For those of you who buy hops in bulk and store them, do you account for alpha acid loss in formulating your recipes? In other words do you increase the amounts used? I have some hops that are from 2011 and 2010 harvest. They have been vacuum packed and stored in a freezer since I bought them. Beersmith has a nice tool that determines the 'new' alpha acid content based on storage conditions and time. I have noticed that some but not all of my beers (more so the IPAs) don't have quite the hop bitterness I was expecting. I'm assuming this is because I have not adjusted the hop amounts to account for alpha acid loss. Thoughts?
I use the BeerSmith tool as well and I think it will get you in the ballpark, but you wont be spot on. There is no way to tell exactly how much AA you have lost over years of storage.
My wife seems to think if I haven't used something in a year I don't need to keep it around anymore. Borrowing her reasoning, I would suggest using all of your 1+ year old hops at once on your next batch.
Your wife is smart...rotate stock, but to answer the OP's question, no, because none of my hops are old enough to negate other variables.
Well if I did that I'd have a crazy shit DIPA or imperial DIPA as I have 2011: 13 oz columbus, 8oz nugget, 9oz willamette, 8oz Saaz I was incorrect in that all of them are 2011 and none from 2010. I plan on using all the saaz in my next two beers which will be lagers. I've been using nugget and columbus as my 60 min bittering hops but a little goes a long way hence why I have so much left. As for willamette I'll probably most of that in future bitters.
I brew IPAs about 2x a year and the rest of what I brew is 45IBUs and down. So if anything it's unlikely I'd experience hop fatigue.
When I utilize old hops (2+ years old) I typically use them for flavor/aroma additions. I use newer (1 year or less) hops for bittering. I have had good luck this way; I haven’t noticed that the hop flavor/aroma is ‘less’ in the beers that I make using this practice. I have purchased a couple of 1 lb. hop packages but more typically my bulk purchases are in 6 oz. or 8 oz. increments. When I purchase in the lesser quantities of 6/8 ounces I use them up in less than 2 years with my homebrewing regimen. I really like the packaging that Hopunion has started to use for their hops. They claim that their hop pellets will last for 3-4 years. Below is from the Hopunion website: “How long will my hops stay fresh? Hop deterioration is impacted by numerous variables, the two most important being heat exposure and oxidation. For properly sealed, nitrogen flushed pellets, customers can expect a 3-4 year life expectancy. Raw hops however have a much shorter life span (approximately 6 months to 1 year). Regardless of the product size or packaging, hops should be stored in a cold, air tight environment to ensure optimum freshness and quality.” Cheers!
I like to use nugget late in the boil, which I know is looked down upon by a lot of brewers, but even with the high AA, I love the results. Adding the nugget late won't effect your IBUs as much and will definitely give your brew a different characteristic.
I've done that and totally agree with you. I have even had good success dry hopping with nugget. I believe I heard John Palmer once say he likes using nugget as a dry hop as well despite what some people say.
Keep in mind that hops are harvested once a year in early Fall. So, unless you're dealing with the previous year's harvest, it doesn't matter whether you buy your hops in bulk or per batch, deteriorationally speaking (is 'deteriorationally' a word?). So you need to adjust for the loss of bittering potential. When I'm using brewing software, I rely on its calculation. When winging it, I simply fudge it to make it closer to reality -- I tend to shoot for the lower end of the bitterness for the style, so there's some flexibility.
