any difference in hops, whole vs. pellets?

[cbtrtbum]

Just curious. A recipe i am going to brew calls for 2 of the varieties to be whole leaf and one to be pellet. So, thats how i am gonna do it. Is there much difference? Are there any of you out there that strictly use whole instead of pellets for performance reasons? Thanks,Chris

[vw addict]

Pellets give more bittering, but whole leaf are great for aroma. That is of course if they are fresh.

[corkybstewart]

The process of turning whole hops into pellets crushes the lupulin glands so the bittering acids are allegedly easier to dissolve in the wort. Who knows, and even so I doubt it would make enough difference to matter. I've always used pellets mainly because when I started brewing more varieties were available as pellets than whole.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by vw addict
Pellets give more bittering, but whole leaf are great for aroma. That is of course if they are fresh.

Fresh and/or kept in the freezer either nitrogen purged or vacuum sealed.

[larin1477]

Fresh hops smell so GOOD!

(Thats why I use em)

[mookow]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
The process of turning whole hops into pellets crushes the lupulin glands so the bittering acids are allegedly easier to dissolve in the wort. Who knows, and even so I doubt it would make enough difference to matter. I've always used pellets mainly because when I started brewing more varieties were available as pellets than whole.

Pellets also take up a hell of a lot less room in the bottom of the kettle when racking from the kettle to the fermenters.

[brazilhead]

I´ve always read that pellets are about 5-10% more potent than whole hops. So am I just really slow or is it not possible to configure Promash for pellets rather than leaf? (I just got my version earlier this year.) Thanks, John

[barleyburps]

supposedly, you get better utilization from pellets vs. leaf. That being said, I always use whole leafs simply because I like a more "natural" element.

I don't know you're brewing proceedure, but from my experiance, pelletized hops form a better cone upon whirlpooling and are less apt to plug when you either drain or siphon to the fermenters.

[BrewDog]

Originally posted by brazilhead
I´ve always read that pellets are about 5-10% more potent than whole hops. So am I just really slow or is it not possible to configure Promash for pellets rather than leaf? (I just got my version earlier this year.) Thanks, John

When you add the hops into your recipe, click on 'edit' and you get a more detailed dialog box where can change the alpha as well as the type (pellet, plug, or whole), amongst a bunch of other things.

[BrewDog]

Originally posted by barleyburps
supposedly, you get better utilization from pellets vs. leaf. That being said, I always use whole leafs simply because I like a more "natural" element.


Whole hops WILL soak up a lot more wort than pellets. And the pellets do in fact give better alpha acid utilization.

[brazilhead]

Thanks Brewdog! So I´m just slow. This will really help the accuracy of my IBU calculations. I used to sit down before brewing with a pen and piece of paper, a calculator, and Designing Great Beers but after ProMash who the hell has time for that?