sonvolt

Recipes 

Can someone give me a primer or provide a link to a primer for calculating IBUs? In other words, I want to know how to convert recipes based upon the type of hops I use. For instance, if I have a recipe that calls for 1.5 oz. pellet hops, is there some sort of conversion that I must make if I want to use whole hops?

Surely the measurements are not the same . . . are they?

cweston

Recipes 

If a recipe calls for pellet hops, use about 15-20% more whole hops. Or that's what I've read, anyway.

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Primary: none
Secondary:
Bottle conditioning: Robust Porter
Drinking: Saison Dupont clone, tripel
Coming soon: Columbus APA, Rich Red ale

sonvolt

Recipes 

ok . . .what about hop plugs?

Walker

Recipes 

hop plugs are whole hops that are pressed into the plug shape. Use them the same as whole hops.

-walker

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Ground Fault Brewing Co.

cowain

Recipes 

You can use www.hbg.org/recipator and tell it if you are using whole or pellet hops and it will change the calculations accordingly. I used to do all of the calculations by hand, but I noticed that when I was checking against the recipator it always gave me the same result that I had calculated (unlike several other brewing software programs), so I use that now.

Lil' Sparky

Recipes 

I didn't think it mattered as far as calculations go. I thought 1 oz of 5% AAU whole hops are the same as 1 oz 5% AAU pellet hops. Am I wrong?

Walker

Recipes 

Due to the fact that the pellets are ground up, you get better utilization out of them in the boil. The general rule of thumb is 1 oz of whole hops is equivalent to 0.85 oz of pellets.

-walker

__________________
Ground Fault Brewing Co.

cowain

Recipes 

yeah, the utilization rate is different between the pellet and leaf. over the course of a 60 minute boil it can add up.

Lil' Sparky

Recipes 

I use whole hops almost exclusively. I guess maybe that's why some of my "high IBU" brews didn't seem as bitter as I expected.