Hops - Whole or Pellets

[Tony]

What are the biggest differences between whole hops flowers or pelletized hops? I know the pellets are easier to use. But what are the differences between the two as far as flavors and such?

 

[Tony]

Anyone????

 

[NUCC98]

What are the biggest differences between whole hops flowers or pelletized hops? I know the pellets are easier to use. But what are the differences between the two as far as flavors and such?

I think the amount of alpha acids you can get out of the different forms is the main difference. Check out this page, though...it has a great table that lays out the advantages and disadvantages of the 3 forms....

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-2.html

 

[Janx]

Whole hops taste better and are easier to filter out of the kettle. In my experience, using top quality whole hops is one of the best things you can do to improve your beer.

Here's my thinking...it's Valentine's Day and you want to get your girl some roses. Do you go find the prettiest, freshest, nicest-smelling roses you can, or do you find some ground-up, overhandled, machine-processed, reconstituted rose dust molded into little rabbit pellets. Sure the pellets may smell like roses still, but they surely lost some of their delicacy, not to mention got oxygenated. Plus, I doubt they were the best roses in the first place, since they were intended for the grinder.

There's just no way in my mind that pellets could be anywhere near as good as unmolested quality whole hop flowers. It doesn't make intuitive sense.

Pellets are convenient, pure and simple, and they are an absolute necessity for commercial breweries. That's because witht he much larger batch sizes, and the requirements of commercial production, whole hops simply displace too much space in the kettle. That cuts into batch size and thus productivity. Whole hops are one of the luxuries that we homebrewers can indulge in and I encourage everyone here to take advantage of it. It's one reason our beer is fresher and tastier.

If you can't get *quality* (not yellow/crushed/brown) whole hops from your HBS, order some from hoptech.com or another quality online vendor. You'll be glad you did. Cheers!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Here's my thinking...it's Valentine's Day and you want to get your girl some roses. Do you go find the prettiest, freshest, nicest-smelling roses you can, or do you find some ground-up, overhandled, machine-processed, reconstituted rose dust molded into little rabbit pellets. Sure the pellets may smell like roses still, but they surely lost some of their delicacy, not to mention got oxygenated. Plus, I doubt they were the best roses in the first place, since they were intended for the grinder.

Janx: HAHA!! That reminds me of another story about "different meanings":

You can tell your girlfriend/wife either one of these (at your own risk):

"When I look into your eyes time stands still". Or you could say "You have a face that can stop a clock"

They both amount to the same thing, but one will get you lucky.

I know....totally un-Beer related.

 

[NUCC98]

Here's my thinking...it's Valentine's Day and you want to get your girl some roses. Do you go find the prettiest, freshest, nicest-smelling roses you can, or do you find some ground-up, overhandled, machine-processed, reconstituted rose dust molded into little rabbit pellets. Sure the pellets may smell like roses still, but they surely lost some of their delicacy, not to mention got oxygenated. Plus, I doubt they were the best roses in the first place, since they were intended for the grinder.

Get fake ones...they last longer. Seriously, whoever said a rose is the perfect symbol of love is completely sideways...they die after like a week....hmmmm...........

 

[Tony]

Thanks everyone for the response. The link gives me exactly what I was looking for and you all supported it the findings well. Looks like in my next batch, which will be made with grains as well as extracts, I will be moving over to whole hops. The great part I think is the lack of the sludge at the bottom of the wort. Man thats a mess for sure. And now I see with whole hops I can just strain then off the top. MUCH better. Plus if I decide to dry hop, I see pellets wont really work as well.

Cool!

 

[Janx]

Make the switch to liquid yeast, too, if you haven't already. Whole hops, liquid yeast, grains...you'll really have it going on then

 

[Tony]

Make the switch to liquid yeast, too, if you haven't already. Whole hops, liquid yeast, grains...you'll really have it going on then

Okay, I was going to ask about liquid yeast as well. Whats the best way to use it? Does it have to be prepped a day before like some people say, or straight into the cooled wort? Whats the best way?

 

[OSUmoney83]

Okay, I was going to ask about liquid yeast as well. Whats the best way to use it? Does it have to be prepped a day before like some people say, or straight into the cooled wort? Whats the best way?

Starter for sure. If your gonna pay more for the liquid yeast, make sure you get the most from it. I just used my first starter a couple days ago, and from now on thats the only way I'm gonna roll.

 

[Janx]

Starter. It's one of the single best things you can do to improve the quality of your beer. It will ferment more quickly and cleanly. There will be less lag time and less chance of infection. Starter always, or rack onto the slurry in your primary the next time you make a batch. That's my preferred method. I'll use the same primary yeast slurry for about 4 batches before making a new starter out of a new yeast pack.

 

[Tony]

Cool, thanks!