Best Methods for max hop utilization

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tfrost12

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So out of curiosity which is the best way to hop for bitterness and aroma. Such as how much more efficient is it to have loose hops in your wort vs in a muslin bag. Also leaf hops vs pellets, I know pellets are more efficient, but anyone have numbers.
Also for aroma, I remember seeing something about using a french press for hop aroma oils, but I can't figure out where I saw this, anyone know what the hell I may be talking about. Oh but for aroma, is dry hopping more efficient than at the end of the boil?
 
Vigor of the boil(hotter the better - duh), length of the boil, wort pH - more alkaline yields higher utilization.

Also, not that you can really control this, but a beer with more precipitates will have lower utilization.
 
I remember seeing something about using a french press for hop aroma oils

Hop tea. Here's the most significant thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/big-hop-flavor-1-3-hops-55721/
And one I started about using a technique in the Noonan book:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/hop-tea-gyle-94183/

For more bittering utilization, apparently defoamer like Fermcap-S in the fermenter can increase bittering potential by a noticeable amount. I think this has something to do with the braun hefe not sticking to the sides of the fermenter (or crawling out of it :rolleyes:), but falling back into the beer.
Also leaf hops vs pellets, I know pellets are more efficient, but anyone have numbers
BeerAlchemy defaults to 1.1 for loose pellets (bagged pellets and loose whole are 1.0; bagged whole 0.9). I'm sure those numbers are as good as any, since the variables are ridiculously hard to pin down.
hopcalc1.jpg
 
I have seen people say that hops loose in the boil achieves about 10% better utilization than bagged hops. Not sure about the supporting evidence.
 
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