Cones Versus Hop Pellets

[TidalPete]

According to my info, hop pellets are around 10% more concentrated than cones & also keep fresh longer. I am told that if you are to boil cones for 60 minutes, then pellets (being in a concentrated form) should only be boiled for half the time of cones to extract the maximum bitterness. Is this correct???? I have seen recipes that contradict this. You never know if you don't ask.

 

[JasonY]

Most people go off an extra 10% utilisation between flowers and pellets as you hint above. By this I mean for a given boil time you will get 10% more bitterness from pellets than flowers.

The boil time really depends on wether you want betterness or aroma from the hops, if you are after bitterness then you will usually base your calcs on a 60min boil, if its flavour/ aroma you would boil for 15mins or less.

Hope that helps.

 

[sosman]

In Daniels, p 80, he has a table comparing whole hops with pellets over a range of boil times. The numbers range from 20-25% more utilization for pellets. That is backed up in other references I have seen.

Rather than "boiling for half the time" you should just get hold of some software (or plug the formula into a spreadsheet) and bung in the IBU you want and work from there.

To put this in some context, utilization between brewers can vary by at least 100% (some brewers keep longer too) so you really need to get a handle on the IBU your brewing practises yield.