Franconian Beer Message Board

Der Hopfen - Pellets vs Whole/Leaf/Natur vs Fresh/Wet
Posted by Barry on 2013-09-26 04:12:51
Ok Nick, so I've now read the articles in the 2 volumes of 'Beer' (Camra mag) that you kindly gave me. Firstly, as I suspected, 'wet-hopping' is, historically, a really rare activity - my logic was that it can only happen in areas where hops are grown and, in England, this is really Hereford/Worcester, which has never been a great brewing area, and Kent. That means that all the other British breweries (over the years, thousands and thousands) have relied on hops preserved in some way.

Re 'During pelletising, kiln-dried hops are chopped up into tiny bits and then compressed under great pressure into pellets. This destroys and potentially heats the glands in the hop cones/flowers (German: Dolden) that provide the bittering-, flavour- and aroma-producing oils and acids that we know and love.'

Is this statement really correct? According to Eddie Gadd of the Ramsgate Brewery (Kent), quoted in 'Beer' issue 17, page 10 (sorry for all this detail), who seems to be the pioneer of wet-hopping movement in England:

'The secret to drying hops is to heat them very gently, but even slow gentle drying drives volatile oils off. By using undried ones we're giving ourselves half a chance of getting those oils in the beer, which is why it tastes different and has that freshness'.

So, in fact, none of the hops commonly used in brewing, whichever way they have been preserved contain the oils and the question boils (sorry) down to whether pelletising hops has a markedly different effect to kiln drying.

As Robert explained to me (and I have heard many times before) on Sunday, the time of hopping and quantity of hops used is absolutely critical, combined, of course, with the type of hops used. Previous to this visit, I wasn't really aware that even within the broad spectrum of Hallertauer hops there was a variety of different types and I know that Robert has experimented with using different types. Because of these factors, I think that it will be almost impossible to prove that pelletising hops is more detrimental thant simple drying the whole flower, so, ultimately, it will probably come down to a question of choice.

Now I must go out and inspect my own little hop harvest!
 
 
Followups:
           Der Hopfen - Pellets vs Whole/Leaf/Natur vs Fresh/Wet by Nick B. on  2013-09-26 05:44:50
             Der Hopfen - Pellets vs Whole/Leaf/Natur vs Fresh/Wet by Fred Waltman on  2013-09-26 09:54:44
               Der Hopfen - Pellets vs Whole/Leaf/Natur vs Fresh/Wet by Nick B. on  2013-09-27 05:54:56
                 Der Hopfen - Pellets vs Whole/Leaf/Natur vs Fresh/Wet by Nick B. on  2013-09-28 02:30:55
                   Präpositionen by Nick B. on  2013-09-28 03:05:57
                     Präpositionen by barry on  2013-10-01 04:12:13
                       Pelletised Hops Are also Dried by Nick B. on  2013-10-01 05:48:36
                         Pelletised Hops Are also Dried by barry on  2013-10-01 05:58:57
                           Pelletised Hops Are also Dried by Nick B. on  2013-10-01 06:08:09
                             Pelletised Hops Are also Dried by Nick Cowley on  2013-10-01 07:14:34
                               Pelletised Hops Are also Dried by Nick B. on  2013-10-01 08:21:31
                                 Hop Plugs! by Nick B. on  2013-10-01 23:21:23
                       Principles by Nick B. on  2013-10-04 03:44:35