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You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Brewing Forum --> Brewing Discussion --> Bulk Hops - What do you do?

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vinpaysdoc
Charter Member
High Point, NC
321 Posts


OK, everyone keeps talking about shortages of hops due to all the interest in homebrewing and craft brewing. I'm interested in buying in bulk and am curious what game plan those of you that already do so have done/will do for this year? 

1. What hop common hop varieties will folks miss out on if they don't purchase early? Amarillo? Citra?

2. Where do you purchase your hops in bulk? (For my purposes, bulk = 1 pound increments or more)

3. Have you found any drawbacks to purchasing in bulk other than decreased freezer space?

4. How do you store the hops? Do you wait until you crack the package and then seal them in smaller units in vacuum seal bags?

As to me, I brew 5 gallon batches about twice a month. I might brew an IPA 4 times in a year and a Pale 6 times. I like both Amarillo and Citra, but, could probably make do with other varieties if I missed out on those. Got some advice for me?






Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


I'm lame and still buy by the ounce, but if I keep doing IPAs, that will change.

Note that the contracts for homebrewers are already counted; the shortage thing is overblown, IMO.



Posted 34 days ago.

hoppybrewer
Joliet, IL
14 Posts


1) Depends on the year.  In the past, Citra and Amarillo were hard to find locally but recently that has changed as newer hop varieties like Mosaic become popular.

2) I ordered mine as part of a group buy my local home brew club sponsored.  If they didn't have a group buys I would probably order from yakima valley or hops direct or somewhere similar.

3) As I already invested money in a variety of hops I feel like I favor them in my recipe designs.  My incentive is against trying different or newer hops and hop combinations because of this most of my brews have similar characteristics which for some may get old but for now I'm okay with.

4) I break the hops down into 1oz increments using a vacuum sealer then store them in my freezer.

There currently isn't a hop that I have trouble accessing so I don't have any plans to purchase bulk hops this year.  Also I have several pounds in my freezer I should use up.

TLDR: In short it depends on how much you want a specific hop.  If that hop is necessary to you then get some for your planned brews if not then don't worry about it.  If cost is a factor at all then get bulk as you can save a lot of money.  I got Centennial last year for $0.50 oz and Nelson Savin for $1 oz.




Posted 34 days ago.

uberg33k
Charter Member
The Internet
314 Posts


I really want to get into steam distilling hops and experiment with storing the essential oils instead of the bulk plant material.  That's $$$ though.



Posted 34 days ago.

vinpaysdoc
Charter Member
High Point, NC
321 Posts


Sounds interesting. Got any references?



Posted 34 days ago.

ingoogni
nl
314 Posts


1. the hyped hops, for the two, three years to come, Nelson, Mosaic, Lemondrops etc.

2. living in Europe, there are two well sorted German shops (1, 2)

3. you always have the wrong hops for your latest beer inspiration. Although I have a very long beers to do list, I tend to come up with a recipe five minutes before I brew.

4. in the freezer, vacuum sealed. I keep the hops in the original bag and put that in a new much longer one and seal, so I can re-seal at the next use.

American IPA is a beer I seldom make, got some Lemondrops & Citra to try one again and maybe a Mosaic & something DIPA. Also contemplating a 100% FWH Chinook IPA in a oak barrel with some brett for a year, if the current one with EKG turns out well.




Posted 34 days ago.

nzo
Charter Member

9 Posts


I order from hopsdirect. I tend to purchase a wide variety in 1 pound bags and store them in freezer until used. At that point, I will weigh them out and vacuum seal in 1oz increments.

No real drawbacks w/buying in bulk. One always has hops on hand. I use tend to use aged hops in a lot of my recipes, so I can pull out a few oz's and start aging them for next years brew days.

In the long run, it's cheaper to buy in one pound quantity's, and store them (space permitting). I have not seen a real hop shortage since '08, it pays to have a bit of a stockpile.




Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by nzo

uberg33k
Charter Member
The Internet
314 Posts


@vinpaysdoc - unfortunately no.  It's an idea I've had for a while now.  I only recently worked out how I'd do it at the homebrew level.  I was hoping to publish an article about it, but then all the hype about Sierra Nevada doing it kinda spoiled that.  I still don't have the funds to drop on the setup I'd need to make it happen, but hopefully one day...



Posted 34 days ago.

mchrispen
Bastrop, TX
485 Posts


I have been purchasing by the lb and storing in a non-defrosting freezer under vacuum seal. I will pull what I need and reseal, so usually I make the bags a bit larger than they need to be. I use a lot of whole hops, but also have a good deal of pellets.

1.) I makes sense to bulk buy those hops that you know you will use a lot - for me that is Magnum, Cascade, Centennial, Saaz, Hallertau and EKG. If I plan to experiment with a couple of SMaSH beers to try out a new hop - I will buy at least 6 ounces of that and plan to use it all as quickly as possible. My freezer is full of "I should try this..." that needs to be tossed soon. Think I will age these for a future lambic.

2.) HopsDirect, LHBS and Yakima Valley Hops have been the most reliable. Nikobrew seldom carries what I am looking for in whole hops - but has a tremendous reputation.

3.) The aforementioned collection of sad and neglected hoppy soldiers. There is a bit of hit and miss as well - if anyone wants some catty simcoe or garlic columbus hollah.

4.) Yep - freezer, under vacuum or CO2. I don't break mine down - it seems a waste of bag materials to me

I guess I would suggest that you plan out about 1/2 of your brews on an annual basis and pencil in those brew times when you want to experiment. That way you can bulk on the planned brews - especially those hard to get hops, and be a bit more random and experimental with fresh hops from your LHBS. FYI - if you share your brewing schedule, they will make sure your desired hops are in stock at those times! (well most of the time anyway).




Posted 34 days ago.

chino_brews
Charter Member
Eden Prairie, MN
301 Posts


You hoarders are screwing things up for us non-hoarders!

Oh well, no Zombie Dust clone for me in 2015, I guess.

Also, I know where some of you live. As soon as hops are literally worth their weight in gold...  >:)




Posted 34 days ago.

skunkfunk
OKC, OK
38 Posts


I ordered several pounds from hopsdirect in January. I've had good luck just getting some out and resealing the mylar bag it came in with my vacuum sealer. Unfortunately my 5 gallon hefe only used 0.3 ounces of bittering hops so I need to do more IPA before this shit goes bad!




Posted 34 days ago.

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