Whole hops

[Cos]

Do you use whole hops the same as pelletized?
Do you need to break them up or anything?

 

[Iordz]

Just throw them in, no need to rip them apart. You do, however, need to use a little bit more because pellets are more efficient.

 

[david_42]

Slight clarification: you need about 10% more whole hops for bittering. Flavor & aroma, you can use the same weight.

 

[Iordz]

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure whether it was 10% or 15%. I use ProMash, so I never really think about it.

 

[BierMuncher]

For flavor/aroma/dry hopping, I find it advantageous to presoak the whole hops. Especially with short boil additions. I seemed to always be trying to "dunk" my hops when they were dry and floating.

Once I started presoaking in a small container of warm water, they sank right into the wort and started falvoring and...uh...aroma-ing...

FWIW.