Why all the hate for leaf hops?

I've done two batches recently with leaf hops and I have to say, I never want to go back to the pellets ever again. Sure, they take up more room in the fridge, but they're significantly easier to work with and don't make as much of a mess.

I don't have a hop basket (should probably get one), so I just let the hops swim around freely in the kettle the same way I did with pellets. I always filter my wort with a funnel & screen. The pellets are a royal pain because they easily get clogged in the screen. The leaf hops sit in the funnel, but allow the wort to easily flow through them.

I just finished bottling an IPA I dry-hopped with Falconers Flight (I can only find them in pellet form) and I saw bits of hops flowing through the hose as I was siphoning into the bottling bucket. I'm fairly convinced I'm going to have hops in the bottles as a result. Leaf hops would have never done this.

I, for one, love leaf hops. Am I the only one?

Leaf hops get all the hate? I must have missed that memo

Most brewers I know consider it to be a relatively minor point of personal preference.

I don't think i've ever seen any "hate" threads about leaf hops. I use and enjoy both.

I guess "hate" is a strong word, but I've come across quite a few people saying they'd never go back to leaf hops and recommending pellets to the newbies. I guess I just don't understand what there is to like about pellets other than their size.

I think you need to read more threads.

I just love "drama" thread like this where the thread poster thinks there's some big "controversy" about something, and the rest of us just scratch our heads......I've been on here for how long, and have NEVER come across any debate re: pellets vs whole or anything like that. In fact in all my years on here I think Whole -vs-Pellet is the one thing NOT debated on here.....I can't recall it ever coming up. It's probably one of the few things on here that HASN'T garnered any debate....

So howsabout that whole glass -vs- plastic thing...

Or aluminum -vs- stainless???

senfo said:

I guess "hate" is a strong word, but I've come across quite a few people saying they'd never go back to leaf hops and recommending pellets to the newbies. I guess I just don't understand what there is to like about pellets other than their size.

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I've advised many people to switch to pellets, and I've advised many people to switch to leaf. To some extent one's system can definitely favor one over the other. A lot of the recommendations come when somebody is having a particular problem with either pellet-ness or leaf-ness.

I tend to prefer pellet hops along with boxers, vanilla ice cream, and brunettes.

Revvy said:

I just love "drama" thread like this where the thread poster thinks there's some big "controversy" about something, and the rest of us just scratch our heads......I've been on here for how long, and have NEVER come across any debate re: pellets vs whole or anything like that. In fact in all my years on here I think Whole -vs-Pellet is the one thing NOT debated on here.....I can't recall it ever coming up. It's probably one of the few things on here that HASN'T garnered any debate....

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Check the similar threads box below your post?

MalFet said:

Check the similar threads box below your post?

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Wow...Holy crap, really? I've never noticed it before...

Uh....Pellets dammit, leaf users are clearly evil, who use only secondaries, glass and stainless, and vote republican...

It is funny though, there was a debate in 2007, then nothing til 2011...then a couple in 2012. So what happened between 2007 and 2011 where noone gave a flying ****?

Revvy said:

It is funny though, there was a debate in 2007, then nothing til 2011...then a couple in 2012. So what happened between 2007 and 2011 where noone gave a flying ****?

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Hop shortage. People used what they could find and didn't complain.

AZ_IPA said:

Hop shortage. People used what they could find and didn't complain.

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LOL, the same thing just occurred to me.

senfo, use what you want, and others will use what they want....that's the magic of brewing, it really doesn't matter. Ask 10 different brewers and you'll get 12 different answers, and they'll ALL be right. It's called having a preference. Arguments and debates about what folks prefer are really stupid, and just the providence of really bored people and trolls, to the rest of the brewers, and more important our yeasty overlords, it doesn't matter, they'll make beer out of whatever we choose to chuck in there.

For myself I prefer to use leaf hops in my boil and pellets for dry hopping. This is only for a matter of convenience and nothing more, when dry hoping I like the fact that pellets will settle to the bottom. I also find it easier to rack off my wort from the kettle when using leaf. but when push comes to shove Ill use what ever I can get my hands on

Revvy said:

LOL, the same thing just occurred to me.

senfo, use what you want, and others will use what they want....that's the magic of brewing, it really doesn't matter. Ask 10 different brewers and you'll get 12 different answers, and they'll ALL be right. It's called having a preference. Arguments and debates about what folks prefer are really stupid, and just the providence of really bored people and trolls, to the rest of the brewers, and more important our yeasty overlords, it doesn't matter, they'll make beer out of whatever we choose to chuck in there.

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I apologize if you thought I was attempting to troll for a debate because that certainly wasn't my intent. I was more curious if I was missing something wrong with leaf pellets, but after reading the responses to this thread, it doesn't sound like that's the case.

senfo said:

I apologize if you thought I was attempting to troll for a debate because that certainly wasn't my intent. I was more curious if I was missing something wrong with leaf pellets, but after reading the responses to this thread, it doesn't sound like that's the case.

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Leaf hops don't work for my system.

