I was at my LHBS today and the guy working happened to tell me that in the next several months they are going to stop packaging leaf hops for homebrewers. That includes 1 oz and 1 lb packaging. It sounded like it was all producers too. Anyone else heard of this? If true, that'll ruin my HopRocket.
Must be a conspiracy. My guess is that leaf hops will be available this fall, just like every other fall. Think about this... If "everyone," i.e. commercial brewers and home brewers, wanted leaf hops, the money-making strategy would be to convert less hops into pellets. It is an extra step, after all. And the industry as a whole has been pretty good at delivering what home brewers want. Next you'll be saying that hop plugs won't be available. Oh, wait.
As a general rule you can ignore half of what your LHBS says. Maybe 75%. Some guy heard some story from a guy who has an uncle who works at a brewery who spoke to a guy who was ordering hops from a broker and yeah. Sure. Leaf hops are used by brewers and more than a few swear by leaf over pellets. Cheers.
That is something that doesn't make sense. Whole hops are the harvested product. They can be packaged when dried. Pellets are made from 200 lb dried bales of whole hops. If someone says pellets take up less room and are more stable, my reply is that hop extract takes up even less room and is much more stable.
I thought it sounded funny, which is why I asked. If no one else is hearing anything, then I believe it's BS.
