Flavor Profile - Aged vs. Fresh Hops

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by InVinoVeritas, Jul 31, 2015.

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  1. InVinoVeritas

    InVinoVeritas Initiate (0) Apr 16, 2012 Wisconsin

    So my home grown hops (cascade) just popped cones and I still have last years harvest. I'm considering aging some of last years harvest for my at some point dive into sours, I've also heard some people using aged in lagers. Is there any overlap in flavor profile aged vs. fresh? What hops work best for aging?
     
  2. dmtaylor

    dmtaylor Savant (1,149) Dec 30, 2003 Wisconsin

    Good questions. Unfortunately I don't know if I can provide the answers you seek. But what I *can* tell you is that my aged hops in refrigeration have maintained their alpha acids for far longer than I would have projected, and have remained very potent for bittering (I would not use them for flavor anymore, kind of grassy and herbal). Last week I used up some old homegrown Cascade hops from 2012 for bittering an IPA. They had been vacuum sealed in my refrigerator. Based on previous use I had estimated the alpha acid at about 6%. Turns out I was wrong. They were closer to 7%! How do I know that? It was actually a split batch. The other batch of same grist and volume but different hops used all fresh commercial hops, set both recipes to result in the same IBUs (about 60) for each sub-batch, but the Cascade hopped beer actually turned out quite a bit more bitter in taste than the commercial hopped beer! I was pretty shocked. I figured after 3 years I would not get much bitterness anymore, maybe less than the 6% I had estimated. Not so. Perhaps if they had aged at room temp and/or with oxygen, it would be a different story. So at least, if you intend to age your hops, consider whether you truly want them to deteriorate or not, and store them accordingly.
     
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  3. InVinoVeritas

    InVinoVeritas Initiate (0) Apr 16, 2012 Wisconsin

    Does anyone else have any feedback?
     
  4. dmtaylor

    dmtaylor Savant (1,149) Dec 30, 2003 Wisconsin

  5. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    Aging hops...easy...throw in corner of room...come back in several years...use in sour
     
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  6. deGardebrewing

    deGardebrewing Initiate (0) May 3, 2013 Oregon

    Low alpha, not too aggressive character I'd desired. We like Oregon cascade and willamette.
    Store warm, with air allowed in.
    If they smell isovaleric/dried parmegian-y (people call it cheesy) they aren't old enough. Should take at least two years.

    They don't actually add much/any flavor an aroma after boil (and since they're used for bittering). They will smell earthy and a bit spicy after proper aging.

    Ours have always settled at .4 alpha and .5 beta, regardless of variety and aged between 2-4 years.

    Age a lot. You will go through them quickly.
     
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  7. sarcastro

    sarcastro Savant (1,133) Sep 20, 2006 Michigan

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