Hop pellets......

SUCK

Used them for the first, and last, time yesterday. It was a bear trying to pour out the wort and not get some of the trub in there. I used a grain bag, which helped a little; but, there was still a lot that found it's way out. Oh well, only whole hops for me!

welcome to the anti pellet club!

There is tradeoffs between pellets and leaf hops. I am still working on methods to filter better, and there are several suggestions on this forum I haven't gotten around to trying yet. I've got a boil kettle with a ball valve welded on, but it stops at the pot wall so there is no internal pickup tube to place a filter on.

The big downside with pellets is they are harder to filter. The upsides though are pretty good. If you buy in bulk they use way less room to store, and store over time better. I usually put a pound in a couple vacuumed mason jars. Also you get a little bit better utilization from them as well, so you don't have to use quite as much.

And I go the other way completely. Siphoning from the kettle into the fermenter, whole hops like to clog things up all of the time, making pellets much easier to work with.

Just use a hop bag. Simple solution, for me that keeps all pellet trub out of the wort. A grain bag is not the same as a hop bag - my guess is your grain bag is a loose mesh, not fine mesh.
http://morebeer.com/view_product/15685//Bag_-_6_x_8_Fine_Mesh

Lots of things SUCK if you're not setup to use them. Don't say Pellets SUCK, Say pellets suck for your particular setup.

I use a pickup tube with a SS Scrubbie around it and never have a problem with using pellet or whole leaf hops.

It's fine to not prefer one thing over another but don't' spread incorrect information.


Works Wonders for filtering hop trub, hot and cold break.

There are certainly benefits to pellets. For me though, I prefer not to use them. I have a boilermaker with a hop screen and can only use leaf hops with it. I'll use pellets for some european styles, but will not use them for american styles, especially hoppy ones. I get a grassy flavor, that I don't like. And it's not just my hops, I taste it in some commercial beers as well. But, everyone has their preference. Plus, I thinkk my parents/friends are starting to get annoyed that I've "borrowed" some of their ffreezer space since mine is filed to the max (not even room for food).

I've only used pellets but I've only brewed 6 batches so far. I tried a hop bag for the first time on the last batch and it worked great. I also had someone suggest the paint bag filter you can get from Home Depot - plus you can configure a simple setup to have it suspended above your kettle (I haven't done this yet). The batch I used the bag on came out really great too. Finally, a few people told me not to try to filter the spent pellets and just put them into the primary.

I use both whole and pellets but prefer pellets. I siphon after whirlpool or just dump the whole thing in the fermenter (never have used a bag.) Whole soak up more wort, don't keep as well and use more space in the freezer.

I just dump them right into the fermenter. They will compact themselves into the bottom and you can easily siphon out above them. It all comes out in the wash.

Never had any issues with pellet hops. And they certainly don't "SUCK". Try using a small nylon hop bag-fine mesh. Or pour your wort through a strainer into your bucket. Just don't speak ill of hops-in any form!

The only reason I don't like them in the fermenter is because I reuse yeast. I get better results form later generations, even of dry yeasts. Counter flow or plate chillers can get clogged with it, so can my bottle filler.

IrregularPulse said:

Lots of things SUCK if you're not setup to use them. Don't say Pellets SUCK, Say pellets suck for your particular setup.

I use a pickup tube with a SS Scrubbie around it and never have a problem with using pellet or whole leaf hops.

It's fine to not prefer one thing over another but don't' spread incorrect information.


Works Wonders for filtering hop trub, hot and cold break.

Click to expand...

...and for smokin' rock, b#tches!

I've made many batches with pellets and never had a need to filter my beer. It's gone into my primary and has always settled into the trub with no problem.

So your prognosis on pellets is based on a beer that hasn't even fermented yet? They'll settle out. I promise. To me, hops preference is an "it depends" sort of thing. I prefer pellet in the boil and leaf to dry hop. But it's not like I'd change my recipe just because my LHBS had only had my hop in leaf instead of pellet or vice versa.

barracudamagoo said:

SUCK

Used them for the first, and last, time yesterday. It was a bear trying to pour out the wort and not get some of the trub in there. I used a grain bag, which helped a little; but, there was still a lot that found it's way out. Oh well, only whole hops for me!

Click to expand...

Relax, have a home brew and let them on through.

I prefer pellets over plugs and whole hops, although I don't have too much trouble with the other types.

I just autosiphon from the kettle into the fermenter, and what gets through, gets through. Hasn't ever hurt anything.

Pellets RULE!!!


There, now we're even.

SteveM said:

I just dump them right into the fermenter. They will compact themselves into the bottom and you can easily siphon out above them. It all comes out in the wash.

Click to expand...

Well, you beat me to it. I use a bag, but still get some bits of hop coming out in the wort, but who cares, they always settle out and compact at the bottom and I have yet to notice them in my beer.

I like pellets for FWH and very late additions (like flameout additions or 2 minutes after flameout) because they 'dissolve' quicker. Whole leaf for most everything else. They are harder to filter but it doesn't take that much longer. I just use a spoon to scrape the mesh until the funnel is empty then dump the trub/hop matter and start over. As long as I let the wort in the boil kettle settle then I only have to do that at the very end and only a couple of times.

http://new.midwestsupplies.com/hop-ball.html

Do you think this will work?

Love to use em both together. Pellets are easier to handle and being more concentrated are stronger in bittering and aroma. Usually use them when brewing and in primary. Whole hops impart a smoother taste to my taste buds. I like to dry hop in secondary with whole hops. I don't worry about the trub and have given up trying to filter to any great degree. Just cold crash and it all settles to the bottom anyways. Montanaandy

I like pellets better. 7oz. of hop cones in a 5 gal brew will SUCK alot, and SOAK up alot of wort. I like to mix them up.

I use a super fine chinois to filter and aerate back and forth between a bucket and my pot, then I add to the fermenter. No pellets left.

IrregularPulse said:

Lots of things SUCK if you're not setup to use them. Don't say Pellets SUCK, Say pellets suck for your particular setup.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I used to use hop bags and would worry about trub and hot/cold break making it into the fermenter. However I read that some trub is good for the yeast and that some people just toss the entire brew pot contents into the fermenter. Since then, I've quit using hop bags unless I'm making a double IPA with a crazy amount of hops. I whirlpool my wort in the brew pot, rack off the edge of the pot and if a little trub or hop debris makes it way into the fermenter, no biggie. Everything gets taken care of in the fermenter and careful racking from then on.

The only whole hops I use come from my garden.

+1 for just dumping it all into the fermenter and not worrying about it.