Re-Packaging Hops

Steve SPF

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2019
Messages
788
Reaction score
1,264
Points
93
I can get a 5kg bundle of Cascade for £100 whereas if I buy 100gm it's £5 or so but 5kg is a lot for me and I want to re-pack them into 100gm.

All the hops I've bought so far have been in foil packages and all the vac packing machines I've seen so far have only done plastic. I'm assuming that there are good reasons for packing hops in foil but is there a good enough reason to not pack them in plastic vacuum bags?
 
I can get a 5kg bundle of Cascade for £100 whereas if I buy 100gm it's £5 or so but 5kg is a lot for me and I want to re-pack them into 100gm.

All the hops I've bought so far have been in foil packages and all the vac packing machines I've seen so far have only done plastic. I'm assuming that there are good reasons for packing hops in foil but is there a good enough reason to not pack them in plastic vacuum bags?

I vacuum seal all my hops annually and store them in the freezer. Some may sneer, but I have no issues using hops that are several years old.

Looks like someone has snuck a king size log Of Jimmy Dean into my hop storage!
 

Attachments

  • 20190810_072236.jpg
    20190810_072236.jpg
    140 KB · Views: 84
Last edited:
Jimmy Dean is like bacon. Makes everything better!
 
Rather then break them up in to smaller bags, I just leave the hops in their original foil bag inside a vacuum sealed plastic bag. Light can have a negative effect, though that won't be a problem in a freezer. I just open the bag and measure the hops I need and then reseal the same vacuum bag. I can reseal a number of times if I start with a big enough bag.
 
I vacuum seal all my hops annually and store them in the freezer. Some may sneer, but I have no issues using hops that are several years old.

Looks like someone has snuck a king size log Of Jimmy Dean into my hop storage!

So repackaged in foil or plastic?
 
Rather then break them up in to smaller bags, I just leave the hops in their original foil bag inside a vacuum sealed plastic bag. Light can have a negative effect, though that won't be a problem in a freezer. I just open the bag and measure the hops I need and then reseal the same vacuum bag. I can reseal a number of times if I start with a big enough bag.
This is a great answer. Light can have an effect on hops, but if kept in a dark freezer, prob not much. But leaving them in the foil bag solves all problems. Have done this also.
 
I will re-package into plastic and freeze then. The foil machines are really quite hard to get and I was concerned that there was something in the plastic packaging but it seems that the issue is light rather than flavour so that can be resolved by keeping them in the freezer.
 
I will re-package into plastic and freeze then. The foil machines are really quite hard to get and I was concerned that there was something in the plastic packaging but it seems that the issue is light rather than flavour so that can be resolved by keeping them in the freezer.
We started just using zip lock bags for hops but after time they started looking different and some had an off smell. After getting a vacuum sealer our 2 year old hops look just like the fresh ones. I know sounds like an ad but you can save a lot of money and have whatever hops you need on hand. CHEERS!
 
We started just using zip lock bags for hops but after time they started looking different and some had an off smell. After getting a vacuum sealer our 2 year old hops look just like the fresh ones. I know sounds like an ad but you can save a lot of money and have whatever hops you need on hand. CHEERS!
Same experience here. Vacuum sealed seems to make a huge difference. I've had a few here and there that have lost their seal. I think it's part of hop stems that I miss when picking that eventually pierce the bag enough. I put those hops in brown paper bags and age them for my lambic/sours. I've never had a lost seal when repacking purchased hops though as they're all pellets.
 
I vacuum sealed in plastic for several years and treated 2 and 3 year old pellets as if they were this years crop. Some time back I switched to vacuum sealing in quart Mason jars. It ends up being less expensive than constantly buying the plastic rolls and is working just as well. Since a pound of pellets fills a qt. jar just about to the neck, it's real easy to closely estimate the weight of hops remaining too.
 
If you vacuum seal in larger bags they can be easily reused. I convinced the wife that our machine was going TU and we got a new one for the kitchen. Flipped the seal over on the old one and it’s in the brew room now. :D

TW, that Jimmy Dean needs some company to wash it down. :)
 
If you vacuum seal in larger bags they can be easily reused. I convinced the wife that our machine was going TU and we got a new one for the kitchen. Flipped the seal over on the old one and it’s in the brew room now. :D

TW, that Jimmy Dean needs some company to wash it down. :)

Yea. I would make the bags big enough that they could usually be cut down enough timed to get through all the hops in them. I like the jars better. The lower seal in mine was glued in and much thinner than the replacement. I still use that one for sealing jars and got a new one for bags too.

BTW, how was Sturgis?
 
The ones I don't use often I've vaccum sealed, with the ones i use I lot I put in mason jars in the fridge. So far so good.
 
I vacuum seal in mason jars, and the 2 year old Cascade hops in my freezer are as good as the day I brought them home. The only problem I have ever had was I used to write the type of hops on the lid, then one day I had two jars with the lids off at the same time. It took a while to figure out which hops were in which jar, now I write hop type and AA% on the jar as well.
 
I vacuum seal all my hops in 1-ounce packages, then add to a 1-gallon baggie and freeze solid so on brew day I'm just pulling out ounce bags, the rest don't see the light of day if possible, as for reusing I don't, I just throw it all in, being too exact to the pellet is a waste of my time and wont change the taste anyway
 
I vacuum seal in mason jars, and the 2 year old Cascade hops in my freezer are as good as the day I brought them home. The only problem I have ever had was I used to write the type of hops on the lid, then one day I had two jars with the lids off at the same time. It took a while to figure out which hops were in which jar, now I write hop type and AA% on the jar as well.

I cut the labels off of the original packaging and tape them to the jars. That way I know the hop, AA% and crop year.
 
Great thread Steve SPF!
Good to hear of all the different methods of preserving.
 
If one is pre-packaging hops for a future batch, and there is a hop addition that takes 2 or more types of hops at a particular time, is it okay to vac seal these together for the convenience of opening one package at that time?

Edit
Let's say that the planned brew date is 2-4 weeks in the future.
 

Back
Top