Dry hopping cider

[chefse...@gmail.com]

Hi Everyone,

I am wondering if anyone has experience with using hops to dry hop a cider post ferment.

I heard they are very popular in America and so I did one last year, and it was very well received by all. I think it occupies a neat space for transitioning beer drinkers who want to try a cider but are not really used to the flavours yet.

The problem was I had trouble with the cider re-fermenting after the addition of Hops.

The cider was pasteurised and back sweetened with 20% fresh juice, so there was plenty of sugar for yeast to work with, and I am assuming there was wild yeast on the Hops which caused the problem.

I am using Hop pellets by the way, rather than whole Hops.

So I am wondering if anyone can recommend a solution for this year. I have prepared a pasteurised cider, again back sweetened with 20% juice, and I would now like to Hop it before bottling.

Does anyone have a best practice for treating the Hops before addition to neutralise any wild yeast?

 I have tried boiling the Hops but it becomes very bitter, and loses the aromatic quality which makes the flavour profile so appealing. I have also tried adding the Hops pre-pasteurisation but again seemed to lose the aromatic quality of the Hops

I am wondering if I could 'nuke' it by soaking in Pot Met solution and then rinsing thoroughly before use?

[jitd...@aol.com]

Beer is beer and cider is cider and never the twain should meet! Oh what a horrible thought! I don't think I shall be able to sleep for the nightmares.
I was not aware that the "cousins" used much in the way of hops in their beer anyway, having only ever been treated to horrible concoctions that seemed to be based on corn syrup.
I don't mean to sound illiberal but I think there is altogether too much "transitioning" going on in society as a whole.
Jit

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[Chris Schmidt]

Ah, but hopped cider is truly a wonderful flavour. Yes, its very popular in N.A. and there are some really great hopped ciders out there.

Our practice is to dry hop with about 3oz per 20L of cider. Use whole or pellet hops, it won’t make a huge difference as you’re going to be hopping to your personal preference anyway. Get a big tea bag, put your hops in it, and let it soak for about a week. Once its tasty, add your back sweetening juice/product, then you will have to pasteurize. Don’t exceed 65C, watch your PU’s, check your pH too. Hops and pH around 3.6 is where we find the best combo.

It’s really that simple, and we make about 8000L a year in small batches using that method and it works very well. 

Have fun with it!! Try a single hop or multiple hops too 

Chris Schmidt

Tod Creek Craft Cider

273 Prospect Lake Rd, Victoria

Visit our tasting room: Wed to Sat, 10am - 4pm

250-882-1061

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[chefse...@gmail.com]

Hi Chris

Yes I agree with you, hopped cider does have a fantastic aromatic flavour. Never be scared of trying new things I reckon!

Thanks very much for your advice, in future I will pasteurise post hopping not pre hopping as I have done this time.

Seeing I have already pasteurised this batch, I will make a small concentrated hopped batch, pasteurise it and then add it to the bigger batch. Should work I think?

Love your Cidery too by the way, have followed you online for a while now. Very similar to the size and set up of our Cidery here is Australia. You guys are a way ahead of us though, we are just beginning to produce commercial quantities next year. Its quite inspirational to see your website and think we might get something similar going at some stage! We are in Victoria too by the way :)

[Martin campling]

Hi,

While I haven’t tried putting hops in cider, I have used dry-hopping in beer. My main issue is that not all hops are equal. You really will have to be very careful in your choice of hops. I used to manage a home brew shop and have tasted many experimental dry-hopped beers, including a few of my own concoctions. Some hops can be very harsh, even if they are described as “aromatic”. They can ruin a beer and, I suppose, a cider as well.

Personally, I choose to get my aroma from aromatic apples.

Cheers,

  Martin

[William Grote]

I had some excellent results dry hopping with Citra ( dried cones, not pellets )  I dry hop just before bottling by putting 14g  (for a 5 gallon batch) into a fine mesh hop bag and put that into the keg for just a few days, PLENTY of apricot and grapefruit aromas come through-  Im not a huge fan of making hop soda, so I tend to go on the light side, other's would likely use more - perhaps up to an ounce for 5 gallons -

The 7-8% alcohol in the fully finished cider should be enough to take care of any bugs in the hops, I did not have any issues..

[Matt Cavers]

I’ve been commercially producing a dry-hopped cider here at Persephone Brewing Company in Gibsons, BC, since early 2016. My practice has been to transfer cider (once it drops clear) into a conditioning tank, which I’ll prepare by tying muslin bags filled with hop pellets to the carbonation stone. This keeps most of the dust and slurry contained. I allow the cider to steep cold on the hop pellets for ~10 days before transferring to kegs. During this period I also back-sweeten and carbonate the cider.

I’m using 150 g Citra pellets per hL of cider. I’d agree that not all hops are the same. Pick one with a high oil content and a bright, juicy aroma, lest you end up making your cider taste grassy and bitter. Try some of the flashier new varieties - Citra, yes, but also Mosaic, Simcoe, Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy!

I’ve certainly had cider purists tell me that dry hopping cider is an “abomination” etc. and haven’t lost any sleep over it. They weren’t going to buy my cider anyway. On the other hand, I quite enjoy a good dry-hopped cider and our customers seem to agree. What it is is an adaptation. In western Canada we have very limited access to traditional cider fruit, and as a result must make cider with dessert and cooking apples. Why not occasionally add herbs, spices, etc. that bring new dimensions to the cider? Really, why not? Best of luck!

[Matt Cavers]

Right - sorry - I just reread your original post and realized I didn’t quite answer your question. I wouldn’t advise attempting to sanitize or sterilize your hops before adding them to cider. Heating them or rinsing them in any way risks removing some of the wonderful aromatic oils you’re trying to add to the cider. On the other hand, you could do as Chris suggests and hold off adding your back sweetening juice until after the hop infusion period and then bottling and pasteurizing right away.

Or, if you have the ability, you can dry hop and back sweeten at a cold temperature, which is what I do. Refermentation shouldn’t take place at 1-3° C. Good luck!

[jitd...@aol.com]

Aha Mr. Cavers! You have given the game away.
Your attachment to the Persephone Brewing Company indicates that you, sir; far from being one of us rustic bumpkins idly waiting for his surplus and inedible apples to be transformed by the natural processes of degradation into a potation more properly fit for the removal of refractory varnish from ships' decking, are a true gentleman, scholar, philanthropist, and public benefactor - a brewer of fine ales, stout and porter no less. I rise, brushing clods from my buskins and shaking straw from my hair, to salute you as a wise and learned practitioner of the alchemical transformation of these base materials into the golden elixir.
Why waste the magic of hops on fruit the swine have disdained when malted barley and wheat await their application?
But what is this talk of "pellets", "back-sweetening", and "carbonation"? Please, I beg you, assure us you do not stoop to using maize as a basis for your ale and forswear the infiltration of corn syrup into your fermentations.
Jit

-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Cavers <matthew...@gmail.com>
To: Cider Workshop <cider-w...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wed, 6 Dec 2017 18:48
Subject: [Cider Workshop] Dry hopping cider

[Matt Cavers]

I wish I could give you such assurances, Jit, but alas, the price of corn syrup has fallen so far recently that we are now considering using it in place of water for our mash liquor. We've already "transitioned," as you say, to using it as a CIP cleaner and no-rinse sanitizer. As for flaked maize, my brewery colleagues and I pride ourselves on never letting it account for more than 75% of the grist in any of our premium lagers. In our value lager, you understand, it's another story. And as for the cider, 100% of the juice included in it is pure juice, and only the very best at that. We've had great results with Bramley - hides that dextrose flavour wonderfully!

The cousins and I send our best wishes.