I am looking for comments/notions on this topic since I am no expert.
Hop pellets, at least at my supplier, have become expensive -- almost painfully so.
Like most brewers, I have some residual hops saved in the freezer -- left over from other batches and saved cause I am thrifty. Unfortunately there never seems to be enough of any one hop to do much good for new recipes but there they sit in the a non air circulating freezer -- a chest type freezer, not a kitchen type frost free freezer. The temperature is typically at -10F in my case to ensure prolonged meat/fish preservation.
The owner of my local supplier suggested that older hops could be successfully used for bittering. He said that in essence any hop used for bittering cooks for a long time – 45 to 60 minutes. Any of the flavoring ingredients are long evaporated in the boil steam and the only thing left is the bittering ingredients.
His view was that any hop, bittering or flavoring variety, would be acceptable since the contribution to the actual taste was non-existent. The only thing that is necessary is to insure that the Alpha Acid content was adequate for the recipe.
Weight (ounces) of hop * % of AA = bittering component
To substitute, look at what the recipe calls for and compute the requisite AA component.
Now calculate your supply of other hops and their AA contribution. Match the substitute hop quantity to equal what the recipe called for.
Any views on this 'hint' to use older hops would be appreciated.
Hop pellets, at least at my supplier, have become expensive -- almost painfully so.
Like most brewers, I have some residual hops saved in the freezer -- left over from other batches and saved cause I am thrifty. Unfortunately there never seems to be enough of any one hop to do much good for new recipes but there they sit in the a non air circulating freezer -- a chest type freezer, not a kitchen type frost free freezer. The temperature is typically at -10F in my case to ensure prolonged meat/fish preservation.
The owner of my local supplier suggested that older hops could be successfully used for bittering. He said that in essence any hop used for bittering cooks for a long time – 45 to 60 minutes. Any of the flavoring ingredients are long evaporated in the boil steam and the only thing left is the bittering ingredients.
His view was that any hop, bittering or flavoring variety, would be acceptable since the contribution to the actual taste was non-existent. The only thing that is necessary is to insure that the Alpha Acid content was adequate for the recipe.
Weight (ounces) of hop * % of AA = bittering component
To substitute, look at what the recipe calls for and compute the requisite AA component.
Now calculate your supply of other hops and their AA contribution. Match the substitute hop quantity to equal what the recipe called for.
Any views on this 'hint' to use older hops would be appreciated.