Cider is a bit too sweet for some people, or they find the flavor profile unsophisticated for their refined tastes. You can convert these types with a dry-hopped cider—just a bit of well-balanced bitterness adds complexity and balance to the tart apple notes.
Play around with the hops and yeast options to make this recipe your own. You’ll get great results if you stick to varieties of hops with strong notes of citrus and fruity aromas, such as Cascade, Simcoe, Lemondrop or Mosaic. I chose a Belgian yeast for this recipe because the bold character supports the hoppy bitterness by boosting the fruit esters.
FOR THE CIDER
1 gal (3.8 L) apple juice, divided
1 cup (200 g) packed brown sugar
1 tsp (2.5 g) Belgian yeast
FOR RACKING
3 g Cascade hops pellets
1. Gather your ingredients and sanitize your supplies. For this recipe, you’ll need a 2-cup (480-ml) liquid measuring cup, a funnel, a gallon (3.8-L) carboy, a racking cane and a bung and airlock.
2. For the cider, pour 2 cups (480 ml) of the apple juice into the measuring cup and set it aside.
3. Add the sugar to the apple juice container. Close the container and shake it until all of the brown sugar has completely dissolved.
4. Open the container and pitch the yeast directly into the apple juice container. Close it and shake it again to aerate the must and wake up the yeast.
5. Using the funnel, pour the must from the container into the carboy. If needed, add the reserved 2 cups (480 ml) apple juice so the must reaches the neck of the jug.
6. Seal it off with the bung and airlock. Label the jug with the brew name and date and let it ferment for 2 weeks.
7. Rack the cider into the carboy and add the hops pellets. Seal the jug with the bung and airlock.
8. Leave the hops in the brew for anywhere from 3 to 7 days, occasionally pulling a taste with a sanitized wine thief to see how the cider is progressing. Remember that every time you open the jug to taste it, you chance contamination, so do so sparingly. When you taste as much citrus and fruit from the hops as you like, bottle the brew. Dry-Hopped Cider gets more rave reviews when it is carbonated in the bottle, rather than bottled still.
TIP: Save yourself a mess by using a sanitized straining bag for the hops pellets.