Whole Hops vs Pellet vs Plug

I used to use only leaf. I was using all home grown stuff there for a while so I had no choice. But then I started getting some killer deals of pellets. Then I decided I was going pro so I stopped using home grown stuff and moved to the types of hops I would actually be brewing with as a pro. Pellets have more variety, they keep well, they are easier to store than leaf (package size), and have better consistency. I had to tweak my system quite a bit to get the pellets to work, especially with the IPAs, but now it is all set.

 

I use pellets and whole; never used pluggers.

Pellets go into the kettle; leaf goes into the hop rocket, mixture of leaf and pellet go into dry hop bags.

In my experience you just can't get the soft/subtle yet powerful aromas from pellets like I can from whole leaf hops. I use both as they have different flavors/aromas they add and I like the music they make in concert with one another. Mixing leaf/pellet always gets me what I want; using one or the other typically leaves me wanting more.

I'm liking th concentrates more and more. I just made my own hop concentrate and will be trying it out soon.

 

By concentrate I assume you mean hop extracts like the Hop Shot that Northern Brewer sells?

Which extracts have you used? What is your personal experience in using them for the bittering addition? I have read a number of posts where folks have stated that when using extracts for bittering they see a 'residue' on the side of the brew kettle later on; this sounds to me like a poor 'mixing' in the boil.

Cheers!

 

Yes. I used the hop shots that NB sells as well as a syringe I picked up from a local hops grower/brewery- I've also used another brand but cannot recall the name.

I made my own using Co2 extraction.

I don't put the shot directly into the kettle. I take about a quart of boiling wort out and add the concentrate to that, mix well and then add to the kettle.

I did get a residue where the concentrate grabbed onto the side of my kettle the first time I added it; thus the Idea to separate a portion of wort and add back once concentrate is mixed well. No residue noticed doing it this way.

I like them more and more to get my bittering charge; less leaf/pellet material to deal with and it is a clean bitterness no harshness.

Making your own is fairly easy, but MESSY! It was sticky as all hell and I wasnt quite prepared to handle it properly. Lesson learned; next time I will do some things differently so clean up doesn't take 2 hours and I don't have such a high waste factor.

 

I'm intrigued, how did you make your own Co2 extraction?

 

Yes, do tell!

 

I can get into greater detail at another time if anyone is truly interested in doing it themselves (BM me) as I am on my cell phone. But here is a basic breakdown of the process and equipment.
It is pretty much exactly the same as making Hash oil.

I would post photos, but I don't know how and I'm not really a photo posting internet dude.

Your using super critical fluid extraction. Essentially you are saturating the hop material with Co2 that has been heated/cooled to at or above its critical temperature and pressure.

Carbon dioxide usually behaves as a gas in air at standard temperature and pressure (STP), or as a solid called dry ice when frozen. If the temperature and pressure are both increased from STP to be at or above the criticL point for carbon dioxide, it can adopt properties midway between a gas and a liquid. More specifically, it behaves as a supercritical fluid above its critical temperature (31.1 °C) and critical pressure (72.9 atm/7.39 MPa), expanding to fill its container like a gas but with a density like that of a liquid

Soooo, in beerman/layman’s terms, you use plain old CO2, that you have gotten hotter than 31.1C/87.98F, while under at least 1086 pounds per square inch pressure.

In that state, the CO2 becomes a super solvent, which has higher penetration power, and can be fine tuned to focus in on specific constitutes, by varying the pressure, temperature, and by the use of co-solvents like ethanol or hexane.

This can be accomplished utilizing several methods and there are a lot of ways people have figured out how to DIY it at home.

I built a supercritical fluid extrator/fractionating column out of schedule 160 stainless steel. I saturate it with Co2 to the proper pressure and heat it to the proper temperature via pipe band heaters on the outside of the tube. You have to build the system to withstand a great deal of pressure. Safety safety safety!!!

Once it has set for a few hours I bleed the pressure down to a few PSI and the. Bleed off the fluid from several valves extracting different grades of material and collect the best/getting rid of a bit that is dirty and not suitable.

It is somewhat complicated if you are not mechanically inclined as you have to custom make all the equipment or buy it pre made at a rediculius price.

You really have to be a hard core DIY'er for an undertaking like this; but once you have the equipment it is pretty simple; chemistry is your friend.

 

I used whole hops twice and didn't like the results. I will stick to using pellets unless someone hands me whole hops to use.

 

This sounds even scarier than the steam powered brew setup discussed on here a while back. Definitely one of the most adventurous homebrewing projects I've come across. Nice job accomplishing this, but personally I'll stay away from a homemade CO2 grenade. How on earth do you even get CO2 PSI that high with brew equipment?

 

I understand the fear- but to be honest it is rather star as long as you do your part and triple check everything. It's below 100 degrees f and just about 1500 psi; so it isn't as dangerous as it might seem.

I do understand everyone has their own level of comfort- we have a saying here in CO on the ski slopes; "know your limit and ski within it". Pretty much applies to all things in life.

Slainte!

 

I thought you had to use butane to make hash oil? I wouldn't want to smoke that shit or have it anywhere near my beer. It's the reason why I won't buy anything from a company with diesel in its name for beer related purposes. I deal with that shit daily and hate the smell...

 

NO, you do not HAVE to make any extraction using butane as a solvent; you can, but you do not HAVE to.

Butane, propane, naphtha, isopropyl alcohol and a plethora of other substances CAN be used as solvents for extraction purposes and lots of people use these substances- I do not and the reasons are abundant.

Carbon dioxide and medical grade oxygen extractions are extremely clean. Especially when done correctly.

I wouldn't use Oxygen to extract hop oils as the oxy would essentially destroy them. However Co2 works perfectly and is clean.

I wouldn't smoke or use anything that had been processed with Butane either.

Please read my posts better. I stated Co2 about twenty times and nowhere did I state butane. Just because other people use butane doesn't mean that is the only solvent anyone uses or can use.

It's just cheap and most pot heads are morons anyways so they don't care...

 

Imo, everyone should at least learn how to use whole hops in their system. It'll allow you the flexibility to use fresh whole hops as they come into season. Plus sometimes some small hop farms only offer whole. Or maybe the lhbs only had the variety you want that day in whole. I have learned that as a home brewer our needs or wants come dead last on the hop supply. In tight years you get what they give you and you don't complain.

 

I've had pellet hops once, loved them.

Leaf are a bit of a pain if you use more than a few ounces, in which case you need to account significantly for hop loss. When I used 1.5 lbs of fresh hops I made a significantly bigger batch than usual, but boy was it worth it! (good thing too as that was $40 worth of hops!).

So given the usual choices, I generally prefer pellet. Space savings in the freezer is a plus too.

 

You would be surprised how much they do compact and stick together when compressed.

 

East coast vs. west coast... My lhbs always has old ass leaf

 

Are you saying that because they are on the east coast, your LHBS can only get the previous year's crop? (Doesn't make sense to me.) Or, what do you mean by old?

 

Okay yeah my post wasn't articulated very well at all. Reneejane was talking about using fresh (wet?) hops coming into season; being in Va, even though we do have a couple of hop farms now (but not in my area), without growing your own it's kinda hard to get a hold of freshly harvested hops. Maybe online? But I don't purchase brewing stuff online, so I wouldn't know. Then I was just reiterating that all the leaf hops I've gotten from my lhbs have been cheesy to some extent, what I would consider "old ass". They won't tell me what crop they're from.