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Hop Pellets

T-90 Hop Pellets

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Leaf Hops

Raw or Leaf Hops

Which type of hop is best for me?
&
What do I do with them, now that I've got them?

Raw, Whole or Leaf Hops are the dried flowers picked from the vine. Use of leaf hops by home brewers is 10-20% higher than that of pellets.

Uses and Advantages in Brewing: Leaf hops are usually added either to the boiling wort in the kettle, or for dry-hopping, to the barrel or keg. For maximum bittering, additions need to be made one hour before the end of the boil. For late-hopped character, additions are usually made about 10-15 minutes prior to the end of the boil. Dry-hopping additions are usually made in the keg and the hops remain in the product for several days or, in some cases, even until the product is consumed. The main advantage in using leaf hops is in the perception of using a completely natural ingredient. The shortcomings are handling, storage, and variability of acid and oil content. Also, a small level of physical contamination might occur when using an agricultural product such as this because it comes straight from the field to packaging.

Method of Use: A pre-weighed quantity of leaf hops should be crumbled gently by hand prior to addition. Following boiling, the trub/hops sink to the bottom of the kettle and can be separated from the wort (One of the best methods appears to by using a whirlpool to collect the trub into a cone in the center of the kettle). Often, in dry-hopping, the hops are suspended in the brew in a permeable sachet, much like a tea bag, which greatly assists their removal.

Typical Brewing Performance: Leaf hops is typically used to achieve a bittering range of 25 - 28% of the alpha acids added. The intensity of late hop character depends on the amount added and the length of time the hops are in contact with the boiling wort. Typical dry hopping rates range between 3 - 6 oz. /US bbl (75 - 150 g/hl). Click here to see a video on adding hops to your home brew.

T-90 Hop Pellets are whole hops that have been ground and pressed into a mold. Pellets contain all the vegetative and lupulin material of raw leaf hops and can be used as a full replacement for leaf hops in the brewing process. In the milling process, resin glands in the buds are ruptured and lupulin is spread over all particles. The resins seal the outside of the hop pellets when they are pressed, leaving the interior fresh.

Preparation: Baled hops are broken up and passed into an air-stream which delivers them to a hammer-mill. Heavy foreign materials drop out and metal fragments are removed using magnets. The cone hops are milled until they pass through a sieve which is commonly a 9-12 mm mesh.

The powder from many bales is mixed and homogenized in a blender and then conveyed to a pellet die, most commonly 4 or 6 mm in diameter. The pellets are immediately cooled, normally to a temperature of between 1 - 7º C. Cooled pellets pass over a shaker where dust is removed and recirculated back through the system. The "clean" pellets are packaged in laminated, plastic/aluminum foil bags, vacuum sealed and boxed.

Uses and Advantages in Brewing: T-90 pellets achieve a significant reduction in bulk volume compared to leaf hops. Additionally the packaging prevents the deterioration brought about by oxidation of the resins and oils of leaf hops.

Within the brewing process T-90 pellets may, depending upon the circumstances, show an increase in the utilization of alpha acids of up to 20% over that of leaf hops. Standardization of the alpha acids content of T-90 pellets allows the more of accurate and consistent results for the brewer.

Methods of Use: T-90 pellets are added to boiling wort in the kettle at the same time as one would normally add leaf hops. The pellets will disperse into the wort and form part of the trub thus removing the need for a hop strainer. For maximum bitterness, pellets should be boiled for at least one hour. For maximum aroma contribution, pellets should be added as for normal late hop additions.

Typical Brewing Performance: Alpha acids utilization from pellets, under normal brewing conditions, range between 30-35%. The flavor and aroma effects are typical for the variety in question and the time of addition.

Storage: For maximum protection of bitterness potential and aroma, both whole leaf and T-90 pellets should be cold stored in unopened packs. Under these conditions minimal deterioration will occur for as long as one year of storage.

Opened packs should be used within a few hours
or re-sealed and deep frozen.

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