Question about hops!

[Darkdeacon]

When choosing between pellets or whole leaf; do I have to give consideration for differing amounts? Meaning, if a recipe calls for two ounces of hops pellets and I want to use a whole leaf, do I still use two ounces or do I have to add more?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Well...it depends.

Pellets tend to have a slightly higher utilization rate (10-15% depending on whose book you read), so a slight increase in hopping when moving from pellet to whole hops is often recommended.

However, if the recipe calls for a specific AA, you also need to correct for the actual AA of the hops you're using (except in the case of flavor/aroma/finishing additions).

So, if the recipe calls for 2 oz of 5% AA pellet hops, and you have 5.5% AA leaf hops, applying both corrections results in a negligible difference.

I'm sure that was really confusing, and I'm sorry. Someone else may explain it better.

Also, we're talking about very small variations here, so if you're unsure, just stick with the basic recipe number of 2 oz.

Here's a decent reference article:
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=hops

 

[the_bird]

What I would recommend is to invest in some brewing software (I'm a fan of BeerSmith, there's a three-week free trial). The software will make the adjustments for you - you just need to put in the AA% and their form. Pellets are supposed to give a bit more bitterness for a given AA%, IIRC it's about a 10% difference or so. But, the AA% tends to be a bigger variable, so you've got to get that factored in first.

 

[Darkdeacon]

Thank the both of you very much, I appreciate the help and I ahve a copy of the beer smith as well. I guess now that I am on my own, having to buy online I will learn a lot more and start using that program more.