Hop packaging

[mark_g]

Hi,

I am talking to a small hop grower about buying hops for my brewery from his farm this fall. He is a small grower and has built some sort of contraption to package the hops. Basically it takes about 5 pounds of hops and compresses them into a hard puck. Once it is in the puck form he then vacuum seals the hops. I have heard that compressing the hops too much is not great. Can anyone confirm that? Should I be concerned about his packaging method?

Thanks,

Mark

[Capt. Bob]

Sounds like hop plugs. Something between whole and pellets. Used to be pretty common.

[Jephro]

If it is done after a N2 flush and packaged the same way it sounds like a pretty stable process to me.

[fmbrewing]

plugs, pellets and hops - oh my!

...I have heard that compressing the hops too much is not great. Can anyone confirm that? Should I be concerned about his packaging method?...

The process used to make hop pucks [read: hop plugs] compresses the delicate hop cones much less than pelletizing hops does. These hop plugs are popular for dry hopping.