Cascades and Chinook.

Assuming you compressed most of the air out of the bags and kept them at a consistent temperature they should still be good to use. Thaw some out and see how they smell. If they have a cheesy smell to them they are too far gone. Promash (and maybe other brew software) has a hop degradation calculator. You enter the starting AA%, storage temp, and age of the hops and it will give you the current alpha acid level. I've used it several times for old hops like yours and it seems to be pretty close.

Wayne

Thanks for the information. I stepped out and took a look at them and I guess I had the forethought to put them in tupperware and then bag the tupperware. I guess it can't hurt to thaw them out and see what I got.

I am currently using Beer Tools Pro and I am not finding a hop degradation chart. Could someone plug in these hops to see what they come back as?

Cascade 5.4% AA
Chinook 11.5% AA
Northern Brewer 8.9% AA

Let's go with 24 months as the age.
Storage Temp: Probably 0 degrees farenheit or whatever a standard chest freezer would be.

I will probably bitter with the Northern Brewer and then hop burst the crap out of it for an APA.

I appreciate it.

Hit up hop union and download their varietal charts there as well. It should outline which hops tend to be more stable, and at what temps. If I had my siebel resources in front of me, I could give ya a better answer....

I bet you they'll be alright, esp. if you do a rub and they still have the 'fresh' hop character you would expect.

Are they whole leaf or pellet? Pellets are significantly more stable also... so you might have that going for you as well.

I guess my recommendation is to do a rub with them regardless, and see how you perceive the 'freshness' and base it off of that. if they seem rock star, they are probably still great. Go for it. If they seem kind of dull, or any bit cheesy, don't risk it.

I will thaw some out tonight and see what I got. Brew day is still a couple weeks away, so I have plenty of time to test some things out. I referenced the Hop Union pdfs and the information they list about storagability is at 68 F and at 6 months age. The Northern Brewer retained 70% for the metrics listed, Chinook was 60% and Cascade was 50%

That kind of confirms my hop bill.

Bitter or FWH with Northern Brewer
Pile in the Cascades and Chinook the last 20 minutes. I did a total of 5 oz of Chinook and Cascade and then dry hopped an ounce apiece of those last time.

I am using the Tasty APA as my malt bill.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I know it's a bit late, and a bit more work to do this, but it will help if you completely warm them to room temp before opening the bag. That will help prevent condensation on the hops and keep them fresher, longer. To that, if you apportion them into smaller bags, you can remove them individually, and leave the rest in the freezer. Hope this helps!

Rub some between your hands vigorously and smell your cupped hands