Pellets vs Whole Hops

[steve_flack]

I have to say, I personally prefer whole hops. This is not for any flavour reason but just because whole hops are the most traditional type.

Traditional? Just like rickets.

[boingy]

Nope, I mean traditional as in "less processed".

[fivetide]

I love whole hops. Nothing beats the final aroma addition on whole flowers bursting with flavour - unless of course they're your own plants, and the benefits of a hop bed shouldn't be dismissed.

However, this Spring/Summer I am looking to brew with some hops that are less common as whole hops in the UK, such as Willamette, Liberty, Simcoe, Mount Hood etc... and these are much easier to source as pellets (in my case from CraftBrewer).

I've no concerns about going to pellets if I have to - but I will look to replace my usual strainer with a hop-stopper in my new boiler as a result.

[MDE]

I'm just about to brew my first batch of beer using pellets. The discussion so far has been very helpful in telling me that I should have planned ahead and bought/made a hop-pocket thingy. However, I haven't, so the main options seem to be (1) persuade wife to part with some tights (well, the weather is getting warmer) or (2) chuck in some whole hops to act as a filter. I'm quite attracted to the second idea, but don't know how much whole hops to add. Also, do the pellet hops settle in the boiler, so that I could stir the wort to "whirlpool" them then rack it off?

[MDE]

I'm not sure I'm going to use pellet hops again! I made a hop-stopper like fivetide's, but it was a complete disaster. Probably because I was brewing 15 gallons and using a pump to drain the wort, the hops formed an impermeable blanket over the sieve, the thing duly collapsed under the pressure and everything ground to a halt. Consequently, I ended up bailing out the wort with a jug and pouring it through a pair of old (clean!) tights. This seemed to do the trick, but was messy and laborious. If I ever use pellet hops again, I will definitely buy/make something to contain them. Whole hops have the advantage of forming a filter bed, which nicely removes the break material.

[RabMaxwell]

MDE sorry to here you had problems with your hop-stopper,my first hop-stopper would give slow run-offs sometimes when using 6-700g of pellets.

( First Hop-stopper )

( Second Hop-stopper )
The second type works much better as it's draining from the side,also leaves less wort in the bottom of the kettle.

[adm]

Bummer. I've been there before.....

I've found that when brewing with pellets it helps to either:

1) Have a very good hop strainer that will cope with pellet trub

or

2) Chuck in some aroma whole flower hops at the end of the boil to give a bit of a filter bed for the pellet trub before it hits your hops strainer.

Either or both of these techniques will ensure you have no reason to fear pellets!

[MDE]

Thanks guys. Sounds like a better strainer plus some flowers should do the trick. I decided against aroma hops on this occasion, as I was brewing Coopers Sparkling Ale and didn't want the extra hop aroma.