Vacuum Sealing Hops

Brewer's Cut of Crystal hops

I bought a vacuum sealer yesterday so I could cut and bag my fresh hops without sacrificing their freshness to the freezer. The sealer I bought worked like a charm, and did an awesome job of compressing the hop packages. The most impressive part was how quickly I was able to slice up the 5 packages of hops and seal them in brewing quantities for later.

I smelled quite a few varieties last night, and Crystal was by far my favorite of the bunch. The aroma was stellar – citrus and pitch. I can’t wait to brew something special with them.

Today I brewed with an ounce of Galena for bittering and 2.2 oz of Fresh UK East Kent Goldings. I brewed a fairly traditional special bitter and used munich and British pale malt for flavor. The brew supply store didn’t have any Maris Otter.