Beer Forum

So I was wondering if there are any advantages of using air tight jars to store hops.
Right now, I use Ziploc bags in the freezer. If I use the air tight jars, do I have to still freeze the hops? Should I freeze the glass? Just looking for a better way to store my hops cause I have some in the freezer right now. About 3 months old and just didn't taste right in my last batch.

Thanks!

you won't be able to suck the air out of the jars, will you?

Could get these..

http://morebeer.com/view_product/7722// ... Bag_1_2_lb

If you had a food sealer, the mason jar attachment is a very nice way to store pellet hops:

http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-T03-000 ... B0000CFFS6

You can get most of the air out of the jar, and a quart jar holds about a pound of pellet hops. I still keep them in the freezer, to minimize the alpha acid loss, but the hops keep their aroma very well.

@ stinkfist - thanks those look pretty solid. Have you used them? I take it I'll need to remove as much air as possible, right?

@cdburg - I don't have a food sealer, but been thinking about it for actual food, but this attachment might push it over the edge for getting one. So that actually becomes the lid on the jar?

If you are getting a foodsaver, be aware that it does not pull a perfect vacuum and some gas will be left in the jar. This is minimized if you use bags as the physical space for gas is reduced as you pull the partial vacuum.

If you can purge the jar with an inert gas, such as carbon dioxide, and then do the vacuum thing, that would be better.

The cold is very important too. Sierra Nevada knows as much about hops as anyone and they store bales cold, but exposed to air. So I assume they believe the cold is the most important part.

Beeraucratic wrote:@cdburg - I don't have a food sealer, but been thinking about it for actual food, but this attachment might push it over the edge for getting one. So that actually becomes the lid on the jar?

The attachment just sucks the air out of the jar. You'll still use the normal lids, put the attachment on top and run the vacuum. The attachment sucks out the air (most of it) and leaves the lid. With the vacuum in the jar, the lid is held on very tightly. To open the jar, you just pry off the lid.

My food sealer has a "canister" setting that runs a longer cycle than it would it you were using bags. Yes, there is still going to be some air in the jar, but I think it's pretty minimal. The results for me have been the same, if not better, than the bags. I don't know if I got bad batches of bags, or if there were other problems, but sometimes, bags would lose a seal. As long as the rim of the jar is clean (no hop dust), the jars seal and stay sealed.

Beeraucratic wrote:@ stinkfist - thanks those look pretty solid. Have you used them? I take it I'll need to remove as much air as possible, right?

I have not used them..just noticed them on their site a week or so ago and thought they looked cool