Dry hopping a cider

[gazzagahan]

hello

I get the sense that our American fiends will hop the bejesus out of anything vaguely resembling an alcoholic beverage, including cider. Has anyone got a view about whether dry hopping a cider is an interesting thing to do....or just daft? cheers, gaz

 

[Camo6]

Depends if you were making graff. A kind of malted cider. I'll try and get around to one of these some day.

 

[Not For Horses]

You can and should dry hop some cider. One of our producers here in tas do a few and they are quite delicious. So delicious in fact that you can't really get them outside of the state cause we drink them all on tap here.

 

[manticle]

What hop is typically used nfh?
Is dry the only hop addition or do they add some at an earlier point?

 

[Not For Horses]

It's a very long dry hop, often months so it is more about subtle aroma and flavour. Use fruity or citrusy hops, aus hops are perfect. Same hopping rates you would for beers.
I would like to see a cider with a fresh dry hop regime, as in a week before bottling maybe, just to see the difference.

 

[manticle]

Interesting.
Cheers.

 

[TimT]

I've heard of this sort of thing too (though not tasted). Treating hops as a spice for drinks more generally and not just a beer-specific spice, you get an idea how it could work. The wine and apple tastes from the cider.... paired with the sharp, fruity smells and tastes from the hops.

Digby has several recipes for hop-spiced meads. Actually, those Digby meads are flavoured with just about everything.... I'd like to hop a mead sometime. I prefer not to boil my honey so I'd probably end up dry hopping it.

 

[squirt in the turns]

It's a very long dry hop, often months so it is more about subtle aroma and flavour. Use fruity or citrusy hops, aus hops are perfect. Same hopping rates you would for beers.
I would like to see a cider with a fresh dry hop regime, as in a week before bottling maybe, just to see the difference.

Interesting... presumably any grassiness that is normally expected from extended dry hopping also subsides over such a long period of time? Or the grassiness compliments a cider in a way that it doesn't in beer?

 

[Not For Horses]

No noticeable grassiness in the ciders I've tasted. Having said that, besides galaxy, I've not really noticed much grassiness in beers that I've done with extended dry hopping. Granted three weeks is not three months but still.
I was also reading about hopingnon blanc just recently too. That's probably a story for another day.

 

[primusbrew]

I had a dry hopped cider at a cider bar in Launceston a couple of months ago. I thought it was really good.

I asked the girl behind the bar if she knew what the hop was. Said she didn't know but was pretty sure it was grown in Tassie. Galaxy would be my guess. I reckon any fruity hop would work well.

 

[Dips Me Lid]

https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/2861-hopped-cider

I read this article not long ago, I'm yet to taste a hopped cider but they sound bloody good, I could imagine that some types of hops would really work well in a cider.

 

[gazzagahan]

I've been sniffing around the bottle shops here in the inner west of Sydney, but no luck in sourcing a commercial or craft hopped cider. I still have a niggling feeling that if hops and cider were were a natural fit, then we'd see more of it. But it'd be definitely interesting to checkout before committing to a brew.

 

[slcmorro]

One of our producers here in tas do a few and they are quite delicious

Spreyton Cider... *drool*

Dry hopped a dry green apple cider with Topaz. It was to die for!

 

[AJ80]

Just trying my first attempt at a dry hopped cider. For anyone considering this, just do it. It is fantastic - I went with a very simple hard cider base and dry hopped at 4g/L with Amarillo for 6 days. The hops have provided/enhanced a subtle "appley" sweetness I've never noticed before in a hard cider. There's also a really pleasant mild bitterness at the end of the palate that is complementing the cider quite well. This is an awesome summertime quencher.

My only regret - making a 4 litre test batch.

 

[TimT]

AJ, cool!

How'd you make the cider - can kit, apple juice from the stores, crushed the apples yourself?

Did you let it age?

 

[AJ80]

AJ, cool!

How'd you make the cider - can kit, apple juice from the stores, crushed the apples yourself?

Did you let it age?

Just some shelf juice from the supermarket. That's the other funny thing - first taste was only a week in the bottle. Normally my hard ciders need a solid 6 weeks or so to hit their straps. I'm guessing, like anything hoppy, the floral nature of the cider will fade with time. Not that this will last that long...

Well worth giving it a crack.

 

[TimT]

I don't carbonate my ciders - I like them to be wine-like, generally - so maybe there's something to be said for racking a cider off on some hops and letting it age for a long period of time. Maybe in a barrel.

 

[AJ80]

Would be worth trying. Oaked cider could be quite interesting.

 

[stompnground]

this year me and a mate stepped it up from last year and did 300litres of fresh crushed cider- 80% apple 20%pear. It has reached FG and is in the cool room and I am thinking about racking half of it off into secondary with some Topaz to add some extra dazzle.. maybe if we can get our hands on an oak barrel it might be nice too. maybe an old Chardonnay cask would be nice... anyone have any other ideas on what we can do? cheers!