Hop bag sizes from the homebrew stores

[Shane Phelan]

We were talking about this last night. Every single brew I do, I have scraps of hops left over because all the home brew stores only stock 100g bags of hops. I'm looking in the freezer now and I see 5 or 6 opened bags of hops which will probably have to be dumped as they have been exposed to air for nearly a year a this stage.  I always envy the Americans who have access to 1 ounce hop bags.

I remember a while ago a couple of the shops offered to do custom sized bags of hops for Beoir members but it just seemed like more hassle to be contacting the shop directly every time I wanted to put in an order. Is there that much extra work required to offer say, a 50g option for bags hops even with some surcharge? ie if it was €6 for 100g then €3.25 for 50g?

[Dr Jacoby]

€3.25 for 50g is very very expensive though. I'm not sure I could stomach paying that much, especially since you can shave at least two thirds off that price by buying in bulk (including P&P).

What I normally do with opened bags is close them over using an elastic band and then pop them in a good zip lock bag. It's not ideal but should keep the hops fairly fresh if kept at low temps.

[Bubbles]

I'm looking in the freezer now and I see 5 or 6 opened bags of hops which will probably have to be dumped as they have been exposed to air for nearly a year a this stage

Huh? Why??

Last Christmas I did a "leftovers" beer and I used up all my odds and ends of hops and grain - 5g of Chinook, 9g of Cascade etc. The beer was one of the best I've ever done. No excuse for throwing out good hops.

And I don't really buy the theory that they're useless just because they been exposed to air for an extended period. Alright, they won't be as fresh - they'll have lost nearly all of their aroma and a good deal of their bittering potential, but they'll be just fine for late additions.

[Metattron]

Zip lock freezer bags - just squeeze out as much air as you can and they'll be grand in the freezer.
I got a vacuum sealer to repack my hops in smaller quantities after the group buy and I just reseal them each time if I don't use a full bag now.  Never had to throw any out.

[Padraic]

We were talking about this last night. Every single brew I do, I have scraps of hops left over because all the home brew stores only stock 100g bags of hops. I'm looking in the freezer now and I see 5 or 6 opened bags of hops which will probably have to be dumped as they have been exposed to air for nearly a year a this stage.  I always envy the Americans who have access to 1 ounce hop bags.

I remember a while ago a couple of the shops offered to do custom sized bags of hops for Beoir members but it just seemed like more hassle to be contacting the shop directly every time I wanted to put in an order. Is there that much extra work required to offer say, a 50g option for bags hops even with some surcharge? ie if it was €6 for 100g then €3.25 for 50g?

I have a vacuum packer which "solves" this problem for me, but I'd be all for being able to order the amount of hops you need rather than the set 100g, I'd say 25g packs would be perfect but a lot of hassle to put together for the shop.

[brenmurph]

good topic,
I open and seal again in ziplocks squeezing all the air out. Also agree with above comment re leftovers...just like leftovers soup everything gets thrown in.  Well I use beersmith as well and the stocktake bit is cool, I date my (rename) my stock using Best before dates e.g "magnum bb apr13" that way when I look at my stock I see whats the oldest and sometimes brew my batch based on whats in stock rather than buying stock for a particular brew.

Freeze hops before opening as hop oils oxidise / stale quickly (as does any oil) so freeze well before opening and then reseal and back in freezer asap. Ziplocks allow u to squeez air out ( by rolling bag with zip nearly closed and they seal very well).

Ive had hops in freezer up to 6 months which I feel is enough time anyway and they are still making fresh hoppy beer.