So let's say your recipe calls for .75oz of a certain type of hops... so you buy a 1oz bag of it. What do you do with the .25oz? Do you just throw it into your brew and use the entire 1oz instead of .75oz? Do you store the .25oz?
What do you do with your fractionally left over hops?
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ArkotRamathorn
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If I have a situation where I have parts of a bag left I just tightly wrap the bag in plastic wrap and put it in a zip lock bag and put it in the freezer. This works just fine for short term storage, squeeze all air from the zip lock freezer bag. Try and use the fractional hop bags in a couple weeks.
Granted that, I write my own recipes so I try to just use full ounce packages and manipulate the recipe to fit the numbers so I don't end up with partial bags.
Investing in a vacuum sealer is a good plan in general though. I'm picking up one this coming weekend so I can start purchasing more bulk hops.
Granted that, I write my own recipes so I try to just use full ounce packages and manipulate the recipe to fit the numbers so I don't end up with partial bags.
Investing in a vacuum sealer is a good plan in general though. I'm picking up one this coming weekend so I can start purchasing more bulk hops.
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Exactly what I do...I create my recipes to make sure that I don't any extra hops left over.
ffaoe
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I tend to use leftover amounts of hops to use as late edition aroma additions or for dry hopping.
Depends on how long I'm storing it. If it's literally just a week or two I'll basically do what was said above, seal it up in ziploc bag and pop it in the freezer. If it's going to be longer than that, I'll vacuum seal. But I also devise my recipes and schedule my brews such that I'm not having to buy random ounces of hops and having random ounces I won't be using. I'm not a big hop head, and don't brew many very hop forward beers, so I tend to stick to classics and buy them by the pound, vacuum sealed anyway.
Hmmm. So lets say a recipe calls for .75oz of a bittering hops added at 60mins. Can I simply use an IBU calculator and find what the equivalent IBUs are for 1oz? Can it work that way? For example, could .75oz@60mins = 1oz@50mins?
If you want to increase the weight and decrease the time, you can certainly do so. Although that may increase flavor and aroma, which may or may not be what you want.
I certainly see your drive to keep things in whole numbers, and as already said a number of us try to design our recipes as such. When I was was interviewing for a brewing job (that after being hired ended up not panning out for reasons I won't go into), head brewer asked me to rework a recipe's hopping (presumably because the hops in the original recipe weren't panning out in contracts, and in addition to wanting to make sure I knew what I was doing, was looking for an alternate opinion anyway), and later on (after being hired) asked me why I chose a slightly lower alpha bittering hop at a higher weight (Bravo vs. Apollo), and it was because I wanted to keep numbers to the whole pound, knowing that lots of pro brewers, like homebrewers, prefer to keep numbers rounded, except instead of 1oz hop increments and major-fraction (half pound, quarter pound, whole pound, at least by the ounce, etc) grain increments, it's by the lb for hops and by the sack for grains (Jamil said as much on one of the old CYBI episodes, don't ask me which because there's no way I'd remember). Head brewer boss figured that was the reasoning and respected it, even if he would have saved the extra money per batch by using a slightly higher hop (and having extra cost and complication to properly store the unused portion). So it's definitely a concern for a lot of folks, pros included.
I certainly see your drive to keep things in whole numbers, and as already said a number of us try to design our recipes as such. When I was was interviewing for a brewing job (that after being hired ended up not panning out for reasons I won't go into), head brewer asked me to rework a recipe's hopping (presumably because the hops in the original recipe weren't panning out in contracts, and in addition to wanting to make sure I knew what I was doing, was looking for an alternate opinion anyway), and later on (after being hired) asked me why I chose a slightly lower alpha bittering hop at a higher weight (Bravo vs. Apollo), and it was because I wanted to keep numbers to the whole pound, knowing that lots of pro brewers, like homebrewers, prefer to keep numbers rounded, except instead of 1oz hop increments and major-fraction (half pound, quarter pound, whole pound, at least by the ounce, etc) grain increments, it's by the lb for hops and by the sack for grains (Jamil said as much on one of the old CYBI episodes, don't ask me which because there's no way I'd remember). Head brewer boss figured that was the reasoning and respected it, even if he would have saved the extra money per batch by using a slightly higher hop (and having extra cost and complication to properly store the unused portion). So it's definitely a concern for a lot of folks, pros included.
madcowbrewing
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You could always get an airtight container and throw all your leftovers in there and after say 6 months, make yourself a "kitchen sink" beer. 
