Flavor Profile - Aged vs. Fresh Hops

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.

 

Nope!

 

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

 

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.

 

Jist fyi, Aged hops are really only handy for spontaneous fermentation. Scroll to #3 on this link. http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2012/04/brewing-lambic-mythbusters-style.html?m=1