Help me decide which hops to use do dry hop my cider

I am about to do my second batch of cider. This time I would like to dry hop it after primary is finished. I will not rack the cider over to a secondary. I will be fermenting just under 3 gallons so I can keg 2.5 gallons and force carbonate the cider.

With that being said, here is the list of hops I have access to in my freezer. I was thinking of 1-2 ounces of hops total. But I'm open to any suggestions, for I have lots of hops (+/- a pound), unless noted in the list below. Any combination of hops or just one single kind, I'm open for all suggestions. Also I will be using S-04 yeast. I don't plan on back sweetening the cider either, just ferment, dry hop and keg. I hope all of this information helps you help me. Cheers!

Also, a fellow home brewer brought in a cider dry hopped with Amarillo and Citra. That was amazing, but thought maybe I would do something a little different or just copy him. Still not sure...

Hops:
Amarillo
Bravo
Citra
CTZ
Crystal
East Kent Goldings (EKG) - only 0.40oz remaining
Experimental Hop #07270
Falconer's Flight
US Goldings - only 0.40oz remaining
Hallertauer Hersbrucker - only 0.40oz remaining
Motueka
Nugget
Opal
Simcoe
Sonnet Golding
Sorachi Ace
Summit
Tradition - only 1oz remaining
Warrior

If this was a dish you were cooking you would either want to complement the flavor and aroma of the apples or you would want a flavor (or aroma) that counters the aromas and flavors of the apples. I don't know enough about hops to offer any suggestion but I would think that Citra and Motueka complement because both are fruity, are they not?

I've been thinking that a really dank, piney hop might go well with a cider...how about Simcoe?

bernardsmith said:

If this was a dish you were cooking you would either want to complement the flavor and aroma of the apples or you would want a flavor (or aroma) that counters the aromas and flavors of the apples. I don't know enough about hops to offer any suggestion but I would think that Citra and Motueka complement because both are fruity, are they not?

Click to expand...

Part of me says I should make it fruity, but then there is still a small part of me that says do something different.

biochemedic said:

I've been thinking that a really dank, piney hop might go well with a cider...how about Simcoe?

Click to expand...

This might be the part of me that says to do something different.

Thank you both for your responses.

I used EKG, and loved it.

I used cascade. It tasted good but dry. My taste testers that drink IPAs loved it.

I'm not an IPA drinker and I will try Citra next time.

If you were to age hopped cider in Bourbon barrels would you hop then age or age then hop?

Can you perhaps divi up the cider and make one batch piney and one batch fruity? You could then have 3 batches - with 1/3 being a mix of both piney and fruity... OR you could blend the two and decide what ratio you prefer for the next batch you make. The world , as they say, is your oyster.
PS you might like Nelson Sauvin with cider...

bernardsmith said:

PS you might like Nelson Sauvin with cider...

Click to expand...

Oh, hell yes! I was going to say that but it wasn't on your list... I have been dry hopping my cyser with Nelson for the past couple years, and it is awesome with apples.

But I still vote for Simcoe based on your "in stock" list...

Two of my most liked ciders have been dry hopped ciders.

Both are 5 gallon batches. In one I used 15 g each of Citra and Simcoe.

In the other I used 60 g each of Citra and Mosaic.

In both cases they were 5 day dry hops.

The Citra and Mosaic one was so good that I've already got another batch going.

You can't go wrong with Goldings, IMHO. They're my goto hops for Graff, and they compliment the apple & malt very well. Sometimes I'll add caraway seed to a graff & Goldings even plays well with the caraway seed.
Regards. GF.

Great, thank you all for the ideas! So much to think about while it ferments.

I was thinking I will have to do a larger batch some day and then split it into at least two batches. Then dry hop them differently. Plus I don't have any small 1 gallon fermenters to split this small batch. Right now its a small batch and I want to force carb it all in my small 2.5 gallon keg.

Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate it!

I have 10 litres fermenting now and typically use 30g for dry hopping per 5 litres. Cascade and centennial work well in combination. Anyone use more/less hops?

Just a perspective. It's nice to have the hops compliment the apple not overwhelm it. I recently used 14 grams of Citra (whole flowers) in a 5 gallon batch - 2 days- which gave a perfect balance.

I ended up using 50g of challenger in one 1gallon demijohn and 50g of styrian goldings in the other. Think I be probably overdone it!!

Trying this myself in a 1 gal batch of cider. Just added ~3 grams Citra and ~3 grams Mandarina Bavaria hop pellets. Never dry hopped anything before so starting with less rather than more, and it was enough to just perfectly fill some empty tea bags I had on hand.

BeeDeeEff said:

Trying this myself in a 1 gal batch of cider. Just added ~3 grams Citra and ~3 grams Mandarina Bavaria hop pellets. Never dry hopped anything before so starting with less rather than more, and it was enough to just perfectly fill some empty tea bags I had on hand.

Click to expand...

Took out the hops yesterday, and WOW was it good. Adds so much complexity and body to otherwise thin ciders. I used simple big-box store cider for the 1 gallon batch and I think I found a recipe worthy of making and bottling a 5 gallon batch out of.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1489792901.568528.jpg

I wanted to report back. I ended up going with EKG and US Goldings. I had 0.4oz of each and I figured that would be a good amount for the 2.5 gallon batch I had. It turned out nicely. I'm not a big cider drinker but I like to make a batch here and there for friends and family who enjoy them more than beer.

I think I may use Simcoe and Motaku next time. Or something else to go with the Simcoe.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

I just purchased a pouch of citra, and i think one of galaxy. I was going to take a gallon out of my next two batches and try this . hoping for more aroma than bitterness.