Thanks for the explanation. I've thrown in the entire 1oz of hops before where only .75oz was needed (based on a recipe) just so I don't store the remaining .25oz.
I think next time I'll just stick to recipe and ziploc the rest.
You could always get an airtight container and throw all your leftovers in there and after say 6 months, make yourself a "kitchen sink" beer.
I have a lot of hops on hand. I also use a FoodSaver vacuum system. If I have .25 oz left I usually have more of that hop on hand or on order. The smaller/older gets used first and added to with the new hops. I also create my own recipes and try to use whole ounces. But if I don't they get vacuumed and go back in the freezer. The inventory feature on Beersmith allows me to see if I have enough hops. If I don't have one type, I usually have enough of a similar one for substitution.
I too will use some up in late additions or whirlpool/steep additions.
I too will use some up in late additions or whirlpool/steep additions.
I take them to work, and use them as an air freshener/potpourri until they start to stink.
I LOVE the smell of hops but I could not imagine not using them for BEER!
ffaoe
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"kitchen sink" beer doesn't work all the time. I did one once and it was initially undrinkable. I let it age 2 years and still had to dump it.
"kitchen sink beers" (throwing everything and anything in) have to be crafted not to be overwhelming and undrinkable.
"kitchen sink beers" (throwing everything and anything in) have to be crafted not to be overwhelming and undrinkable.
jack_a_roe
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if it's an ipa or pale i usually just throw the extra in at flame out or dry hop.
Yeah I just add more hops at flameout. I usually do 4oz packs for all ym IPAs due to the sheer amount of hops that go in. so if I am even left with 1oz ill usually toss it in my IPA at flameout instead of sealing it up in my foodsaver
I vacuum seal all leftover hops and when I have a big collection of them I brew an IPA or pale, bitter to where I want it at 60 and then dump all the hop remnants in at 15, 0, and dry hop. Usually turns out pretty good.
About once a year or so, I make a leftover hop mutt brew.
I donate my extra hops to the Salvation Army.
Nah, I save em and use them 'soon' or as soon as possible, throw em away if they get to much age on em.
The way I save them I have not run across this scenario yet.
I am sure that I have some hops that are at least 2 years old. I hop on the high end most of the time so old hops have not been a problem so far.
I store them in the freezer and then a couple of years later I throw them out.
Standard operating procedure.... because who doesn't like throwing away pricey ingredients : D
Natdavis777
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If I purchased my hops in 1oz packs, then I'd just utilize the small excess amount so,ethereal in the beer. Since I buy hops usually by the pound, I use my leftovers to make a mutt IPA or Pale
FloppyKnockers
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I too use a suck-n-seal for my leftover hops. I've made hodge-podge ales with them on a few occasions, but what I do instead is find a recipe that uses the hops I have (or their substitutions) or make the beer that called for those hops when you got them the first time.
I make an interesting "Pale" with them.
tjpfeister
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My Foodsaver doesn't like the painted hop union bags... so I reseal them with a clothes iron prior to saving in the freezer
hifidelity
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In my early brewing career I added an ounce of bittering hops to a saison that only called for a half ounce so I wouldn't have leftovers. I figured...I like hops...it can't be a bad thing, right? The beer ended up pretty bitter and I wished I had used them elsewhere in the recipe. Live and learn...
Magnus314
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I do this every 4-6 months with base malt + leftover hops, crystal, and specialty malts.
It usually creates a wonderful hoppy amber I call "ROYGBIV".
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