I've made many ciders, they are at there best a year after making, might be a late malic fermentation, but they improve with age. I've had some place in best of show against meads (cider and mead best of show ) and the ones that place are always 9 months to a year old.
Commercial Hard Ciders
- Thread starter capoeirista13
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Well I'd guess that that's a "big boys" cider;D. Personally I'd rather give their calvados a try, though I'd have thought that their cider is probably good stuff - certainly it would have the "normandy heritage" behind both the spirits and the cider.......
regards
fatbloke
except that most of them don't do that anymore, because it's too unpredictable, when it comes to taste/quality/consistency........
hence with most made like that, it's the same as a lot of the artisnal made ciders from the original cider making regions, they can't make them of a consistent quality/quantity to make them a viable export.....
That is fascinating reading Aaron - thanks. I find it hard to imagine that process could be used for a commercial product in the U.S. due to the liability associated with "potgun" cider. I'd think they must be doing something else.
Mad scientist idea: is it possible to brinig the EtOH content up to just below the level that comatoses the yeasts, then bottle it so that there is enough sugar in the must to make the cider effervescent with residual sugar before the yeast poop out, but not make bottle bombs? It would take really good math and predictable yeast, but in theory I think it's possible.
It is definitely possible, though it requires that you get very familiar with the recipe and yeast in question. But even then, all you need is one over-eager batch and then POP! 
Never trust a fungus!
Never trust a fungus!
But fungi are our friends
;DBTW, I had a bottle of JK's Scrumpy the other night and it was delicious.
It is definitely possible, though it requires that you get very familiar with the recipe and yeast in question. But even then, all you need is one over-eager batch and then POP!
Never trust a fungus!
Eh, that sounds advanced and risky. Maybe I'll try it down the road when I have more experience. That could be an interesting brewlog, to run a high gravity cyser batch several times to graph the points and find the average of where a particular yeast strain stops fermenting, being sure to measure out ingredients with enough significant figures to dial in the exact SG/Brix for bottling time from a specific OG. I really need to suck it up and get that refractometer I've been eyeing. Right tool for the job.
I tried a bottle of Blackthorn cider (imported from the UK) and that abouts sums it up - UcK. It really wasn't terrible, but it is nothing like J.K's. It is dry, and that wouldn't bother me, but it is very thin, the carbonation is almost too little, and the apple flavor is weak.
Wikipedia on Blackthorn may have the answer why.
Wikipedia on Blackthorn may have the answer why.
I've had Ace (when I used to drink) and it was not my favorite. I liked Wyder's, though I was a college student and anything sweet/alcoholic tasted pretty good back then.
I've actually never had a commercial cider before, so this is slightly off topic, but I think this story is worth sharing anyways.
I was at a friend's house one night sharing some drinks when he insisted that I try the Bell's Oberon clone that another friend of ours had made. I had tried one of this second friends porters before and it was excellent so naturally I was excited to try this beer. Well, I took a sip and I nearly spit it out all over the table. It tasted as if it had gone bad. Until I swallowed it and realized it was actually quite good, but definitely not an Oberon clone or any beer at all. My amazing powers of deduction then led me to the conclusion that since this guy makes beer, wine, and cider and that it was definitely not beer or wine, it must be cider. Also the taste of apples may have helped a bit. ;D As it turns out, the homebrewing friend labels his beers with a date, and had given a bunch to my other friend months before and told him what they were, but he had forgotten since, and just guessed what was in that last bottle.
I was at a friend's house one night sharing some drinks when he insisted that I try the Bell's Oberon clone that another friend of ours had made. I had tried one of this second friends porters before and it was excellent so naturally I was excited to try this beer. Well, I took a sip and I nearly spit it out all over the table. It tasted as if it had gone bad. Until I swallowed it and realized it was actually quite good, but definitely not an Oberon clone or any beer at all. My amazing powers of deduction then led me to the conclusion that since this guy makes beer, wine, and cider and that it was definitely not beer or wine, it must be cider. Also the taste of apples may have helped a bit. ;D As it turns out, the homebrewing friend labels his beers with a date, and had given a bunch to my other friend months before and told him what they were, but he had forgotten since, and just guessed what was in that last bottle.
JK's Scrumpy
Thanks to those who recommended JK's Scrumpy. I found the organic variety on sale at Whole Foods today - by far the best Cider I have had in the US!
Nicholas
Thanks to those who recommended JK's Scrumpy. I found the organic variety on sale at Whole Foods today - by far the best Cider I have had in the US!
Nicholas
I'm sitting down with a bottle of Fox Barrel Cider right now. It is dry, crisp, and refreshing, but I probably couldn't distinguish it from ACE cider if compared blind. It is quite comparable, but certainly not like J.K.'s
In case anyone is wondering how I got on this cider kick, I was in the Total Wines and More superstore looking for something else when I saw they had several ciders on the wall of beer from which you can build your own 6-pack. So I picked up a 6-pack of different ciders to taste for palate education. So far, what I've learned is I like J.K.'s.
In case anyone is wondering how I got on this cider kick, I was in the Total Wines and More superstore looking for something else when I saw they had several ciders on the wall of beer from which you can build your own 6-pack. So I picked up a 6-pack of different ciders to taste for palate education. So far, what I've learned is I like J.K.'s.
I tried fox barrel recently and wasn't impressed. Although I really wanna try this JK scrumpy's now. I've heard nothing bad about them.
JK Scrumpy's is good, err, ahh, scrumpy. FWIW, scrumpy is the name given to raw, unfiltered cider in the UK. Generally it has loads of bits of fruit and yeast still in it, and often it is fermented with nothing added (i.e. no adjunct sugars to boost the ABV and with the wild yeasts on the apple skins). It certainly doesn't look appetizing to the average North American (accustomed as we are to even having our fresh apple juice filtered until it is a shiny bright yellow), BUT it is generally a more flavorful alternative to the clear, albeit thin, typical commercial hard ciders.
Today's cider tasting was Hornsby's Amber Draft dry cider, a product of E & J Gallo. It is just as mediocre as Fox Barrel and ACE, though slightly sweeter.
I've tried amber draft as well. There was something about it that was very offputting to me. For some reason it reminded me of a really harsh vodka. I do however, LOVE their green apple variety.
