I ordered some Spalt and GR Northern Brewer hops and the lot no. said 2015 and 2016. What gives? Do homebrewers not rate newer hops or is it simply " first in and first out " LHBS practice. I would like 2017 hops please.
I would find a new place to buy hops.
It’s up to the place you buy them. If they order old hops because they’re cheaper, that’s what you get. But it’s certainly possible, and not difficult, for homebrewers to get more current hops.
I don’t buy from places that don’t specify the year.
That said, if pellets and stored properly (vacuum sealed and frozen preferably), they should be fine. Smell them - if they smell like romano, throw them out.
Yep, they do keep; remember how in recent years world markets have been affected at times by several years’ worth of pellets in storage. The pros like a long-term supply, maybe we should relax. (But I look for new crop too. And then I store them a long time!)
I just threw out about 2 pounds worth of 2016 hops that were sealed in my freezer since I bought them fresh last year. Probably not necessary, but I’m a bit OCD.
It is well documented that alpha degrades rapidly even under the best conditions. Different varieties degrade at different rates, but to make use of old hops for bittering one would need to know the HSI (hop storage index). I don’t have specific info on how quickly or slowly hop oils degrade in nitrogen flushed , vacuum sealed, light-proof bags stored in a freezer, but I do know that oil degradation begins immediately after harvesting.
The bottom line for me is, I can afford it so I go with current year hops.
just a little bit.
Looking at old brewing logs it appears that English brewers often used hops that were several years old. I recently saw a recipe from 1953 and the log stated that one of the bittering hops used was from the 1950 crop.
This likely led to more hop tannins than the average American brewer may desire. However, some historical beers are supposed to have that flavor, so YMMV.
This may well have been done of necessity, not by choice. You’d have to look at crop reports for the years around 1950, and also remember times were pretty tough in the UK in the post war years.
Maybe Spalt and NB hops just aren’t that popular where I live. Maybe I will just stick to US " C " hops and Hallertauer, Saaz etc.
Spalt and NB have largely been abandoned in Germany, Spalt being superseded by Select and NB by a succession of bittering varieties. I look at continental aroma hops as falling into “types” – Saaz and Hallertau – and look for the varieties within those types that are available.
OH! Here is my recommendation for an excellent place to buy hops: https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/
Cool, I was just thinking of giving them a try!
EDIT(Why was I thinking of trying them? Well, of course, because they have the variety I want in 2017, my trusted go-to sources have 2016!)
+1 - I buy almost all my hops here nowadays.
You can go back centuries in English brewing literature and see the recommendation to use older hops by themselves or in combination with new harvest hops. Lots of recommendations to wait to use the new harvest until at least the end of spring. Usually this was advised if the brewer felt the hops were too rough although it isn’t clear if that means too bitter or the flavor.
Throwing away sealed pounds of hops seems crazy to me…but hey…I grew up lower middle class and we didn’t throw good stuff away. YVH sells 1 and 2 year old hops at discount…I agree, I’d be pissed if I bought hops and didn’t know they were old and they were old…but I’ve bought some of these and they’ve been fine…