I gravity feed to chill (without a hop filter) through a CFC. It's just not feasible with leaf hops. It works fine with pellet hops.

Nothing against 'em, but pellet work better in my system.

Glynn said:

For myself I prefer to use leaf hops in my boil and pellets for dry hopping. This is only for a matter of convenience and nothing more, when dry hoping I like the fact that pellets will settle to the bottom. I also find it easier to rack off my wort from the kettle when using leaf. but when push comes to shove Ill use what ever I can get my hands on

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Have you ever run into an issue with pellets still floating around at the end of your secondary? I probably should have given it another few days, but I needed to reuse the fermenter for another batch.

Either way, I'll accept the minor flaw in the beer. It tasted delicious. Was tempted to drink it like a cask beer rather than letting it carbonate and age a few more weeks.

As already stated, it's all about personal preference. My preference is to use pellet hops in the boil (I use a hop spider so no gunk to deal with, period) but I'll dry hop with leaf. I just love it when a keg I've dry hopped (the only way I'll do it now) kicks and I pull the nylon bag of hops out. They've filled the bag up, but all the wonderful beer has flowed out into my glass. :rockin:

I might use some leaf hops/whole hops in the boil soon. Since I have the spider, I'm more interested in the hop variety than it's form. As long as I get my target into the glass, I don't care what form the hops are in.

senfo said:

Have you ever run into an issue with pellets still floating around at the end of your secondary? I probably should have given it another few days, but I needed to reuse the fermenter for another batch.

Either way, I'll accept the minor flaw in the beer. It tasted delicious. Was tempted to drink it like a cask beer rather than letting it carbonate and age a few more weeks.

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You still secondary???

Hey, Revvy, you missed one...

Golddiggie said:

You still secondary???

Hey, Revvy, you missed one...

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And I prefer all-grain.

I use whatever I have, but pellet hops don't clog my pump/system, while whole hops do. So when I use whole hops, I use a bazooka tube in my boil kettle- but it will plug up with pellets. Yesterday, I made a batch with 7 ounces of whole hops and four ounces of pellets (10 gallon batch). I had to bag the pellets in the hops spider so I wouldn't clog my bazooka tube!

I'm an old winemaker, so I'm really proficient with racking. Here's a beer fermenting/dryhopping before going into the keg:



Some people have trouble with siphoning with that many hops. That may be why they don't like whole hops!

senfo said:

And I prefer all-grain.

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So?? I'm brewing all grain too. Been doing it since my 5th batch. But I haven't used a secondary since my first two batches (over two years ago). I'll move to an aging vessel WHEN it makes most sense. Otherwise, just long primary and be done with it. With the temperatures I can keep the beer at (after fermentation is over) in the 45-55F range, longer time is of zero concern/issue. Even when it was the mid 60's, I didn't worry. My English IPA sat in primary for about 6 weeks (just couldn't get around to kegging it). At the lower temperatures of the basement, it still has great hop flavor and aroma (from the hop bursting).

Golddiggie said:

So?? I'm brewing all grain too. Been doing it since my 5th batch.

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Oh, I thought we were tossing around debate topics, so I threw another one into the mix - extract, partial or all-grain.

senfo said:

Oh, I thought we were tossing around debate topics, so I threw another one into the mix - extract, partial or all-grain.

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Nope...

senfo said:

Oh, I thought we were tossing around debate topics, so I threw another one into the mix - extract, partial or all-grain.

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Secondary users tend to get bullied a bit around here. Just keep quiet about it and they'll leave you alone.

MalFet said:

Secondary users tend to get bullied a bit around here. Just keep quiet about it and they'll leave you alone.

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Would you change the oil in your [otherwise properly maintained] engine after only 1000 miles? IMO, same thing.

While I do transfer to an aging vessel when I'll be doing extended aging on something that works best out of primary, that's the exception not the norm (for beers).

MalFet said:

Secondary users tend to get bullied a bit around here. Just keep quiet about it and they'll leave you alone.

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This.

As for the OP, I do recall a thread within the last week where a guy was bagging on WLH, bet that's what sparked it. I like them both, but dry hop with leaf only. Just my preference.

I like pellets due to the fact that they take up less space in the freezer so I can buy them in bulk and freeze em till I use them. That and in big ipa's with a pound of hops in them the leaf soak up a lot of wort. I tend to get more hop haze from pellets when dry hopping then I do with leaf though so I will dry hop with leaf if I have some around.

Oh and I too stopped with secondary unless I am aging for an extended period. 10 days or so to ferment, add dry hops for 7 to 10 and straight to the keg.

Paramecium said:

I like pellets due to the fact that they take up less space in the freezer so I can buy them in bulk

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I would use leaf exclusively if not for this. There aren't many other legitimate complaints about leaf hops. I think utilization is like 10% less, which is negligible.

I have a false bottom in my kettle and pellets clog it so I'm phasing out all pellets and just using leaf hops. They absorb a bit more wort but I really don't mind, I'm not tying to make money with my hobby just tasty beers!