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  • Whole vs pellet and more

    We are opening a 10bbl operation in AR this winter and I'm trying to get these large-scale processes in my head.
    First, opinions about pellet vs whole hops? I haven't done anything larger than 1/2 bbl pilot brews, so the focus has always been on convenience, not price, ease of handling, or availability.....but now it is! Any suggestions that could save me some major hassle down the road?

    Second, best places to purchase through? Mini-bulk! I don't need 100 lb of one kind of hops sitting around for a beer I only brew every so often, and only use 4 lbs of it. Who do you use?

    Third, I know I'm going to be in for a surprise scaling up (actually only starting with 6 bbl batches to get the feel). I see a million different methods and formulas for scaling hops, is there a simple formula? For example, a 6 bbl batch of 1.053 wort with 2 additions of 6.6%aa, one at 60min another at 30min. I have utilization charts, but just wanting to make sure it doesn't make a drastic leap when scaling, and if it does, what should I expect?

    Thanks in advance, and I've gotta say, this is a great and wonderful community of very helpful people! You guys are awesome!

  • #2
    Proportionally few commercial breweries use whole hops for several reasons; pellets are easier to use, hold up better under storage, take up less storage space, whole hops require specialized equipment to separate from wort, etc. I have only worked at one brewery that used whole hops routinely.

    Sometimes you are better off buying small boxes of hops rather than 4# (using your example) due to economy of scale; buying them by the pound results in a greater price per pound, and sometimes means you end up paying more for 4 or 5# than you might for 11#. You need to shop around.

    Sources? YCH-Hopunion and Hopsteiner are good, you can also buy hops from BSG and Country Malt along with your grains, etc. I also use Hops Direct, usually for small quantities like 1# of a specialty for dry hopping pins. Lupulin Exchange is a convenient service for brewers to search for and purchase over stocked hops from other brewers. There are other good sources and I'm sure others will chime in.

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