I'll post a tasting of the plain version soon, but I wanted to get to the half I dry hopped while it was still fresh. The idea of dry hopping a cider was borrowed from Citizen The Full Nelson (with Nelson Sauvin) and Millstone Hopvine (with Cascade). While both are delicious, I selected Galaxy for it's tropical fruity aromatics. I wanted the dry hopping to compliment the apples, without completely dominating.
Galaxy Funky Cider
Appearance – Dull yellow, slight haze. The head forms nicely, but despite the hops there simply aren’t enough proteins for it to hold for more than a few seconds. Looks like an authentic farmhouse cider to me.Smell – Apple peel and slightly tropical. Doesn’t smell of hops specifically. There is a distant earthy-dirty funk. The hops take off the edge, brighten it up, without turning it into an India Pale Cider.
Taste – Dry, dusty, and tart Granny Smith apples. The bugs give the drinking cider depth. The finish does introduce resinous hoppiness. Still fresh thanks to the hops, but with a mature backbone.
Mouthfeel – Thin, quenching. Carbonation is slightly lower than it could be, ciders often benefits from some lift.
Drinkability & Notes – If you’re looking for the hop-lover’s cider, this isn’t it. The Galaxy dry hop is more a twist than a star. Happy with the way it turned out, a pleasant blend of apples, wild yeast, and cider.
Funky Cider 2013
Recipe Specifics
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Batch Size (Gal): 5.00
Anticipated OG: 1.048
Anticipated IBU: 0.0
Fermentables
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5 gallons Apple Cider
Extras
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2.50 tsp Pectic Enzyme
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient
Yeast
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Red Star Pasteur Champagne Yeast
Bootleg Biology "Colorado Springs" Isolates
Notes
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Brewed 10/6/13
Fermenting with Champagne yeast, and two "Colorado Springs" isolates from Bootleg Biology. Likely: Backyard Garden Berries BB80907A and BB80907B.
1/26/15 Bottled 2 gallons with 47 g of table sugar with a splash of rehydrated Pasteur Champagne yeast. Racked the other 3 gallons onto 2 oz of Galaxy hops in a CO2 purged 3 gallon carboy.
2/15/15 Bottled the 3 gallons of dry hopped wit 2.5 oz of table sugar and a splash of ECY Dirty Dozen.
Looks great!
ReplyDeleteWhat is it sitting under?
It's a slide enlarger, always looking for props.
ReplyDeleteCool idea, Mike. I'm curious where you get your cider. After trying some of Millstone's recently, I'm inspired to try fermenting one sometime in the future.
ReplyDeleteI have 5 gallons of unpasteurized local cider with about six pounds of honey fermenting with a vial of Yeast Bay Melange right now. It's going on a month so a long way to go yet. I routinely use cider from the same orchard to make some nice spontaneous ciders I cold ferment in the fridge in the mid 30's. Never get any funk out of them, just dry, dry, dry if they're allowed to go that far. I've never used any additives other than honey, or apple juice concentrate and it's always fallen completely clear. I've wondered about this blend souring and if it doesn't that's ok, I'm mostly looking for some funk in this... I've kept it in our kitchen while it's been colder outside with the batch running right around 68°F. As spring sets in I expect that to rise into the 70's. Any further thoughts, comments, or suggestions are always welcomed!
ReplyDeleteMy OG was 1.086 BTW...
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate enough to try this. Delicious! Thanks for sharing Mike.
ReplyDeleteUnknown is me John BTW.
ReplyDeleteThe wild yeast isolates. are these brettanomyces? What would my best source of getting something close to them be?
ReplyDeleteGenetic testing hasn't been done on those strains, so unclear if they are Brett, wild Sacch, or some other yeast. You can capture your own local wild yeast, contact Bootleg Biology and buy/swap some from them, or pitch the Brett of your choice. If you go that direction, I'd opt for a mild strain, maybe a Brett anomalus/claussenii.
ReplyDeleteWhat types of apples go into it? I often see no info on the main ingredient when looking at American ciders. Are there any bittersweet or bittersharp apples in the blend? Any noticeable dryness or tannins?
ReplyDeleteThis started as generic "drinking" cider from a local farm. One of these falls I'll make it to one of the places that presses actual cider apples, but that hasn't happened yet. It's certainly a dry cider, but not much in the way of tannins. I'd feel bad doing something this weird to really nice apples!
ReplyDeleteI have had some good success using even a pound or so of DME in a 5-gallon batch of cider when I want to amp up the funky flavor. It gives the bugs something to work on. And a few years back I finally sprung for a cider press, and now scavenge back yards and the railroad tracks for a mix of apples to press my own. Even a few crabapples add some nice complexity to a cider blend.
ReplyDeleteHave you looked into making a funky malted cider? I feel like the malts would give something for the Brett to chew on & encourage head retention.
ReplyDeleteSome hot-mashed wort would certainly provide complex carbohydrates for the Brett and bacteria (maltodextrin would work too)! I haven't tried it, but let me know if you do!
ReplyDelete