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VIRGIN HOPS GROWER

BILLY BREW

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
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Knew that would get attention...

I have always frozen my hop pellets but just refrigerated my hop leaf.
I am going to be getting a small crop (first year planting) of centennial and need your advice.

How is the best way to store fresh hops  & what is the procedure for storing it.

If this works, I am going for a second vine for next year. Used my purple martin house as the stanchion for the twine (20 feet up)
Cant get the damn birds to use it so...what the hell!

Thanks for the help!
 
After letting mine air dry for about a week, I vacuum seal them in 2oz packages and refrigerate. I haven't noticed any degradation after a whole year. Recently- my last 2 batches- I have been experimenting with pulsing the the whole cones in the food processer a few times just before putting them into the boiling wort. It has produced a huge increase in the aroma of the hops. I'm waiting to see if that comes out to a change in the beer.   
 
Virgin Hop grower here too , learning how to dry hops myself. Drying Hops totally they say will lose some of the AA and aromas so we are to dry some to at least 8% moisture content. There is a way to calculate moisture of hops by weighing an "x" amount wet hops , drying out to 0%  weighing again for dry weight which will give you a percentage of dry matter in hops. then dry hops with a test package of equal weight to pull out to check on moisture content by calculating again.
here is a video for how to : http://youtu.be/TfUYXu4-0-s  from  University of Vermont Extension's Northwest Crops and Soils.

Storing hops in vacuumed Mylar bag to block light and air , store up to a year " they say " this is my plan anyways.
 
I've had hops for the last 3 years or so.  I pick, dry them for  day or so, and then vacuum pack and refridgerate.  I used some 2013 hops in my last 2 brews and noticed no off-flavors.  Not sure I have the most discerning palate but they do not appear to be any worse than when I originally packaged.

Just a note, your second year harvest will be significantly larger than the first.  My first year was about 2 oz's, second year was about 2 lbs.  This year was smaller ( I moved all but 3 of my 8 plants ) but was still close to 2lbs.
 
I moved from my house, leaving behind 4 different varieties  :'( , but when I had fresh hops I found if you plan to use them within 3 to 4 months, you can simply freeze them whole in good quality freezer bags. I left them in a sealed bag a couple hours before freezing because it can be surprising how many bugs or spiders may have been tucked into a cone. That couple hours was enough time for the bugs to panic a bit and allow you to get them out of the bag before freezing them in. Aroma quality was amazing when thawed and bittering was good as well. If you love wet hopped beers, this is a good way to go. Also, you'll know the fresh hops have gone bad because they will blacken with age. If you can't use them that fast, look at vacuum sealing or drying as the others have posted.
 
I freeze mine.  Don't see how that could be bad.

You freeze your pellets, right?

I've actually used "fresh" frozen hops in a "wet" hop beer I just made.  The hops were ready before the beer, so I froze them after picking them.  Then later put them in the secondary.
 
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