Freezer life of hops?

[tonygrim]

Just wondering how long hops will remain good in the freezer - indefinitely?

Cheers,

Tony

[mattes.dude]

I wouldn't say indefinitely, but should last quite sometime, if stored properly. The problem is going to be trying to fight off freezer burn.  I'd probably taste the hops before using to make sure.

[Maine Homebrewer]

I buy hop pellets by the pound and store them in the freezer. I put them into freezer bags and push out all the air.  From what I've read they lose bitterness over time, but I haven't noticed. I should add that I've stored them for up to two years.

[zymurgist05]

I've stored homegrown Cascade hops in the freezer for 9 months and couldn't detect and deterioration in bitterness/aroma.  Since I brew 10 gallon batches, I packaged the hops in 2-4 oz. vacuum sealed freezer bags.  Very happy with the results.

[captjpr3]

Just out of curiosity, why the freezer? I've used hops more than a year old that I kept vacuum sealed and in the fridge. There were no unusual flavors that my un sophisticated pallet could discern. I think the real key is to keep them air tight so they don't oxidize.

[Scott Ickes]

Our homebrew club had our monthly meeting yesterday.  We meet at our LHBS and the theme this month was hop forward beer styles.  They had a 1 pound package of Centennial hops that were bad.  They smelled like parmesan cheese.  They were nasty!  Proper storage is the key.

[zymurgist05]

Just out of curiosity, why the freezer? I've used hops more than a year old that I kept vacuum sealed and in the fridge. There were no unusual flavors that my un sophisticated pallet could discern. I think the real key is to keep them air tight so they don't oxidize.

Honestly, I don't have a good reason for storing hops in the freezer other than I remember long ago reading something about storing hops in this manner.  It's something I've always done.  I agree with you... Oxidization is the primary thing to guard against.   

[durrettd]

Most chemical reactions proceed more rapidly at higher temperatures. I assume freezing should slow the staling reactions more than refrigerating them.

[haerbob3]

I have had some hops in the freezer for a couple of years.  Used them up the beer was fine.  keeping them air tight and cold is the key

[KernelCrush]

if you check out the hop aging tool in beersmith and play with the temps and storage time it will say a lot.  also google 'hop storage index'

[jtoots]

Ray Daniels gets into this issue quite deeply in his book "Designing Great Beers":

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/10868459608411061698?espv=2&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=designing+great+beers&oq=&pbx=1&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.73231344,d.aWw,pv.xjs.s.en_US.jy1SGYsq9dM.O&biw=1680&bih=925&tch=1&ech=1&psi=jSjyU5LhOc3-yQSu5YKQAg.1408378998906.3&sa=X&ei=kSjyU_zZDI_LsATTkYHIBg&ved=0CJsBELkk

I don't have it in front of me, but he has a table that shows the deterioration of various hops at various temps.  Long story (very) short, lower temps = less deterioration.  I think he shows that in a freezer you're looking at something like 10% deterioration in a year.

Then he gets into the aging of hops and mentions that some aroma hops are actually better with age......