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Author Topic: Pellet to wet hops conversion  (Read 14639 times)

Offline ppearson50

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Pellet to wet hops conversion
« on: August 25, 2017, 08:59:37 am »
I am fairly new to bringing but have three mature hops plants in my backyard so I am going to try to wet hop an IPA. If my one gallon kit uses 16 grams of pellet hops. What is the conversion from dry pelleted hops to wet hops. I read somewhere six to one ration.

Offline ppearson50

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2017, 09:04:34 am »
Oops. Brewing not bringing.

Offline stpug

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2017, 09:12:06 am »
I've always used a 5:1 ratio of wet:dry, but 6:1 is close enough too.

Whole hops versus pellet should be factored in as well if you're talking about bittering.  I think pellet give an extra 10% bittering over whole.

Offline ppearson50

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #3 on: August 25, 2017, 09:15:30 am »
Thanks for the reply. Does that five to one or six to one mean wet hops? I would take them right off the plant and put them in the boil.

Offline stpug

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2017, 09:29:57 am »
Yeah, fresh hops (right off the vine) would use this ratio.  For instance, if you normally use 1 oz of dried whole cone hops then you would sub with 5-6 oz of fresh whole cone hops.  If it's a bittering addition and you normally use pellet hops, then add an additional 10%.  If it's for aroma/flavor (i.e. late addition) then don't bother with the extra 10%.

Offline santoch

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2017, 12:32:53 pm »
Yeah, fresh hops (right off the vine) would use this ratio.  For instance, if you normally use 1 oz of dried whole cone hops then you would sub with 5-6 oz of fresh whole cone hops.  If it's a bittering addition and you normally use pellet hops, then add an additional 10%.  If it's for aroma/flavor (i.e. late addition) then don't bother with the extra 10%.

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Offline Wilbur

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2017, 05:20:13 pm »
I haven't tried this yet, but am using it to dry my hops. You may be able to dry a small sample out to determine the %dry matter. Hops are typically dried to 8.5% moisture. Depending on your growing conditions,  your hops might be 70-80% moisture.


Edit: Here's some a link to UVMs hop drying calculator that goes into figuring out harvest moisture.
http://www.uvm.edu/extension/extensionapps/engineering/?Page=hopscalc.html
« Last Edit: August 27, 2017, 05:22:53 pm by Wilbur »

Offline Wilbur

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2017, 02:26:34 pm »
So, I'm trying out my theory tonight. Using the UVM hop calculator, I've determined my fresh/wet hops are 26% dry matter. The fresh weight is 1213 g, which (if dried), has an equivalent dry weight of 345.6 g. This gives a ration of 3.5:1, which is significantly lower than typical recommendations. I'm planning on brewing an IPA with a ton of late hops (single hop-Columbus). Any thoughts on this? I'll update with my impression of the beer and the bitterness. Might have to brew a pellet version for a comparison.

Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2017, 03:53:02 pm »
You need about 5 times as many wet hops as pellets.  I think 6 times would constitute 20% overkill and will increase IBU contributions by a noticeable amount unless reserving only for dry hopping.

Personally I use my homegrown hops for bittering as well as late additions, and I find my homegrown hops have about the same or slightly higher alpha acid than you would get in pellets, maybe an extra 0.2-0.4% alpha or something like that compared to the typical averages.
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Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2017, 03:55:59 pm »
So, I'm trying out my theory tonight. Using the UVM hop calculator, I've determined my fresh/wet hops are 26% dry matter. The fresh weight is 1213 g, which (if dried), has an equivalent dry weight of 345.6 g. This gives a ration of 3.5:1, which is significantly lower than typical recommendations. I'm planning on brewing an IPA with a ton of late hops (single hop-Columbus). Any thoughts on this? I'll update with my impression of the beer and the bitterness. Might have to brew a pellet version for a comparison.

I calculate about a 4.2:1 ratio for yours, if you're sure they are 26% dry matter on average.  The 5 times ratio that I reported in the previous post assumed 22% dry matter which is more typical.  26% seems very very high, I've never seen that in my homegrowns, which max out at maybe 23-24% solids.
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Offline denny

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2017, 04:24:23 pm »
You need about 5 times as many wet hops as pellets.  I think 6 times would constitute 20% overkill and will increase IBU contributions by a noticeable amount unless reserving only for dry hopping.

Personally I use my homegrown hops for bittering as well as late additions, and I find my homegrown hops have about the same or slightly higher alpha acid than you would get in pellets, maybe an extra 0.2-0.4% alpha or something like that compared to the typical averages.

I think it's more like 5 times as much wet as dry, and then account for pellets.  You use 10% more whole dry hops then pellets, so you have to factor that in.
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Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Pellet to wet hops conversion
« Reply #11 on: August 31, 2017, 04:46:31 pm »
You need about 5 times as many wet hops as pellets.  I think 6 times would constitute 20% overkill and will increase IBU contributions by a noticeable amount unless reserving only for dry hopping.

Personally I use my homegrown hops for bittering as well as late additions, and I find my homegrown hops have about the same or slightly higher alpha acid than you would get in pellets, maybe an extra 0.2-0.4% alpha or something like that compared to the typical averages.

I think it's more like 5 times as much wet as dry, and then account for pellets.  You use 10% more whole dry hops then pellets, so you have to factor that in.

Thanks -- I did in fact factor that in.  1 / 22% * 110% = 5
« Last Edit: August 31, 2017, 04:48:46 pm by dmtaylor »
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