I had just gotten hold of some Cryo Hops® LupuLN2® pellets and I wanted to know if they made any difference from using normal pellets. This new form of hops claims to provide an intense hop flavour and aroma without introducing astringent flavours. I also had some Cascade hops in the freezer that I had grown. So it seemed like the perfect time to experiment with dry-hopping the same beer three different ways.
The basis of this experiment was a light pale ale. The same beer was dry hopped for 4 days with pellets, whole hops and LupuLN2 pellets. The quantities of each hop type was adjusted to keep the level of alpha acids constant.
Cascade pellets, Lupuln and whole hops.
Each beer was given to a bunch of mates at work to obtain their perceived differences. The replies were mixed, perhaps indicative of the similarity of the beers. Unarguably though, the normal pellets were noticeably cloudier than LupuLN2® pellets. I believe this is due to the significantly less quantity of pellets used.
The whole hops divided opinion, people liked and disliked them in equal measure. The main debate seemed to exist between the two hop forms. LupuLN2® arguably had some more aroma than the standard pellets. The pellets though seemed to win out on flavour.
Conclusion
There doesn’t seem to be any great advantage in LupuLN2® pellets in terms of flavour or aroma. The smaller quantities required however result in more clarity. I would recommened there use for beers requiring a high level of dry-hopping. Then again no-one seemed concerned by the cloudier version, it was actually deemed preferable by some tasters.
