So what are the main differences in terms of flavors, methods, ease of use, price, etc?
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
You are going to find a lot of different opinions. I like pellets better. Easter to store, stay fresher longer, they have some of the extra vegetation removed and taste less “green” to me. They also don’t clog up my chillers the way whole hops do. I still use whole hops for randals, dry hopping firkins, etc.
+1 to pellets for all the above.
The only whole hops I use are my home grown Centennial and Cascade. The majority of which I use in a few wet hopped beers at harvest. The rest are mainly used for dry hopping. Otherwise I only use pellets for the reasons stated above.
Lots of advantages to pellets as others have mentioned. I too only use whole hops when I’m using my homegrowns, which are great but more of a pain to deal with. If I could produce my own pellets at home, I would.
I used to use all whole a long time ago. I started having oxidation issues that I thought was coming from the whole cones. I use my home grown, but I much prefer pellets. Storage space and increased freshness. All positives IMO.
+2! When I began brewing I was a whole hop snob. I live in prime hop growing country and pellets seemed like a perversion of hops. Boy, was I wrong! I found all the advantages of pellets that Keith notes…they stay fresh longer, and take up less room to store. The only time I use whole hops these days is if I absoultely know that they’re fresh.
To me the only benefit of whole hops is the filter they form when racking beer out of your kettle. Beyond that, I feel pellets are superior echoing what others are saying plus less volume loss.
I typically use pellets because they are easier to store. One reason some brewers prefer whole cones is because they claim the pelletization process applies heat to the hops which degrades the essential oils. I don’t use hops fast enough to avoid storage concerns with whole cones nor do I have the space to store much hops. So for me the benefits of using pellets outweighs the benefit of cones.
+1
Whole hops work well on my system with a false bottom. I do use pellets. Equal opportunity hop user here.
Often I find more variety in pellet hops, some like Mandarina Bavaria are only pellets in my experience so far.
+1. I definitely find a better selection in pellets, too.
I pretty much use whole hops exclusively; however, then again, I also use a false bottom in my kettle. Whole cones, a false bottom, and an immersion chiller allow one to drain clear wort from one’s kettle. Whirlpooling helps to reduce, but does not completely eliminate hop material from entering one’s fermentation vessel when using a ball valve-equipped kettle. A good compromise that I have seen used in several craft breweries involves using pellets in the boil and whole cones in a hop back while casting out the wort.
OTOH, I have no problems letting the pellets go through the pump and into the fermenter. Not a lot of hop trub makes it, but I don’t worry about what does.
My exact reasons for preferring to use whole hops. Although I agree with the storage and longevity side of pellets. I use a lot of pellets, but have to use them in hop bags or knee high panty hose bastardized hop bags in order to keep them from clogging up my BK.
Just dont combine whole hops and pellets if you have a false bottom. Everytime I do that I get a total clog!
It does turn into a concrete like substance.
I like whole better too for domestic freshhops with the false bottom. Anything else gets pellets in the ss mesh basket.
Sounds like until I move up to more sophisticated equipment I’ll be sticking with pellets for now
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
I honestly feel that the quality of pellets is on par or even superior to the quality of most whole flower hops out there. I don’t think that using pellets over whole hops is in any way a step down.