Cider XX

Citra Hopped Cider

Batch Size: 7.5 Litres / 13 Pints
Yeast: Mangrove Jacks New Cider Yeast

Black Tea bags for tannin: 2 bags in 1.5 Litres
Apple Juice: 6 Litres
Citra Hop Pellets: (~1.333 grams / Litre) / 10 grams
Fermentation Pressure: 10 psi
Fermenter Starting Temperature: 23
Fermentation Start: 25/06/2026
Total Fermentation Days: 11.9
Dry Hopped: 07/07/2026
Cold-crashed: 07/07/2026
Kegged: 12/07/2026
Tapped: 07/08/2026
Estimated ABV: 5.4%
All Gone: 12/08/2026

I tapped this today and tried it. I should have given it a couple of days to settle after moving it from the Conditioning Cellar to the Serving Cellar but curiosity got the better of me. It’s quite interesting, it has all the normal characteristics of my home made cider, but the Citra hops really bring out some fruitiness. After a second tasting, I think it is perhaps a little thin. I reduced the strength of the of the black tea I added to this one, two tea bags rather than four. I didn’t want the tannin to compete with the Citra hops. In hindsight, four would have been fine. I will be making this again.

I revisited this today (9th August). I experimented with adding a little apple juice to lift the flavour and sweeten it. By adding 1 part Cloudy Apple Juice to 5 parts Citra Cider it is completely transformed. I just did the maths and worked out this blend changed the ABV from 5.4% to 4.5%

The blended cider got the thumbs up from several people when they tried it. I need to make this again. Maybe a larger batch.