What are the pro’s and cons of pellet versus leaf hops?
Pellets are easier to store and stay good for a longer time. For many years I was a “whole hop snob”, but I seldom use them these days. Most commercial breweries use pellets rather than whole hops. Some people need to use whole hops because of the way their lautering system is designed. If you KNOW you have fresh, well stored whole hops, they can be very good. But in general, I prefer using pellets, especially when it comes to imported hops.
Thanks Denny
For dry hopping, I prefer leaf hop to pellet. Not because they’re “better” but because they are easier to seperate from the beer.
Putting pellets in a bag works great. I’ll use either leaf or pellet for dry hopping. I decide based on which is in better condition when I’m ready to use it.
The other criticism of leaf hops that I’ve heard and makes sense to me is the following:
Pelletized hops are a much more uniform product, that is one gram of pellet hops is going to contain the same amount of desirable (and undesirable) materials as another gram of pellet hops. When adding leaf hops conversely, the brewer may be adding more vegetal material and less of the actual lupulin gland/oil to the beer.
Is this possible to notice on a homebrew scale? Probably not. However, if pellets are good enough for my favorite pro brewers, they will be my choice.
Pellets are better in every way.
The big advantage to leaf hops is, if you grow your own, then they’re free. I use all my homegrowns for bittering. They work nice for bittering IPAs and APAs, but I also use them for other styles. Only trouble is you’re always guessing / having to approximate the alpha acids. For flavor and aroma, meh… better off buying pellets still.
[quote=“dmtaylo2”]Pellets are better in every way.
The big advantage to leaf hops is, if you grow your own, then they’re free. I use all my homegrowns for bittering. They work nice for bittering IPAs and APAs, but I also use them for other styles. Only trouble is you’re always guessing / having to approximate the alpha acids. For flavor and aroma, meh… better off buying pellets still.[/quote]
The only whole hops I use are the ones I grow in my backyard, unless I really need a variety that is only available in whole form.
I harvested some sterlings and goldings today. Some of both were gigantic: nearly as big as my thumb. I was pleasantly surprised.
