I hate whole hops

[bigbeergeek]

I use them because I grow them or they've been given to me. I only buy pellets.

This.

 

[winvarin]

This. I prefer whole hops.

I built one of these for about $15. The most expensive piece of it was the strainer bag I bought from the LHBS. If I had gone with a paint strainer bag from the hardware store, I probably could have made it cheaper.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTnoPwefCUKJGOkXGQftYN07wnFdfd9wq4ciCkeECFPh_DHJBLqZh_C0BB5

This is not mine exactly but mine is close. I am at work and don't have a pic of mine handy

 

[wncbrewer]

Here is an update for those of you following:

Last night it got dark on me while I was pumping a quart at a time through my chiller, and stopping to pick hops out of everything between quarts, spilling a little wort every time I unhooked the line from the kettle. So after finally calling it quits with 4 gallons in the carboy, I filled all my kettles and tun with pbw solution and let them sit overnight ( I brew in an open air shed attached to my house with no lights). When I got home from work today to finish cleaning, I couldn't believe the mess. I new it was going to be bad, but daylight revealed the full scope of it. Wort was all over everything...my wooden stand, hoses, pump, counter flow chiller, and plywood floor. I wish I had taken before and after pics. Also my half inch copper pickup tube and whirlpool manifold were both packed with hops. And I nearly blew out a blood vessel in my head trying to physically blow, with my lungs, the obstructions out, I finally got it to where I could pass water through it backwards with the pump but at first they were too compacted for the pump to do anything. And I also found a hop cone in my cell phone holster today. I'm going to include a photo of my boil kettle guts so that anyone thinking of making changes or doing it this way will know that whole hops will make the cuss words fly when used with this type of setup, that being said. I wouldn't change a thing for use with pellets...thanks to all for sharing and advice...wnc

 

[BrewMU]

Is that tea-ball thing for real? Where do I get one? I tried using a grain bag - it works okay, but it gets in the way of the boil. They actually hold heat and cause boil-overs which actually run up the bag and out. Still, I got it done and siphoning was easy without the extra hops.
I actually scooped probably 75% of the bittering hops out with a spoon after they had boiled ~ an hour.

 

[vicratlhead51]

Is that tea-ball thing for real? Where do I get one? I tried using a grain bag - it works okay, but it gets in the way of the boil. They actually hold heat and cause boil-overs which actually run up the bag and out. Still, I got it done and siphoning was easy without the extra hops.
I actually scooped probably 75% of the bittering hops out with a spoon after they had boiled ~ an hour.

Yeah I've seen them on homebrew supply sites. I think midwest brewing supplies actually has a couple different sizes bigger than the ones meant for tea.

 

[blizzard]

I like pellets, because leaf hops clog up my pump. BUT, I can't yet figure out a way to pelletize my own homegrown hops so I use a mix of pellets and whole hops. I have to use a "hops spider" so my pump doesn't clog up.

But you know, for dryhopping, there is nothing cooler than dryhopping with whole hops!

<img src="https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37498"/>

You can make plugs with a length of plastic pipe and a large rowel rod.

 

[calpyro]

I need to rant...I got off early today and had big plans to come home and get a brew in before dark. My girlfriend got me a pound each of whole leaf, fresh frozen simcoe and citra, which I was pumped about using in my black ipa today. Everything went well until whirlpool time which took forever and I never did get accomplished, then at chill time my pump got totally gummed up and I spent about an hour picking hop leaves out of my pump and plumbing in the dark and only ended up with about 4 gallons in the carboy before I finally said to hell with it and gave up. I will never...f*#@ing ever...use whole hops in the kettle again...ever. thanks for listening and feel free to share similar experiences...wnc

Here are a few tips for using whole hops:

Get a big false bottom. With an immersion chiller, the hops drop first and then the protein drops on the hop bed and does a nice job filtering out the trub.

Chop your whole hops coarsely in a food processor. By breaking up the cone structure, you will expose the luplin quickly to the wort just like pellets. This will also help create a more compact layer which absorbs less wort, yet is still drains much faster than pellets.

Some of the resins will cling to the inside of the food processor, but a quick rinse with hot wort will return it to the boil.
You can use this tech for dry hopping as well.

 

[jsguitar]

You need the hopstopper
www.ihomebrewsolutions.com/

im a happy customer

Exactly what I do too. No problems whatsoever with this setup. I usually stock up on various whole hops at freshops every so often and brew according to whatever I have on hand. There are some threads on making your own Hopstopper but I bought mine from the above as well.

 

[Montanaandy]

While I love the results that I get when I use whole hops, there is no getting around the fact that they are a PITA to use compared to pellet. At the end of a brew day I can pull the false bottom out and blast the pellet hop trub off easily. With WH, I have to have a garbage bag ready when I pull the FB up because the whole hops have expanded due to the wort that they have absorbed.

 

[wncbrewer]

While I love the results that I get when I use whole hops, there is no getting around the fact that they are a PITA to use compared to pellet. At the end of a brew day I can pull the false bottom out and blast the pellet hop trub off easily. With WH, I have to have a garbage bag ready when I pull the FB up because the whole hops have expanded due to the wort that they have absorbed.

That's the other thing I don't like about whole hops, they rob me of the wort I have worked hard to create

 

[Misfit]

Squeeze it out.