Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

How do you store your stock of hops....do you freeze them or refrigerate them?

For vacuum sealed hops, how do you keep them once you've opened the package?

How long do you store hops....1 year? More...or less?

All hops go in my freezer. Opened hops are stored in CO2-flushed mason jars. Haven't noticed an issue with aroma even in 2-3 year old hops.

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Freeze them. I use canning jars for storage and bought a vacuum sealer attachment to suck the air out. For labels I just use the label the hops bag came in and pinch it with the lid ring. I usually buy all my hops by the pound.

They all go in a cardboard box in my freezer labeled "Hop Box." I use a vacuum sealer. Once opened I reseal in the bag them came in unless not enough room. Most of the time I dump them in a larger bag that can take multiple cuts out of it and still be resealed. I use them until they are gone. Some have been in there 2-3 years and still smell great. I keep the labels from the original package and often write a year on there. I buy hops by the pound too. Kind of need to when you use a 2 pounds of hops in a batch of IPA.

I moved across the country almost 2 years ago and brought about 11 oz of hops that I had in original vacuum sealed packaging that had been in my freezer for a year or so and I didn't brew for over a year after getting here. Long story short I used all the hops in my last beer and it is delightfully hoppy with no noticeable drop off in flavor or aroma for 3+ year old hops that mostly stayed in the freezer the whole time


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Chest Freezer, Vacuum Sealer if I'm not going to use more in a week or two (dry hopping) tight Ziploc otherwise.

Three year old hops work perfectly fine. I know the AA's for the bittering should be much less, but they sure don't seem to be...

I should add that my hops are in two dark plastic bags as well to keep light out.

DrPaulsen wrote:All hops go in my freezer. Opened hops are stored in CO2-flushed mason jars. Haven't noticed an issue with aroma even in 2-3 year old hops.

that's how I do mine also. 1lb pellets will fit in 4 2-cup mason jars.