Flame Out & Dry Hopping: Pellet v. Leaf

[cuseman24]

I understand that alpha acid utilization is higher for pellet hops vs leaf hops during the boil.

What about aroma though? Is the potential aroma for pellet hops also higher than leaf hops?

For instance, if my recipe calls for 1oz of pellet hops during dry hopping, should I increase that amount to 1.25oz if I'm using leaf hops?

Making a Sculpin clone this weekend :rockin:

 

[badhabit]

I think that conventional wisdom is to increase leaf by 10%. I have seen and spoken with Folks that went to 25% increase before being satisfied. I would say that most folks that I have had contact with say that 10 or 25 it doesn't make a lot of difference in the final product. I also have only ever seen specific comments regarding change or increase in utlization in regard to bittering. My sense is that in practice folks just increase if they think that is a good thing to do across the board and don't question bittering or finishing. I'm an all leaf guy EXCEPT when I dry hop more than 2 oz in a 5 gal carboy. I have had problems with CO2 production in that situation and now either use a 6 gal carboy or go to a pellet so I have additional room. I have used 25% more leaf to see if I could tell the difference. When I didn't know which was the higher use brew ahead of tasting I was not able to tell....I figured that I would be able to???? I'm not sure that I have given you a lot of help and will be interested in seeing if ther is a real Brewscience answer to the question.

 

[smizak]

My experience with leaf, much lower bitterness than pellets, better late-hop aroma. Even with the 10% setting in Beersmith, my beers brewed with whole cone bittering additions seem under-bittered.

 

[cuseman24]

Thanks for the input!

 

[edb23]

I only dry hop with leaf hops, but thats mainly cause it's easier to keep it out of the final product

 

[ajf]

I use whole hops in the boil and pellets for dry hopping.
I know this is giving me the worst of both worlds (whole hops give less bitterness, and pellet hops give less aroma), but it works for me.
I have a false bottom in the kettle and a CFC. The whole hops filter out the break material, and I have no problems draining through the CFC except the one time when I forgot to put the false bottom in the kettle.
I dry hop in a carboy, and it is simple to pour the pellet hops through the neck.
I don't even want to think about trying to add 1 or 2 oz whole hops to a carboy. It may be simple, but I just don't want to think about it, so I don't

-a.

 

[smizak]

I use whole hops in the boil and pellets for dry hopping.
I know this is giving me the worst of both worlds (whole hops give less bitterness, and pellet hops give less aroma), but it works for me.
I have a false bottom in the kettle and a CFC. The whole hops filter out the break material, and I have no problems draining through the CFC except the one time when I forgot to put the false bottom in the kettle.
I dry hop in a carboy, and it is simple to pour the pellet hops through the neck.
I don't even want to think about trying to add 1 or 2 oz whole hops to a carboy. It may be simple, but I just don't want to think about it, so I don't

-a.

Me too pretty much. My first IPA I dry hopped with 2 oz. of whole cone Cascades. OMG that transfer was a nightmare, I ended up pouring a gallon of hop yeast soup down the drain after my siphon continually failed.

 

[cuseman24]

Hmmm, now I'm concerned. I'll be dry hopping a total of almost 4oz into my secondary.

Maybe I should just dry hop directly into my keg...

 

[markg388]

I like leaf for late additions, pellets for early. When I dry hop with leaf hops i rack into another bucket instead of a carboy so it's easier to deal with, using leaf hops in a carboy is just terrible.

You should definitely be dry hopping in the keg too, I just did the for the first time a couple months ago on an IPA and it was fantastic.