I Hate Whole Hops!

[ksbrain]

[Rant]When I went to order hops earlier this year, the only Amarillo they had at Hops Direct was leaf hops, so I just got it. I figured better leaf hops than no hops. Now I just wished I'd looked around and spent a little more somewhere else for pellets.

Leaf hops are such a PITA! They absorb a lot more wort than pellets, and are just about impossible to pour into the neck of a carboy without touching them all (as I just discovered applying dry hops). And on top of that, they smell quite grassy and not all awesomely Amarillo. I'm hoping that they work the same in the end.

It's one thing when the leaf hops come from my own backyard but I'm not planning on buying any again any time soon.[/Rant]

 

[Montanaandy]

Appears that you have not tasted the end product prior to posting this rant so you may find yourself reversing course once you taste the results.

I find your post amusing because I would have written the same thing after first working with leaf - I hated it and swore "never again". However, I tasted the beer produced with leaf and became a convert (or at least a partial convert). I have learned how to work with leaf (only in the boil, not in primary or secondary for dry hoping - I use pellet for that). Granted, I basically agree with the points that you make (i.e. they do absorb more wort, they can be a PITA at least if you dry hop with them in primary or secondary). Can't say that I agree with you on the issue of Amarillo hops smelling grassy or at least the ones that I got from Hops Direct. There is no doubt that pellet is easier to use but I personally don't find the flavor as smooth as when I use leaf. As I stated, I do use pellet to dry hop because of the wort loss/clogging autosiphon problems that I could not get around. Montanaandy

 

[redalert]

With whole hops I use some sanitized pantyhose or cheesecloth and put it in a funnel when racking.

 

[Retrofit]

Maybe because I'm all grain now, but I only use leaf. I find pellet clogs up... everything. My club has offered hop buys and I find myself going, "All pellet? Forget it." So.... LOL. I guess I'm part of a different brewing school of thought.

 

[azscoob]

I used pellet on all my first several batches, I ordered 4lb of whole leaf hops and after adjusting to the volume difference I have not looked back, I feel I get better usage from whole leaf, I use a hop bag in the boil and find the whole leaf do not plug the flow through the bag nearly as bad as the pellet, might be a bit in my head, but the beers are better as well, I often use pellet in new brews, but if it becomes a favorite, I switch to whole leaf.

 

[babalu87]

Squeeze
The
Bag

 

[Beernik]

I'm not a dry hopper so I don't know about that. But I buy whole hops if I can get it. Lately my lbhs hasn't been carrying as big variety of leaf as they used to. I may have to start shopping online to get what I want.

 

[maida7]

I'm a pellet lover.

 

[knightbeer39]

Whole hops all the way. I buy in bulk from freshops. Pellets clog EVERYTHING. The screen on my diptube, the plate chiller, etc. Whole hops are way easier, and if you use a hop bag, just squeeze the sucker and all the liquid comes out.

 

[Scimmia]

In my system, it's the whole hops that clog everything. I'm a pellet fan as well.

 

[maida7]

so what your saying is to squeeze your sack real hard until all the juice comes out. LOL!

 

[Rhoobarb]

Whole leaf whenever possible. I will NOT dry hop with pellets. They just don't provide the aroma I'm looking for compared to leaf. When I add them to a carboy, I use a sanitized funnel and wooden spoon, add a little at a time, then jam them in with the spoon handle. Now that I keg, I just toss them in a sanitized nylon bag with some sanitized glass marbles to weigh them, then toss them in the keg. Awesome!

 

[knightbeer39]

so what your saying is to squeeze your sack real hard until all the juice comes out. LOL!

I highly recommend it!

 

[djt17]

I highly recommend it!

Or...better yet, get someone else to squeeze it!

 

[instapman]

I prefer whole hops vs. pellet for the simple fact of being able to see what condition the hops are in before I put it into my wort. With pellets, I cant visually/physically verify the freshness of the hops since they look hamster food....

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

They both have their advantages and disadvantages. I like whole leaf for everything except those times I want/need the hops to quickly dissolve. So basically it's whole leaf for everything except first-wort-hopping and flameout (or post-flameout) hopping. Dry-hopping is always whole leaf.

But esp when dry-hopping you need fresh hops and whole leaf loses freshness much faster.

 

[maida7]

But esp when dry-hopping you need fresh hops and whole leaf loses freshness much faster.

This one of the main reasons I prefer pellets. Pellets are much more stable and easy to store. With halfway decent storage, your almost guaranteed a reliable consistently fresh product when using pellets.

 

[NoNothing]

I love whole hops.

The first time I used them I dumped them right in the BK, bad move, clogged everything. Moving to a hop bag, and squeezing it to get the wort it soaked up (and extra acids) out makes it great, ****ing pellets get EVERYWHERE and cant be contained. Hate those bastards.

 

[smokinghole]

Add another person saying "squeeze the bag!". I do up my recipes to 6 gal when using a large quantity of leaf hops. My next batch using citra leaf will have 7oz in it.

 

[buzzkill]

I get the best results by going half of each. but I like leaf better.

 

[mithion]

I use leaf hop as much as I can in the boil for two reasons. First, I have a bazooka screen and pellets totally clog it. Second, leaf hops have superior flavor. I find the smashing process pellet hops go through break the cellular walls and are thus more likely to leech green chlorophyll in the wort making it taste much more grassy. However, the lhbs here carries only limited varieties so I'm usually forced to substitute pellets anyway. I also dry hop with pellets since they are easier to pour in a carboy and clean up afterwards.

 

[shamrockdoc]

Now that I keg, I just toss them in a sanitized nylon bag with some sanitized glass marbles to weigh them, then toss them in the keg. Awesome!

HOLY ****! what an awesome idea! thank you kind sir 10,000 internetz to you