Fresh Hop Cones vs. Pellets

[Daniel Parshley]

What is the straight stuff on the comparable amount/weight of fresh whole hop cones to pellets? I have a nice pound of this year's hop harvest and there is no shortage of conflicting information on the web. Some say 5 oz. fresh cone is equal to 1 oz. pellets. Other say 10 to 1. Then there is the discussion of milling the hops to break open the glands. How much should I use to replace the pellet hop weight in a recipe?

 

[thunderwagn]

I'll add further to your confusion. If these are your own home grown hops, you don't know the ibu's or anything. It's down to trial and error basically. Best use is probably for finishing. Some may recommend boiling some up with a bit of malt to test what they might contribute.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

I'll add further to your confusion. If these are your own home grown hops, you don't know the ibu's or anything. It's down to trial and error basically.

Cascade grown in Virginia by a friend of my brew mentor. I can use the general IBUs from the hop chart. But, the web says use 5 oz. cones for every 1 oz. of hop pellets in the recipe, and others say it is 10 to 1. This is the opposite of what I was thinking - I would use less fresh hop cones compared to pellets.

 

[thunderwagn]

You'll always use more fresh hops and you'll always use more dry cones vs pellets also.
You certainly can use any chart you can find and it may or may not even come close to listed IBU's. Brew up a little tea with some and see what they bring to the table. That's going to be your best way to judge.
Fresh hops bring a whole different characteristic to beer. Some like what they bring and some don't. Personally, I think they bring a lot more to the show dried, but give it a go! I certainly enjoy a fresh hopper or two every year. It really is going to be experimental for you.
I think I would at least use a regular bittering addition for your IBU's and maybe throw in a nice handful with them. Then maybe use out the rest at 10, 5, and 0 and or whirlpool.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

You'll always use more fresh hops and you'll always use more dry cones vs pellets also.
You certainly can use any chart you can find and it may or may not even come close to listed IBU's. Brew up a little tea with some and see what they bring to the table. That's going to be your best way to judge.
Fresh hops bring a whole different characteristic to beer. Some like what they bring and some don't. Personally, I think they bring a lot more to the show dried, but give it a go! I certainly enjoy a fresh hopper or two every year. It really is going to be experimental for you.
I think I would at least use a regular bittering addition for your IBU's and maybe throw in a nice handful with them. Then maybe use out the rest at 10, 5, and 0 and or whirlpool.

Fresh picked and dried ( I hope). I have not opened the vacuum pack yet. I like the brew a bit of tea idea and that is something that can be done on brew day.

 

[GFHomebrew]

In the odd time I've brewed with my own home grown but dried hop cones I blitzed them in the thermomix but used then late in the boil and dry hop. As Thunderwagon suggested go with a known AA hop for the bittering charge.

 

[Dirty Dingo Brewing CO.]

IBU is just a mathematical equation to discover how acidic the beer will be. IBU doesn't really give much information as to mouth feel, because technically, when you dry hop, you aren't releasing those acids BUT, you are releasing the flavours!!!

I'd argue play with both, and don't be overly concerned about IBU numbers. It's your beer, and your nose, you know what you like, so as Toucan Sam would say, "Follow your nooooooooooooosssseeee!!!!"

 

[Daniel Parshley]

Follow-up - The Cascade wet hop brew came out reasonably well! https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1055392/cascade-37
The wort actually stunk and was very dank to the point of me considering dumping the batch prior to pitching the yeast. Around day three into the ferment, the dank odor went away and the flavors developed and became pleasant.
Thank you for all the recommendations like using a known bittering hop, making a tea with the fresh cones, and suggestions on the amount of fresh hops to use.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Follow-up - The Cascade wet hop brew came out reasonably well! https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1055392/cascade-37
The wort actually stunk and was very dank to the point of me considering dumping the batch prior to pitching the yeast. Around day three into the ferment, the dank odor went away and the flavors developed and became pleasant.
Thank you for all the recommendations like using a known bittering hop, making a tea with the fresh cones, and suggestions on the amount of fresh hops to use.

Ah great to hear Daniel !

 

[Mine's an Old Peculier]

Hi,

New member here.
What a great site!

So what ratio did you use?
I have an old recipe book that uses whole dried hops. I've been substituting pellets weight for weight and it gives a slight increase in bitterness.

I'd have no idea how to gauge fresh hops!

Mike

 

[Daniel Parshley]

Hi,

New member here.
What a great site!

So what ratio did you use?
I have an old recipe book that uses whole dried hops. I've been substituting pellets weight for weight and it gives a slight increase in bitterness.

I'd have no idea how to gauge fresh hops!

Mike

Several BF members gave me good advice and I settled on the following recipe. https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1055392/cascade-37
The web says from 5 oz to 10 oz fresh cones equals one oz pellets or cones. I could have used more fresh cones but I'm happy with the resulting beer. Making a tea with the fresh cones was helpful in gauging cone strength/bitterness. The wort did not smell good and tasted dank for the first three days of the ferment. Flavor was best around 3 weeks after bottling.

 

[BOB357]

Fresh picked and dried ( I hope). I have not opened the vacuum pack yet. I like the brew a bit of tea idea and that is something that can be done on brew day.

If they're dried they should be treated just like store bought whole leaf hops. The reason you'd use ~5 times the weight if they are fresh is the moisture content. Either way, you won't know the AA%. Even commercially grown hops can vary quite a bit from crop to crop and even from field to field. As an example, I've bought Cascades that ranged from 4.4% to 7.2% alpha acid. As @thunderwagn and others have already said, Your best use is for later additions where AA% means much less. Post boil additions would be a great use for them Steep/whirlpool additions under ~160 degrees or dry hopping being the best..