[trapae]

 For those of you who vacuum seal your hops and keep them in the freezer like I do, what's the longest that you will still use your hops after being stored?

[yso191]

Are you using them for alpha/bittering, or for flavor & aroma?  If it is for flavor and aroma I have no idea.  I just asked that question today on this forum.  If is for bittering, it is really variety dependent.  But here is a good reference page: http://www.morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.1/garetz.html

[brewinhard]

With aged hops, there are typically hop degradation calculators on brewing software that one can utilize to adjust the alpha acids based on age. As for flavor/aroma, if vaccuum sealed and kept cold in the freezer, I think they can easily stay fresh for years (4-5).

[jjflash]

During the 2008 hop shortage I way over bought pellet hops in a panic thinking I would not have enough.
They were all noble hops or their offspring with similar characteristics.
I have stored these in a freezer at zero degrees since they arrived.
I continue to use these for bittering additions with only slightly decreased bittering noted.
Have not noted any off flavor issues.

[zwiller]

Add me to the list saying they last a long time.  In addition, any time I used a degradation calculator I ended up overbittered...  I bet 10 years might even be fine if stored well. 

[mabrungard]

I agree! When sealed in metallized mylar bags and kept at freezing temps, hops do seem to last a long time. I have hops kept this way that are 4 or 5 years old and they seem to still to produce desirable bittering, flavor, and aroma character in my beers.

[rob_f]

Martin, are you using metallized vacuum seal or zip-lock?

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[HoosierBrew]

My hops aren't in metallized bags - I use Food Saver bags that go with my vacuum sealer. Long term storage works really well in them.

[mabrungard]

I don't have a vacuum resealer, but I do have a heat resealer. I buy my mainstay hops in 1 lb packs that typically come as vacuum sealed metallized mylar bags. I clip off enough of the bag to get some hops out and reseal with the heat bar. Not perfect, but seems to be adequate.

[rob_f]

I've had hops from 2014 in Food Saver with success, metallized vacuum seal would be even better.

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[Steve Ruch]

I had some amarillo in the freezer that was still good after nearly six years.

[Saccharomyces]

I used to use my FoodSaver religiously when I was a whole hops plus false bottom brewer, but I started to use Talenti ice cream containers after switching to using pellets.  A Telenti pint-size ice cream container holds about 8ozs of pellets.  These containers are clearly made from one of the new O₂ barrier PET resins. 

[Stevie]

I used to use my FoodSaver religiously when I was a whole hops plus false bottom brewer, but I started to use Talenti ice cream containers after switching to using pellets.  A Telenti pint-size ice cream container holds about 8ozs of pellets.  These containers are clearly made from one of the new O₂ barrier PET resins.

I will sometimes use pint mason jars with the foodsaver jar attachment. My issue with jars is they take up the same amount of space when a quarter full as they do completely full.

I do keep a quart jar to collect my remnant hops. I brew an IPA when it is full.

I do have a bunch of the Telenti pints that I use to store hardware and other small bits. They are great jars as they don't have a shoulder, they are very ridged, and they are clear.

[brewinhard]

I used to use my FoodSaver religiously when I was a whole hops plus false bottom brewer, but I started to use Talenti ice cream containers after switching to using pellets.  A Telenti pint-size ice cream container holds about 8ozs of pellets.  These containers are clearly made from one of the new O₂ barrier PET resins.

I am assuming those can't be flushed or purged of O2 though?

[erockrph]

I used to use my FoodSaver religiously when I was a whole hops plus false bottom brewer, but I started to use Talenti ice cream containers after switching to using pellets.  A Telenti pint-size ice cream container holds about 8ozs of pellets.  These containers are clearly made from one of the new O₂ barrier PET resins.

I am assuming those can't be flushed or purged of O2 though?

Bah, you're only storing hops, not mashing a helles