Using dried whole hops

They soak up so much wort! I think something like a gallon was lost from my last hoppy IPA. I tried adding extra water to the boil for the next batch, but over compensated and had a lower OG. Does anyone know how much water per ounce of hops they soak up? Is presoaking hops a viable solution? I tried this for a recent 'dry' hopping in secondary, but it seemed like a lot of hop flavor was leaching out in the soak water. I suppose I could have tossed that water in too, it was boiled, cooled water, but I didn't. How do others handle this?

I just accept the losses. I make up for it a bit in batch size when I'm formulating a recipe that I'll dry hop, but whole hops are gonna soak up some of your beer.

I use whole hops exclusively. I plan on whole leaf hops absorbing about 0.1 gal / oz of hops. You can adjust your water and gravity to account for this in the boil so that you hit your volume and OG in the fermenter. However, there's not much you can do about the dry hops unless you have a ferementer that's big enough to accomodate some extra wort.

I am thinking of adding hops for my third brew (still planning my second, which is going to have coriander and orange peel) and thought as the OP said about a pre-soak.

Would this be a viable option since I use malt and have to add water, as in could this extra water I have to add in be the water containing the pre-soaked dry hops and still get near the same effect? It would not be a boil addition, but an after-boil addition only to get some hoppy flavor during the fermentation process...or would you advise to heat-activate (aka add near the end of the boil) the dry hops?

BBL_Brewer said:

I use whole hops exclusively. I plan on whole leaf hops absorbing about 0.1 gal / oz of hops. You can adjust your water and gravity to account for this in the boil so that you hit your volume and OG in the fermenter. However, there's not much you can do about the dry hops unless you have a ferementer that's big enough to accomodate some extra wort.

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OK, 0.1 gal/ oz hops is something I can work with. That is very helpful, just the sort of info I was hoping for. Thank you. How did you measure this value?

NadoHawk said:

I am thinking of adding hops for my third brew (still planning my second, which is going to have coriander and orange peel) and thought as the OP said about a pre-soak.

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Is that the Cascades / Orange Pale Ale you are planning for your second brew? I have a keg of that right now. It is a very tasty brew. Good luck with it. I presoaked my 'dry' hops for that one, and over-estimated how much wort the hops would soak up so the gravity was a hair low. I got a little extra beer and it is still delicious.

steppenwolph said:

How did you measure this value?

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I took a few ounces of hops and steeped them in a gallon of warm water and then measured what was left.

BBL_Brewer said:

I took a few ounces of hops and steeped them in a gallon of warm water and then measured what was left.

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Simple and direct, very nice. Thanks again for passing it along.

BBL_Brewer said:

I use whole hops exclusively. I plan on whole leaf hops absorbing about 0.1 gal / oz of hops. You can adjust your water and gravity to account for this in the boil so that you hit your volume and OG in the fermenter. However, there's not much you can do about the dry hops unless you have a ferementer that's big enough to accomodate some extra wort.

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sorry to bump an old thread, but i have a question on this topic - is this ratio based on fresh (wet) whole hops or dried whole hops? i'm growing my own hops for the first time this year, and plan on using them for dry hopping (in secondary), and am trying to determine how much to compensate the water volume.

jonkranked said:

sorry to bump an old thread, but i have a question on this topic - is this ratio based on fresh (wet) whole hops or dried whole hops? i'm growing my own hops for the first time this year, and plan on using them for dry hopping (in secondary), and am trying to determine how much to compensate the water volume.

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Dried hops. I've never used fresh ones. Your math may vary, but plan on whole leaf hops absorbing about a pint per ounce. Make adjustments after that based on your initial results.