So is there any reason to purchase leaf hops over pellet?
The leaf seem to be more expensive and will soak up more beer?
I had purchased some leaf hops as some old kit directions called for leaf hops during the dry hop. That made me think they added more flavor, but from my previous post, it appears their is no flavor difference from leaf to pellets.
Pellets seem easier to store and are cheaper, so why buy leaf?
[quote=“Roddy”]Pellets seem easier to store and are cheaper, so why buy leaf?[/quote]Because 2012 leaf hops are available now and it’ll be a while longer before the pellets are for sale. For me, there’s no other advantage to leaf over pellet and pellets will always be the first choice if an option.
I totally agree with Shadetree on this. The only other reason I can see purchasing leaf hops on purpose is if you are running a hop back (or something similar) in your brewery.
For anything but dry hopping, my set-up just works better with leaf - pellet clogs up my screen. I can use a mixture, but all pellet makes it hard to drain my kettle. I do use pellets for dry hopping, but I’m prejudiced in favor of leaf for one reason: I just don’t believe it’s possible that none of the most volatile compounds are lost in grinding the buds to make the pellets, and those are the ones you want for dry hopping. That said, I’ve got ~ 6 lbs of pellets right now and I’m going to use a lot of them for dry hopping, and I’m sure it will make tasty beer. Commercial beer is almost all made with pellet, and it can be plenty hoppy.