Hops hops hops.....

[DrugCoder]

I got a kit the other day for a brown ale and the instructions that came with it called for 1/2 oz of the hop pellets but they shipped me 1 oz. I went by the instructions and put in just the 1/2 oz but now I have half of them left. What is the best way to store them?

Second question, is 1 oz of pelletized hops the same as using 1 oz of fresh hops or 1 oz of plugs?

 

[Evan!]

Seal them as best you can (get most of the air out) and put them in the freezer.

Assuming everything else is equal (including storage), then whole hops impart about 90% of the bitterness that the pelleted form does, on average. IOW, if you wanted an ounce of whole hop X and got an IBU of 45, then you would get an IBU of 50 if that same hop was in pellet form. Not sure about plugs, never used 'em.

 

[Brewsmith]

1. Seal them in a plactic pag, squeeze all the air out and keep them in the fridge.

2. Pellets yield somewhere around 10% more bitterness than whole or plug hops. Pellets are ground up, so there is more surface area to the material and so give up their goodness easier.

 

[Jim Karr]

Throw 'em in the freezer.

Pellet hops will be a bit more concentrated than whole. I'm not sure of the conversion rate, some of those a bit more expert may want to weigh in on this.

 

[Brewsmith]

Yeah, what he said! You beat me Evan!

 

[DrugCoder]

Excellent! Thanks again for the help!

 

[Bobby_M]

Do brown ales really call for that little? What is that, like 15 IBU?

 

[the_bird]

Do brown ales really call for that little? What is that, like 15 IBU?

Impossible to say without knowing what they are. Chinook would be about 30.

 

[Brewsmith]

Assuming it not a super high AA% hop, I'd estimate it in the neighborhood of 25 IBUs.

 

[DrugCoder]

The kit called for more than that. I just used that as an example. Off the top of my head I think it was 1.5 oz of Northern Brewer for 60 mins and .5 oz of Williamette for last 2 mins of boil. The kit came with 2 oz of Northern and 1 oz of Williamette.

 

[boo boo]

http://realbeer.com/hops/FAQ.html#bitter

A lot of good info here.