My neighbor started a hops farm and is on year 2. Plants look great (Ohio) and are loaded with hops!!
He told me to pick what I want and that they are ready.
I just don’t have time to or really want to dry them.
My question is: Can I take the hops and freeze them without drying them?
No.
My home brew club just picked hops at a farm. While we were picking, someone said don’t freeze fresh hops and someone else said it is ok to freeze them. Both could not really give a good reason for either statement, so I would either use them in a couple of days fresh or dry them and freeze them.
I’ve made a few fresh hop beers with my homegrown hops and I always try to use them within an hour or two.
I would say if you want to make a wet/fresh hop beer you should pick the hops and use them within 24hrs. You can put them in a bag in the fridge between when you pick them and when you use them. The hops immediately start to degrade once they are picked so the sooner you use the them better. If you don’t plan to use them within 24hrs I would dry them, vacuum seal them, and stick them in the freezer.
Personally I either use them fresh or dry them so I don’t have experience with freezing wet hops. I recommend drying them by whatever means possible. I have used a window screen, dehydrator, and oven. I used the oven at 150 F for many years. However the oven removes basically all of the aromatics. Dehydrator works better, and the screen worked the best for me but takes the longest and requires the most space.
I think you could get away with freezing wet hops for a short time, say a few months. But if storing for much longer up to or going past a year, I would be concerned they would begin to taste freezer burned and give bad flavors to the beer, defeating the purpose.
Freezing wet hops is not recommended by any of the growers or wholesalers I know.
Am I the only one that detects the same vegetal flavor in all wet hopped beers?
I’m with ya. Personally I don’t care for drinking chlorophyll.
That’s what I like about them.
You’re welcome to my share!
Welp, wet hops are out!! I really didn’t have time to mess with them anyways or the desire too. It’s one of those things where you sort of feel an obligation to take them so as not to offend.
Thanks for the replies!!
I’ve brewed several over the years; for the best tasting one I bagged the hops in batches and only kept each bag in the boil for 10 minutes. Added multiple batches over the course of the boil. I assume it reduces chlorophyll extraction doing this.