Whole Leaf weight vs pellet weight

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sarrsipius

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
232
Reaction score
9
A friend of mine gave me a some whole leaf hops he grew. I've always used pellet hops. When a recipe calls for x.x oz of hops is that weight the same regardless of what form they are in (assuming the alpha % is equal).
 
I doubt the OP was really asking if an ounce of pellet weighs the same as an ounce of whole hops. I've read multiple sources mention the difference in hop utilization with the two types, and that you may need to up the weight a bit with whole hops to get the same result that you would with pellet. Maybe the difference is negligible, but it depends on who you ask.

Excerpt from http://www.brew-dudes.com/whole-hops-hop-plugs-and-pellets/165 :

"Utilization can be improved from 10-25% with pellets over whole hops. So using more whole hops is required than pellets to get the same results."
 
My research has turned up a common rule to use 10% more whole hops than pellets to obtain the same calculated bitterness level (IBU). I feel confident in this, too, as Beersmith supports this with its drop-down selection of "pellet" vs "whole" and how it changes your values in a recipe on the fly.

Now, perception? That's a different thing.
 
i have beersmith so I guess I will go by it's recomendation. I guess now the only question remaining is what is the AA% on my friends hops. Hopefully about avarage!
 
I just realized you were talking about home grown hops. Due to differences in remaining water content after drying (assuming they're dried), growing conditions, etc., I wouldn't think you could rely on commercial alpha acids per weight to reliably determine how much you have in home grown hops. It may be a good starting point, but you may just have to try and see, then dial in your numbers by trial and error with future batches. Maybe make a small hop tea with both for an initial comparison. Just a thought.

By the way I really wish one of my neighbors would come over with a bag full of homegrown hops so I could have your same dilemma! :D
 
Back
Top