Hop Pellets

[ni9e]

I have bought some hop pellets but as i've never used them before I just want to check a few things in a hop calculator set for pellets and AA is giving what seems to me a small amount is this right?

Also will I have any probs after the boil or will my hop strainer strain them? :wha:

 

[tubby_shaw]

Hop calculators set for pellets will reduce the amount of hops needed.
Utilisation rates are higher for pellets as they are ground so finely the bittering agents are more readily available to be converted.
5% less hops as pellets would seem to be the average quoted figure.

As for straining out hop pellets the short answer is no if you use pellets only with a "normal" hop strainer.
The hops in the pellets are ground to dust and will pass easily through the holes in your strainer.
You can either use a mix of pellets and whole hops and recir the first runnings a couple of times and the whole hops will add as a filter bed.
You could try whirlpooling, which is stirring the wort quickly an hoping that the debris settles in the middle of the tun allowing you to draw the wort out of the tun from the sides avoiding the debris.
Or you can use a fine mesh screen as a filter.

 

[ni9e]

Hop calculators set for pellets will reduce the amount of hops needed.
Utilisation rates are higher for pellets as they are ground so finely the bittering agents are more readily available to be converted.
5% less hops as pellets would seem to be the average quoted figure.

So can I trust the hop calculator and use the required weight of pellets it gives me?

 

[tubby_shaw]

If your hop calculator works for whole hops then I would trust it for pellets
What is the difference in quantity between whole hops and pellets?

 

[ni9e]

I can't tell at he moment my as the computer is tied up doing something does beersmith calculate pellets?

 

[tubby_shaw]

:wha: Any beersmith users that can answer this one ?

 

[ni9e]

The pellets are 9.6% and I want 35IBU's if someone could check for me :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

For what Gravity??

1.040 - 28.5g
1.045 - 30.0g
1.050 - 30.6g
1.060 - 33.0g

Using Tinseth and Promash

 

[ni9e]

Mac finally finished so run through beer alchemy again and got the same result as you Aleman 1060=33g so I'll go with that :thumb:

 

[MEB]

Utilisation rates are higher for pellets as they are ground so finely the bittering agents are more readily available to be converted.
5% less hops as pellets would seem to be the average quoted figure.

Where did you get that from? :wha: Regardless of whether hops are cones or ground and then compressed into pellet form doesn't stop the utilisation of the available acids. If they did the AA% would need to be different for cones and pellets from exactly the same plant-which they aren't. Your boiling them for 60 mins-a hop cone isn't going to release any less than a pellet. Plus there will be twigs, seeds, leaf etc ground into the pellet as well. Not many lupin glands in twigs, seeds or leaf. Hop pellets are a DIRECT replacement for hop cones. You use exactly the same amount.

A kilo of lead weighs exactly the same as a kilo of feathers. The difference is bulk, nothing more.

 

[tubby_shaw]

Err here http://www.rooftopbrew.net/ibu.php
here http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-2.html
http://www.homebrewjunkie.com/2008/08/pellet-hops-vs-whole-leaf-hops-whats.html
and other sources.
Most brewing software I have looked at has the option of hop form in the bitterness calculator.
bBut mainly in my experience I get more bitterness from pellets :)

 

[Aleman]

It is not the amount of Alphas that is different, but the fact that the cones have been pulverised increasing the surface area massively . .. which increases the rate of reaction . . . . so that for any moment in the boil the utilisation of pellet hops is greater than whole hops . . .of course once you get to 120 minutes of the boil they are starting to close the gap, but for normal boil times you can generally reckon on a 5% difference between the two.

 

[MEB]

I get LESS bitterness from pellets than i do cones. But then i remove all the stalks, seeds and leaves from my cones before i use them. Pellets include leaf, twig and seeds. My hop cones contain very little of these. So although you can read stuff about pellets that says whatever, In my personal experience i get more bittering from cones than pellets as i'm not boiling twigs, seeds and leaf when i add my cones.
The reason i remove all these **** bits is because when i discovered that my hops had seeds in i thought i'd collect some. I pulled out twigs and leaves as well as seeds and from 90g hop cones i got 7g of twigs, leaves and seeds. So pellets are going to contain AT LEAST this amount of ****, if not more as they wouldn't be seen once they are pulverised and they also bump up the weight-making a bit more profit for the hop grower.

I doubt many brewers will be able to tell the difference 5% makes in their brews anyway I certainly wouldn't worry about it. Using a good yeast will make a much bigger difference. :thumb: