[braz24]

I have about 7 oz of 1 oz packets of sealed hop pellets that have been refrigerated since November.  Does anyone know if these are still good or if there is a good way to determine the alpha-acid loss?

[Stevie]

Here is a calculator. http://brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=calculators&id=cal16&u=eng

There are others out there as well.

[jeffjm]

It depends on how well they were packaged to begin with. If they were vacuum-packed or nitrogen-flushed, they should have minimal degradation. If they had lots of exposure to oxygen prior to or during packaging, they'll degrade quicker. The calculator Steve posted a link to is one of the better ones because it takes those variables into consideration.

I notice you said 'refrigerated', not 'frozen'. The colder you keep your hops, the better. Store them in the freezer if possible.

FWIW, I recently brewed with vacuum-packed and frozen Nugget pellets that I'd had for at least 18 months. They still had good aroma to them, and the bittering was fine. It wasn't a particularly hoppy beer, so YMMV.

[ynotbrusum]

You can always use them in a sour beer...some guys age hops for this purpose.