Dry Hopping Questions

I am thinking about doing an IPA for my second beer. The recipe I am looking at tells me that I need:

1 oz of Centennial whole hops (dry hops)
.5 oz of Chinook whole hops (dry hops)

I'm not sure if my local homebrew shop carries whole hops? Can I just substitute pellets of same amounts and types? I have been under the impression that pellets are different than whole hops in how much I should use.

So the question is this: Can I dry hop with Centennial and Chinook pellets in the same amount? If not, how do I convert the whole hop amount to pellet amount? It does not give me the AAU's for these two specific ingredients.

Thanks.

For dry hopping I don't think the amounts have to be adjusted for pellets, because you're not actually extracting any bitterness-only aroma. If you're using them for bittering I think the utilization adjustment is about 10%.

That said, I do prefer whole hops for dry hopping if you can get your hands on them...I don't like the way the pellets dissolve and clog the siphon. Bag them if you can.

You can use pellets no problem. When you siphon just keep it slightly above the bottom so you don't siphon the hop trub.

when dry hopping in the secondary...does it matter/make a difference if I throw in the hops first and then rack on top of them, or should I just put the hops in after the racking is complete?

JUSTBEERPLEASE said:

when dry hopping in the secondary...does it matter/make a difference if I throw in the hops first and then rack on top of them, or should I just put the hops in after the racking is complete?

Click to expand...

no difference at all

AA% doesn't matter for dry hopping. There is probably some relationship between AA% for a hop type & oil %, but I've never seen anything on it.

JUSTBEERPLEASE said:

when dry hopping in the secondary...does it matter/make a difference if I throw in the hops first and then rack on top of them, or should I just put the hops in after the racking is complete?

Click to expand...

i know some guys trough them in a hog bag with some sanitized marbles or some sort of weight to pull them down, but i'm sure you'll be fine either way.