How long to leave HOPs in secondary?

[Orvis1122]

I have 15 gallons of cider that has been in secondary for almost 3 months, last week I added 3 pkgs of hops in a muslin bag. I was thinking about 2 weeks total.
What are everyone's thoughts?

 

[mkyl428]

I just started drinking a keg of cider I dry hopped with Citra and Amarillo, I dry hopped mine for 5 days at 70° and it has plenty of hop aroma. I would taste it after 3-4 days and see if you like where it's at.

 

[Jimbodaman]

Hops tend to break down if left in the secondary over a week, leading to a green, vegetable like taste, at least in my experience with beer. I'm not sure about dry hopped cider, I would assume it's similar.

 

[BeeDeeEff]

Can't say for sure, but I can point you to this thread and also tell you what worked for me at a 1 gallon size.

6 grams hop pellets (~3 grams Citra and ~3 grams Mandarina Bavaria)
1 gallon cider
7 days time

I could've let it go longer, or taken it out soon depending on how I wanted it to taste. I took them out when the flavor was prominent, but not overpowering or overwhelming....but it did become the primary flavor while the apple base gave it a good body and mouthfeel.

So if it's been a week I would definitely recommend tasting it to see if its done, as you might get all the desired flavor you're looking for in a matter of days.

 

[Orvis1122]

Thank you everyone for getting back to me so quickly, I also used Citra hops with WLP001 yeast. I will check it tonight to see how the hops are.
Thanks Again

 

[Orvis1122]

great post, thank you for linking it

 

[Orvis1122]

I checked the hop flavor of my cider, almost zero hop taste. I guess I will leave it go another week

 

[Solipsis]

I think it really depends on the sort of hops you use for dry hopping, and not every cider may be able to handle the same amounts of hopping. I used cascade for about 5 days I think, at that point it seemed like enough as I really didn't want to push it.
But unfortunately since I was still experimenting with my recipe and the bottling and after-carbonating the nice aromas seemed to be lost on account of not bottling it right after hopping and it was also annoying to filter the hops out since I had racked it into a glass jug and I should have just used my bucket.
Also I wasn't quite able to prevent some oxidation of the hops which can give it a slightly 'feety' touch rather than the more fresh, fragrant and ultimately grassy tones.

Anyway cascade seems to be one of the ideal sorts of hops to use for dry hopping, maybe if you need another week yours are less aromatic or you added less?

The cider must be really done and dry as you really do not want any gases to take the aroma with it. If the hops seem to break down after a week, like jimbo said, perhaps this could be slowed down by putting argon in there. No oxygen, apart from the dissolved oxygen that is, should mean much less oxidation.

 

[MarkKF]

I did cascade as does the commercial cidery nearby. Mine was less than a week, maybe five days also. I'm not a huge fan but I also don't like IPAs.

 

[AkTom]

Several years ago when I had a real job... I got called to work early. I was working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. I dry hopped for about 21 days as I vaguely remember. I was sweating it the whole time at work. Turned out great with no grassiness. It was in the ferm chamber at ~64*.
Cheers

 

[Solipsis]

How was the protection from oxidation do you think? So basically: what was the surface area / volume of gas above it like?
Any idea as to what might have protected it from getting grassy or feet-y (if so) after such a long time, or do you just figure you got lucky ;D

although I realize: you are talking about grassiness which doesnt have to do with oxidation... but you say it turned out great nonetheless so: i'm curious

 

[AkTom]

It was in a carboy topped up pretty close. I also had it in my fermentation chamber at about 64*. Who knows? I know it turned out great.

 

[bernardsmith]

Orvis1122, But you are dry hopping. Dry hopping does not bring out very much flavor as much as it brings out the aromatics from the hops. You may be looking for the wrong thing. You need to boil hops for about 15 minutes to bring out their flavor. Sixty minutes to bring out the acidity...