FROZEN HOP TIMESCALE

[Chicken Dipper]

I found some hops in the freezer I bought a couple of years ago, is there any point in using them, or should I ditch them?

[Dr. Dextrin]

If they've been sealed against the air they'll probably be fine.

[Chicken Dipper]

Thanks Doc

I probably should have mentioned that I had opened them and used some, then resealed them securely, so they have had minimal exposure to the air.

What's the worst that could happen? I'm guessing that the flavours may be muted?

[Rookie]

Give them a sniff, it'll be fairly obvious if they're no good. I've had hops still good after nearly six years.*




*Not typical, your results may vary.

[critch]

they should be fine

[orlando]

Any research on this? I have a lot in the freezer and at the rate I'm using them "years" are likely timescales.

[Kev888]

I've had hops older than that, though admittedly sealed (as well as frozen); I too would imagine they'll be okay if they've been in the freeezer and still smell nice though.

I 'once' thought that sealed refridgerated hops lose about 10% of their bitterness in a year, and unsealed ones in the fridge about twice that, and so i'd compensate with the quantities accordingly. Charles Farams outline the storage and effects they anticipate here. Curiously they seem to go with fridge temperatures as ideal, rather than freezer ones.

However in another thread (here) its just been suggested that its more of a conversion of the alpha acids than it is a loss, resulting in less harsh bitterness rather than simply less bitterness. Also that the varieties differ a lot. It sounds very much down to perception, and I may be perceiving less harsh as less bitter anyway, so i'm not sure what i think anymore!

Cheers
Kev

[Chicken Dipper]

Awesome! Will get brewing in that case!! Thanks all