freeze drying hops

[HammerOne]

Just looking for pro's and con's. I've done it both ways, freeze drying and using a dehydrator. I'm planning on vacum sealing the hops in a mason jar before freezing

[vtchuck]

Just looking for pro's and con's. I've done it both ways, freeze drying and using a dehydrator. I'm planning on vacum sealing the hops in a mason jar before freezing


How do you freeze dry? Do you need special equipment?

[HammerOne]

I have a Food Saver attachment for mason jars and use a brake bleeder pump to suck out the air. Then in the freezer it goes. Thats how I store all of my hops so I figured it would work with fresh hops to.

[flyangler18]

I have a Food Saver attachment for mason jars and use a brake bleeder pump to suck out the air. Then in the freezer it goes. Thats how I store all of my hops so I figured it would work with fresh hops to.

That's not freeze drying (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze_drying), though.

[vtchuck]

I have a Food Saver attachment for mason jars and use a brake bleeder pump to suck out the air. Then in the freezer it goes. Thats how I store all of my hops so I figured it would work with fresh hops to.

I'm guessing that freezing without drying will result in a mushy, congealed green muck. But I've never tried it, so I could be wrong.

Considering the popularity of wet hop beers, I suspect that if this was feasible, the commercial brewers would have employed that technique... AFAIK, thats not the case.

[HammerOne]

I put last years crop in a paper bag and froze them. They did'nt turn to muck. but I'm sure they are pretty useless

[marzen41]

i have frozen fresh hops they were fine but, without the flavor and aroma of dried