Dry hopped hard cider

[oregonbrew541]

So lately I've been drinking a recent experimental batch of hard cider i made using apfelwein recipe with just slightly less sugar the abv was about 6.5

I decided to dry hop it with cascade hops. I used pellets due to simplicity and the surface space it creates really speeding up the time it takes to extract the oils. I let it sit about a week give or take a day. Then I took my 45 micron hash bag and filtered it to perfection in just one pass i was amazed thought i might need 25 micron but 45 is perfect!

The taste was absolutely hoppy! I compare it to an IPA cider this was caused by using an ipa hop. Unfortunately I'm not in love with ipa's flavor too hoppy for me so...that being said

I want to try a "light" hop so i looked into what other cider companies were using heres what i got
Hop strains-
Fuggle
Galena
Citra
mt.hood
willamette
saaz
tettnanger
spalt
galaxy

I like Hefeweizen and will also experiment with hefe hops including:

Hallertauer
Saaz
Styrian

the best source for hop varieties and description- http://byo.com/resources/hops

Has anyone had good success dry hopping cider with any of these varieties? or does anyone recommend any others for cider.

in the mail i have tettnanger and hallertauer on the way ill experiment with 50/50 and both alone

also found out today that with age the bitterness from hops fades depending on stability of the variety some in just a week some taking a month.
heres the info from the joy of home brewing pgs 66-75-
stability- Very good: 90% of bitterness remains after 4 months of storage at *70f; Good: 80-90%; Fair: 60-80%; Poor: less than 60% and some will suffer dramatic loss within just a month.
about stability: Stability is influenced by crop, weather, storage, harvest time, compression, drying methods and other factors.
heres a link to some really in depth info on hops!!!!
http://www.freshops.com/hops/usda-named-hop-variety-descriptions
NOTE: this information on stability does not apply to pelletized hops because they are all very stable.

 

[oregonbrew541]

in the mail i have tettnanger and hallertauer hops (lager/hefe hop) I'm going to do a test where i mix the two hops 50/50 and one with just tettnanger and one with just hallertauer ill keep you posted.

 

[mdabbles]

I tried cascade in a standard cider (juice only gravity). One ounce for one week in 2 gallons. Too strong - tastes like spiked grapefruit juice. I have the same going now, but will pull the hops after 3 days.

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[oregonbrew541]

I tried cascade in a standard cider (juice only gravity). One ounce for one week in 2 gallons. Too strong - tastes like spiked grapefruit juice. I have the same going now, but will pull the hops after 3 days.

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sounds like a good idea i think ill taste taste at day three now just to make sure.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Also consider galaxy. There is a cider co in oregon called square something or other and they use galaxy. I really like it. I don't like their standard cider but the dry hopped is yummy. But Cider is hit or miss for me and I prefer beer. But the lady like cider so here I am tasting them all and making it now... haha!

 

[wildlife1]

This sounds interesting and along the the direction I want to try.Am I understanding correctly just tea bagging the hops for a determined amount of time

 

[mdabbles]

Yes, I just put the hops in a hop bag, or something similar.

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[oregonbrew541]

Today I'll be trying three different batches. I have three gallon mason jars full of my green apple cider. It's been aging for about 4 months now. I pressed some green apples at the farm i work at
In my opinion it was to tart for drinking but I've experimented with hopping cider before and had the best results with more acidic juice. So i figured I'd give it a try.
The hops varieties:
Tettenager
German hallertau
I'll be doing 1 gallon with tett. 1 gallon with hallertau and 1 gallon 50/50.
No hop bag so I'll be filtering with my 25 micron.

 

[FoCobrewguy]

When you used the cascade how much did you use? 1-2 oz or more?

kf

 

[ShadyBrewer]

Maybe just try using less hops


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[GlimpseTheVoid]

I'm really curious, please let us know if you guys come up with anything you like out of this....

 

[oregonbrew541]

When you used the cascade how much did you use? 1-2 oz or more?

kf

A full one ounce packet. And for one gallon steeping five days it was way too hoppy i mean drinkable my gf actually liked it but eh she's easy to satisfy lol i think half the packet for five days might have been just right. This time around i use half oz of pellitized hops per gallon and will steep five days. I'll keep u posted!

 

[oregonbrew541]

When you used the cascade how much did you use? 1-2 oz or more?

kf

I will try cascade again though...
And as for the person that said try using less, your absolutely right!

 

[oregonbrew541]

for anyone interested the hop taste of these varieties our seriously awesome I'm loving the taste i thinks its still a bit faint so ill leave it for about four more days and filter. If i did my calculations right the hop level was average of 1.60 hbu per brew. ill re-post with the final taste test.

 

[GlimpseTheVoid]

I'm really curious about this angle. I'm going to read a bit more and give this a try. Ultimately, I'd love to brewing IPA. At the moment, I've really only brewed 1 1/2 successful ciders. I have to imagine that if a good IPA and a good cider had a love child in my glass I will have achieved ultimate satisfaction...