Hops

Vote on what you prefer

I like whole, but don't skip a beat if I can only find pellets. I've never tried the oils.

The choices are too limited. I tend to use pellets for bittering (I buy columbus pellets by the pound) and whole flower for aroma and dry-hopping. Pellets work ok for flavor, but most of the time I'll use whole. When you are aiming for high IBU, whole hops just suck up too much wort, plus you get better extraction with pellets. Some hop pellets work for aroma, but most don't. Dry hopping with pellets just doesn't work, even in theory.

And even then there are exceptions, my Milds are always whole hops throughout.

Hey, you forgot plugs!

If I cant find whole hops, I buy hop plugs if available. Ive had a lot of good batches from them, and are always my second choice before going to pellets. Not that I wont use pellets if needed, but would rather use whole.

I used to use only pellets, untill I started growing my own.