We are trying to determine which of the following is true and whether or not it’s true for all hop merchants:
The same package “sizes” weigh slightly different amounts in the US and EU (ie 44 lbs in the US is 44 lbs but 20 kg in the EU weighs 44.09 lbs).
The same package “sizes” weigh exactly the same in the US and EU but are just marked/marketed differently (ie 44 lbs really weighs 44.09 lbs in BOTH the EU and US).
My money is on #2, but we need a definitive answer. Thanks for your help!
BSG Hops reply…
We consider 20 kg to be equal to 44.00 lbs.
Now, saying that, all dealers are different: As far as I have found, we are the only ones who tare out the weight of the bag itself (.21 lbs per 22 lb bag) so that we actually have 44 lbs of Hops. All others that we have seen include the weight of the bag in the 44 lb total.
Also - .09 lbs makes no sense to “wonder” about… No one’s scale is any more accurate than ours, and we have up to a .10 lb variance allowance. That’s like 10 pellets.
FYI, here’s the word from Hopsteiner:
“We use a different calibration standard weight for packaging imperial versus metric orders. If we weigh the pellets from a 20 kg. carton using a scale set-up for Imperial wgt. you would get 44.09 lbs. - 44.1 lbs.”
Our standard packaging is always 5kg of foil. This corresponds to 11.02 lbs of hops.
The foil is not weighed.
Even more important, however, is quality. Our hops are stored in cold storage immediately after harvest and processed as quickly as possible.
Crosby Hops provides 44 lb. of net hop weight. The bag is always tared when packaging hop pellets at our facility. We can’t speak to anyone else’s / or any other country’s SOP.