Leaf hops

Steven4est · 12-21-2009, 03:45 AM

I just brewed a stout using leaf hops from hops direct and it was the first time i used them.
My scale wasnt very good but i weighed out 1/2 an oz for 60, 30, and 10. However a 1/2 oz of leaf hops is alot more han a 1/2 oz of the pellets. is this normal???

Also should i filter the hops when i pour the wort into the carboy? theres a ton of leaf hops so i did filter it however not sure if i should have

IceFisherChris · 12-21-2009, 04:08 AM

I have heard you want to use 10% less pellet hops than whole hops by weight. So essentially you used a little less than 1/2 ounce of pellets.. Pellets are just more efficient than whole hops. Yes you will have a lot more volume of whole hops. And I would take the hops out after the boil but it's really insignificant as far as I'm concerned.
Edit: I said I usually leave out the hop trub (for pellet hops) but I don't. It all goes into the fermenter.

**david_42** · 12-21-2009, 02:46 PM

One of the attractions (for the pros at least) of pellet hops is they take up a lot less space. Whole hops are fluffy, as you found out. Just eyeballing it, a pound of pellets is about as big as a 6 oz. of vacuum-sealed whole hops. When you break the seal, they fluff up even more.

I strain out the hops to reduce the trub volume, some people don't bother.

Just for reference, those are hop flowers, not leaves.

**remilard** · 12-21-2009, 03:08 PM

Whole hops are super easy to remove from the wort, which is one of their primary features. I don't see any reason not to strain them. A copper or stainless scrubby will work fine for a cheap solution. Screens and false bottoms work too.

pilotdane · 12-21-2009, 04:10 PM

I have a bazooka screen on my boil pot and anything more than 3/4 ounce of leaf hops cloggs it up pretty good. I've learned to keep a long sterilized spoon handy. Scraping back and forth along the screen keeps it flowing.

How much hops does it take to clogg a stainless scrubby?