To my knowledge, hops are harvested once a year in August/September, then (for pellets) sent off for processing and packaging, then to warehouses and Home Brew Shop shelves. In my unenlightened past, I would only buy hops for my next 2 or 3 planned brews, ignorantly believing that I'd always be using the freshest hops. But this is not really the case, is it... since buying hops in February is basically the same as buying in June - you're getting hops that were harvested and processed the previous fall. (Of course, this assumes that the hops have been properly protected against O2, heat, and light).
So here are my questions:
1) Does the above understanding sound correct?
2) In what month do the new season's hop pellets and whole flowers hit the shelves?
3) Since I know that I can store hops properly at home, is there any disadvantage to just stocking up on my most used hops sometime in the winter? (especially since my treatment of the hops might be more gentle than that of the homebrew shop)
Please disregard issues of hoarding (it's not 2008 anymore) - I'm not talking stockpiling here, I'm just talking saving a trip to the store once or twice a month by buying 8 oz at a time rather than 2 oz at a time.
