using whole flower hops instead of pellets

[AleJoe]

Possibly a dumb question but I'm going to be using whole flower Cascade in a recipe calling for pellets. Should I use same weight measurement or increase/decrease?

 

[The Pol]

Well, the utilization with leaf hops is a little less than with pellets... Most brewing software programs have options for leaf or pellet and compensate for this.

Should you adjust the ammount... maybe? IBUs are calculated by weight, time, AA and whether they are leaf or pellet. If you are using 7.0 AA Cascade leaf, and the recipe calls for 6.0 AA Cascade pellet... the difference in utilization is moot. Youd have to used software to determine how many IBUs your hops are contributing to the brew.

So really, it depends on the AA of the pellet and the leaf, also depends on how long you are going to boil them. You could boil the leaf longer than the pellet and still end up with the same IBUs by using identical quantities.

 

[nukebrewer]

Not an answer to the question, but also take into account that leaf hops will absorb a lot more wort than pellets will, so take that into account and adjust your boil volume if you plan on using more than a couple ounces of the leaf hops.

 

[david_42]

If the AA% is exactly the same, multiple by 1.1 for the bittering add & don't bother adjusting the flavor & aroma adds.