Old hops

[MashBag]

Has anyone got any tips for brewing with older hops? You know the ones you bought with a recipe that never happens.... And they are now vac packed in the freezer.

[Mashman]

How old ? Were they fresh when frozen ?

[Fuggled Mind]

I use them for flavour additions in things like porter and stout where the faded taste won't be quite so obvious or a problem.

With really low AA hops that I have failed to use, I first wort hop with them on top of the hops I would normally be using.

I just did this with a pack of minstrel hops I'd had in the freezer for years. Brewed an American style brown ale and first wort hopped with them and added 28g for an aroma addition. Bag was still vacuum packed

Just to be clear though, when I do this, the other hops are normally newish or still fresh.

I should also make it clear, I don't bother if the hops smell cheesey. Not sure if it's a problem but cheesey beer, well...

Cheers

Jason

[MashBag]

How old ? Were they fresh when frozen ?

Yup.

[MashBag]

@Jason

Cheesey?

[Mashman]

I've used old frozen hops for bittering at an increased level with no problems.

[Hairybiker]

Many years ago, I came across a pack of gold vacuum packed hops in a drawer.
I thought I would use them in a brew.
I did and added the WHOLE brick instead of 30g
After fermenting and waiting, I ttasted the brew.
WOW IT WAS BITTER!!
I left it for 6 months and it was drinkable.

So do a small taste and and compare it to new ones if it is much the same then use them at face value or add a few % but don't do what I did and add 350%

[Cobnut]

IIRC the bittering compounds (the alpha acids) do degrade over time (less so if they are kept cold, i.e. in the freezer), but it is more the flavour and aroma compounds (Myrcene, Humulene, Caryophyllene, Farnesene, etc.) which are prone to degrade over time, leaving hops lacking in those beautiful - sometimes subtle - flavours and aromas that we all love in our beers.

For me this means, if you want loads of hop flavour, your hops need to be super fresh, but for bittering, you can probably get away with adding 10-20% more hops if they are a couple of years old.

I'm sure if you make judicious use of google (other search engines being available too), you could find something which would give you a more precise guide, but as human percpetion of bitterness is not super precise (some people say we can't perceive differences of less than about 5IBU), bittering does not need to be super precise. (or maybe this is heretical? ).

[bitter_dave]

Sounds like a dark mild would be good for using up older hops?

[Fuggled Mind]

@Jason

Cheesey?

Somtimes, when hops are old, they take on a cheesey aroma. I've had it with goldings and some others but this was before I was storing them in the freezer. I read if they smell cheesey, don't use them.

Cheers

Jason

[MashBag]

Cheers. Thank you.

[MashBag]

Sounds like a dark mild would be good for using up older hops?

Yeah & mainly for the bittering of such. Pity I need to make about 80 batches

[bitter_dave]

Sounds like a dark mild would be good for using up older hops?

Yeah & mainly for the bittering of such. Pity I need to make about 80 batches

Ok then, may not

[MashBag]

To qualify that -- I inherited a bucket of 100 grams packs of frozen hops. I might never win.

Shout up if you fancy a go..

[Eric]

I've visited larger breweries, with pockets of 2 and 3 year old hops standing open by the scales and hop schedule sheets, who brew better beers than some micros that receive hops direct from Faram's for individual brews.

I still have several packets of old hops in stock which I intend to use, but they won't be late additions or used to dry hop.