Every new brewer is faced with this question at some point: which form of hops should you actually use for your homebrew beer? Whole hops and hop pellets each have their pros and cons (and other forms exist as well). While I made the decision years ago to just use hop pellets – for the sake of ease – I found myself wondering recently if that was really the best option. So, after some reading and research, here’s what I’ve found out.

Whole hop cones are believed by some to produce a better (smoother) aroma and flavor in the finished beer, but this claim is not based in science. Hop pellets have a number of advantages over cones, and are the best choice for the majority of homebrewing situations.

The vast majority of the brewing world uses hop pellets these days, though there are some holdouts who are steadfast in their belief that whole hop cones are better. Sierra Nevada is well known for using only whole hops, with its founder, Ken Grossman, stating that “philosophically, [they’re] committed to flowers.” They’re not the only ones.

However, there’s not really any science to say that whole hops are decidedly better, although experimentation and the collective experience of other brewers points to a handful of specific circumstances when you might prefer to use whole hops.

Whole Hops vs Hop Pellets: What is the Difference?

Fundamentally, hop cones and hop pellets are the same. They’re made of the same plant material, just presented in different physical forms. In fact, hop pellets are simply hop cones that have been processed and turned into pellets.

Whole hop cones are fresh hops – the flowers of the hop plant – that have been dried for better preservation. Hop pellets are further refined from these cones, going through a process to produce compact pellets of hop material.

Whole Hop Cones are also often called whole hops, hop cones, and leaf hops, although the last one isn’t exactly correct. Hop cones are the flowers of the hop plant, and do not include leaves of any kind.

The flowers are harvested and dried to ensure preservation, but are otherwise unprocessed. When you purchase whole hop cones, you receive a package full of entire flowers from the plant.

Note that these are different from fresh cones, which aren’t readily available on the homebrewing market. Fresh, undried cones have a decidedly different flavor expression (think lighter roast or unroasted vs. darker roast coffee). However, fresh hops don’t last long at all – beginning to rot within days of being picked – and even the beer brewed from them changes significantly in a very short time.

Hop Pellets, on the other hand, are the processed form of the cones. Whole cones are ground into a fine powder and then pressed into the shape of pellets before being packaged. No added binding agent is necessary – the resinous hop oils from the cone are able to keep the pellet in shape.

This means that the pellet you are using is simply the whole cone, just pressed into a different shape.

What are the Advantages of Using Whole Hops?

While pellets are widely used for their significant brewing advantages, there are some brewers that swear by whole hops.

The primary advantage to using whole hop cones over pellets is that, according to some brewers, they produce a smoother, rounder, subjectively better flavor, particularly when dry hopping. There are a few other advantages related to the shape of the flower and the way it breaks apart in the wort or beer.

As stated above, some brewers claim that whole, unprocessed hops produce a simply better flavor than pellets. The beer produced from whole hop cones is described to be less harsh, with less bite and fewer sharp edges. Sometimes it is described as less vegetal.

Others cannot differentiate between the two, even when tasting them side-by-side.

I believe that this comes down to the individual – not only are their preferences different, so is their palette. Individuals experience taste and aroma differently from each other, sometimes wildly so. Some people are more sensitive to certain flavor notes while others are completely blind to them.

For example, I have a really hard time picking up on floral notes in almost anything.

But there might be another factor at play. Brülosophy performed an experiment back in 2015 to try and find the answer to the exact question this article poses: Which is better, whole hops or pellets? What they determined was very interesting, and not entirely the result they were looking for: in a blind test, people were able to differentiate between a beer brewed with cones and one brewed with pellets only when it was new. Even a week later, the hop aroma in the one brewed with cones faded and was indistinguishable from the one brewed with pellets.

Which leads me to a conclusion: whole hop cones might produce a better beer, but you need to drink it right away to get the benefit.

There are also a few other advantages to using whole hops, particular to the way that they are shaped. Because you are using the entire flower, you are exposing more surface area of the hop to the wort (or beer), giving it more opportunity to release its oils.

Furthermore, if you include a hop addition in the mash tun or as first wort hops, as the flower breaks apart it can help form a filter, improving lautering. Using whole flowers for dry hopping works similarly – the flower bits are easier to filter out of the final beer than the sludge that pellets produce.

What are the Advantages of Using Hop Pellets?

There are a few holdouts, but the vast majority of craft brewers and homebrewers use pellets for most of their beers. There may be some instances where it’s preferable to use whole cones, but pellets have their advantages.

Hop pellets are smaller, easier to store, and easier to use. They also last longer in storage, and achieve better utilization during the boil, so you can use fewer pellets to achieve the same result. Given that they are the same material, and largely produce the same results as whole hops, pellets are the better choice in most homebrewing situations.

The pelletization process compresses the hop, retaining the hop material but removing excess air and water. This means it takes up much less space, as well as being easier for brewers to measure more precisely.

