Hop Creep

Try putting your hops into a hop sack. You might still lose a little utilization, but with the hops on the wall of the kettle they are not in the wort which could lead to IBU loss as well as flavor/aroma contribution as well. In the sack they stay in the wort at least.

 

If you're really worried about it then how about whole cones instead of pellets?

 

Are the hops not disintegrating and you have full pellets sticking to the sides?? Or do you mean it's the foamy hop sludge that's creeping up the sides? One thing I have noticed with pellets is that if you add them before you get a good hot break, they can 'foam up' and not dissolve go into suspension right away.

Edit: when I first read the title of this thread, I thought someone was back.

 

Does it seem to have a rapid foamy expansion as soon as the hops hit the wort? If so, you might try getting a good hot break before you add the hops and see if that helps the hop bits stay in the wort.

 

This is good advice, but I bet the amount of hops lost to the side of the kettle are in the quarter of an ounce range. It would be hard to measure with all the hot break mixed in though.

 

I seem to have this issue and I've always attributed it to an uneven boil. One side of the kettle seems to be boiling more vigorously than the other and the hop particles collect on the side with the lesser boil. My solution has been to just stir the top of the boil every few minutes.

 

I experience the same problem. With a rolling boil the hops seem to end up on the sides of the kettle and as the water level drops the hops are no longer in the boil. For this reason I switched to whole hops. I also read that pellets are often the older hops that are pelletized to try to keep them fresh a little longer. I am not sure if that it true but why risk it?

 

What you read about pellet hops sounds like BS as turning whole hops to pelletized hops wouldn't make them stay fresh longer. That is unless you have a source.

 

Turning whole hops to pellets does make them storable for longer periods of time.

 

But are pellet hops old hops to begin with? Thats how I read that post.

 

No they are not. Each of the major hop producers bail their whole hops post drying. Some of the hops are sent for packaging as whole flowers, some are sent for pelletizing, while others are sent for oil extraction. Every brewer is different. Sierra Nevada supposedly only used whole hops, while most of the micro-brewers I have visited use pellets, namely for their storability.

 

I would just learn how much utilization you get and use a little bit more if necessary.

 

Here is my source http://www.amazon.com/Using-Hops-Complete-Guide-Craftbrewer/dp/0964078503

It states that as the freshly harvested hops start to get old they turn them into pellets and vacuum seal them to try to make them last longer, and that pellet hops that are sold are often at least a year or two old. However, you can see by the date on the book that it is rather old and maybe this is no longer the case with the increase in popularity of home brewing and microbrewing.

 

I have the same problem at the start of the boil. I turn my burner up all the way to get the wort to a boil, which usually brings it to a strong boil, but then I dial it back quite a bit. I then use my spoon to wash the hops back into the wort and they stay there for the rest of the boil.

Remember that as long as the surface of the water is breaking with bubbles that is a boil. You do not need a powerful boil that covers the whole surface of the wort. All that does is waste water and gas.

 

FTFY. They really do only use whole hops. There are a few others.

 

Everybody has that problem, whole hops will cling to the sides as well. I just stir occasionally to wash the hop goop from the sides back down into the boil. Or ignore it, if you're making good consistent beer already.