I found a cache of old hops when I was cleaning out my brew closet and am not sure if they are still good to use. The hops are all vacuum sealed in foil and air-tight bags, but they are from 2007. Can I still use them in my homebrews or will they not have the flavor/aroma/bitterness anymore? Cheers!
Open up a Bud light and add some of those hops , let it rest 4 - 5 days then sample to figure how they are.
I take it by closet, you mean, not in a fridge... Probably not all that good at this point. Would be for a lambic.
I suspect they will have lots of flavor and aroma, but not in a good way. Sounds like you have several packages, so why not open one and see? Either way though, you have lost a lot of bittering potential.
Yeah. I'd do the smell check and keep them as aged hops if they don't have any cheesiness. Beyond that though, remember: Garbage in, Garbage out.
Whenever I come across questions about using old (aged) hops I immediately think about what I read in the book Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski. BTW great reading for anyone who is thinking about brewing farmhouse ales. I'm not going to quote everything but here's some with regard to the history of saisons On speaking of Characteristics: "To get an idea of the profile of early saisons, it is necessary to look at the purpose of such a beer and the production conditions at the time. As previously mentioned, saisons were meant to be refreshing. Therefore, it is wrong to imagine a syrupy brown beer of 10% alcohol. Rather, saisons were pale and light in alcohol and flavor. They were often sour and/or bitter in flavor" He continues on to speak about the raw materials: "It is likely that when the brewer wished to produce a saison with a predominant sourness, he would use a greater proportion of old hops so as not to contribute too much bitterness and to encourage the development of lactic bacteria. Farmhouse breweries would most likely have a stock of old or imperfectly stored hops on hand. The use of older hops was frequent, bringing saisons close to traditional lambics."
I would like to experiment with lambics, sours, and more traditional styles/techniques at some point. Right now, because of location and need for fermentation temperature control, I can't spare the space for beers that need long incubation times, like lambics and sours. I may at some point buy another freezer/controller setup specifically for the purpose of keeping long incubation time beers. If so, that would be fridge/freezer #4. Right now I have two freezers set for ales, one which will hold two five gallon batches, and one which will hold one ten gallon batch. Next up will be a lagering setup, then wild/lambics after that. So many beers I want to make/drink, yet resources remain scarce...
I remember reading where this guy actually buried some in the yard! You'll have to scroll through some of the older blogs to find it but I find his blog well worth the time. Cheers!
I like that idea for dry hopping viability. Bud light wouldn't always be the best choice depending on style he wants to brew. Might also consider low hopped ales.
jkane101 hit the topic well. I've read that book as well. I keep all my pellet hop bags in the freezer at all times until use. I like maltier beers, so think I will go slow on my hop stash.