It also holds up better in storage – with a caveat. As long as it’s stored properly, the pellet does not oxidate (lose its flavor) as fast as the whole cone. This means it must remain in a sealed package and kept cold – I usually keep mine in the freezer between brews, ideally vacuum sealed.

Not only is it easier for the brewer to store, it allows the hops to survive long trips around the world. This is why it’s easier for homebrewers to get their hands on a wider variety of pellets – they’re simply easier for the hop manufacturer to transport without worrying about losing quality on the trip.

Hop pellets are also more efficient in the boil – a brewer can typically use 10% to 15% less hops by weight to produce the same IBUs in a beer using pellets over whole cones. This is because, due to the pelletization process, the plant matter is crushed up and more easily mixed into the boiling wort – in the same way that fine ground coffee will produce a better extraction than a coarser ground.

This equates to the brewer using less of his or her hops for a given beer to produce the same result. Given that pellets and whole cones cost about the same price, that equals cost savings! It may be small, but it adds up over time.

That’s probably a big reason why many of the bigger craft breweries prefer pellets.

And given that the flavor difference is only noticeable to some – or possibly only noticeable in fresh beer, according to the Brülosophy experiment – it seems there’s not a downside to using pellets most of the time.

However, even for those of us who cannot tell the difference in the beer at the end, there may be a few instances where using whole cones might make the brewer’s job a bit easier – if you have them on hand.

A Note on Hop Extract

“But what about hop extract?” You might be wondering.

(Or maybe not. Not everyone has heard of it.)

Hop Extract is a syrupy liquid of pure hop resin, produced through supercritical CO2 extraction to get only the bittering and aromatic elements from the hop while leaving behind any vegetal matter.

It’s used primarily only by the largest breweries in the world (particularly the American ones) to produce beer incredibly efficiently. It’s used to cut costs at the expense of flavor, as the process to produce hop extract leaves behind a lot of the parts of the cone that provide flavor.

(But think about it – they’re not really going for flavor when producing Bud Light or Miller Light, are they?)

In a homebrewing situation (or even at a craft brewery) it’s not worth considering hop extract in nearly all circumstances. While you can purchase some online if you want to, there isn’t much variety that’s available. Besides, you’ll get a much better beer from using actual hops that still have all of their flavorful plant matter.

There are some homebrewers who use hop extract in addition to real hops at the bittering stage to bump up the IBUs higher than is reasonably possible with a regular boil.

There is a point of diminishing returns with hoppiness – as with all things, after a certain amount is added to the boil, the wort becomes saturated and further additions aren’t readily soluble in the liquid anymore. For some really hoppy beers, it becomes difficult to achieve the utilization needed for very high IBUs – around 80 to 100 IBUs and beyond.

Others have experimented with using hop extract at later stages to produce hop flavor without having any plant matter that needs to be filtered out later. Some have claimed success with this method.

When to Use Hop Pellets vs When to Use Whole Cones?

We have discussed what the differences are, as well as the pros and cons of both whole cones and pellets. But when exactly should you use one or the other?

Hop pellets are easier to use and to store, and they achieve better utilization during the boil, allowing the brewer to use less. For most homebrewing applications, pellets are the better choice. Subjective preferences aside, whole cones can be better for mash tun additions or dry hopping for ease of use.

Honestly, it’s probably easier to just buy pellets. They’re perfectly fine for almost every application in homebrewing, and that way you don’t need to purchase individual items for each stage of the brew.

However, if you want to truly figure out what’s best, the answer is that whole hop cones can be better for use at certain stages of the brew – mainly because of their shape and structure.

Pellets, when added to wort or beer, simply dissolve into solution, leaving ground up bits of plant matter and dust floating in the liquid, or turning into a messy sludge. This isn’t an issue during the boil, when you’ll likely be dealing with hot break material in addition to hop sludge. Just draining your wort from the kettle or using a strainer should remove most of this material.

Cones, on the other hand, don’t fall apart in the same way, mostly retaining their shape. This will actually help with lautering and prevent stuck mashes if you add them to the mash tun. Additionally, they will be less messy when added to the fermenter for dry hopping – and can easily be filtered out whether you decide to rack the beer from the vessel later or you chose to dry hop straight into the keg.

Conclusion

If you are one of the people who simply prefer hop cones – whether on basic principle, or because you actually can tell the difference – then go ahead and use them!

For most of us, hop pellets will serve the purpose more than adequately. They produce beer that’s just as good as whole hop cones, but with several advantages that make the brewer’s life easier.

There are a few specific parts of brewing where whole cones do have an advantage. If you have whole hops on hand, it’s worth using them for mash tun additions or dry hops.

In reality, though, unless you’re trying to dial in everything to perfection, it’s probably easier to simply not worry about it. Buy hop pellets and just use them for everything!