What to do and how to store a massive hop haul in Seattle

[Smith Brian]

Hello Friends. Our local home brew supply establishment has hit some hard times and will be shutting their doors. They not only supplied the home brewer segment but also were/are a wholesale supplier to area Micro/Nano breweries. To make a long story even longer....... They opened the hop vault and allowed anyone to come by and take what they wanted - Free of charge. It's so sad to see them go away.


I received:

1-50# bale of whole leaf Amarillo
1-11# pack of whole leaf Centenial
1-11# pack of pellet Crystal
1-11# pack of pellet Sterling
1-11# pack of pellet Northern Brewer
1-11# pack of pellet Equinox

That's a lot of hops! Short of a lot of Amarillo Pale Ale - Does anyone have suggestions on what to brew with these? How about suggestions on storage?

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

With that amount of volume, you best you give to someone who brews a very large amount of beer, like a pro brewery. Maybe you could barter beer, grain, cleaning supplies, yeast, equipment, etc. for them.

Or give them away to a homebrew club, maybe you could score some beer or something else in exchange.

It would be tough to store them properly, they need to be kept oxygen free and in a freezer if you expect them to keep very long.

 

[thunderwagn]

WoW! I would have no way or even come close to being able to deal with that amount. I could MAYBE. MAYBE! Deal with an eleven pounder, possibly two, and even that is a big stretch. I have a freezer on my stand up fridge dedicated to hops, and it's packed. I bet I don't have even ten pounds in there. I would agree with @HighVoltageMan! On just about every one of his suggestions. That's an insane amount of hops for a homebrewer.

 

[Hogarthe]

If you have a freezer, store them there. The 50 pounds of leaf probably won't fit though.... Find a homebrew club to host an ipa brew so they get good use out of them

 

[Nosybear]

Hello Friends. Our local home brew supply establishment has hit some hard times and will be shutting their doors. They not only supplied the home brewer segment but also were/are a wholesale supplier to area Micro/Nano breweries. To make a long story even longer....... They opened the hop vault and allowed anyone to come by and take what they wanted - Free of charge. It's so sad to see them go away.


I received:

1-50# bale of whole leaf Amarillo
1-11# pack of whole leaf Centenial
1-11# pack of pellet Crystal
1-11# pack of pellet Sterling
1-11# pack of pellet Northern Brewer
1-11# pack of pellet Equinox

That's a lot of hops! Short of a lot of Amarillo Pale Ale - Does anyone have suggestions on what to brew with these? How about suggestions on storage?

Agreed. Take what you need, then give the rest away. Vacuum packed and sealed, they'll last a long time.

 

[J A]

Like Nosy says, get a decent vacuum sealer like a Food Saver from Costco or Walmart. Depending on how it's been stored up to now, it would last very nicely. You can easily recoup any investment in re-packaging by selling pounds for a few bucks each. I'd take a couple pounds of Amarillo and Centennial. It wouldn't be hard to find a few brew clubs or forums like this to distribute to. You could keep a supply that would last you several years and make enough to cover the purchase of a sealer with some $$ leftover, I'm sure.

 

[Head First]

Definitely need to get a vacuum sealer. That's 105 batches of Pliney type beers. Could consider selling some or in respect of the business shutting down, just give them away. On this sites recipe search I believe you can enter hops names for narrowing search criteria. Lots of retailer's list what style of beers the hops they sell will be used for. Yakima Valley is one. Hops Direct also.
Good luck in your quest!

 

[Hawkbox]

Holy shit that's a lot of hops. I'm the oddity in my circle and I might have 4 pounds in my freezer.