Hard Cider

Wondering who else has a taste for the cider. Just beginning myself, but finding a pint of a certain domestic Scrumpy rather nice, and just tried William’s Perry(if I got the name right), tasty!

My favourite alcoholic drink. I have been going to Cornwall since I was a boy and I love the various scrumpys. I went to Callestock farm where they make ‘legless but smiling’ and was surprised how simple the manufacturing process was. Normandy and Breton cider is wonderful stuff and despite my patriotism probably the best in my view. Perry, made with pears of course, is a bit too sweet for me.

I like cider too, but is more like seasonal and occasional drink for me and I like dry apple variations. As @snuffster said, Normandy and Breton ciders are probably the best but scrumpys are really good too.

 

The English ciders are very very good, and of course there are standout examples. The ciders have been on my list of to do’s, and I have begun making some of my own now. A batch of Juice based cider was used to see if a bottle conditioned cider could be attenuated with heat. Much to my surprise it can be heated to 150 degrees without exploding. This will allow me to control just how dry it can get. I am fortunate to be able to get large quantities of fresh pressed locally from the groves. Now for a nice cezanne yeast batch.

Am I right in saying Cider in the US is usually non-alcoholic?

Sheppy’s Kingston Black… mmmmmmmmm!

You can get Hard cider is avalible in the states, but most cider sold here is fresh or bottled and non-alcoholic.

edm

Ah, I get it; ‘hard cider’ is not a term used over here.

Chucklehead Dry Cider, bought by the gallon at Lambeth Country Fair, Brixton London. First rate, and I see they have a web shop. http://www.chuckleheadcider.co.uk/home.htm. Highly recommended.

@Snuffster I was in my late teens before I learned that there even was an alcoholic cider, and it just sounded strange. In most cases in the US, it’s nothing more than spiced unfiltered applejuice.

@Snuffster we don’t have a large selection of hard cider over here; we’re teeming with cider, but a good hard cider is hard to come by.

In the US we refer to Hard Cider as containing alcohol. There are several good ciders available from the US, and the English ciders are well represented. My favorite US cider is Crispen, and they make quite a few artisan ciders too. I recently have begun to sample as wide a range as possible in order to replicate a favorite.

I don’t know what you can obtain over the pond, but some decent entry level ones are Merrydown, Aspall and Strongbow silver - these are just supermarket ones but pretty good. Traditional Cornish scrumpies: Legless but smiling - and the last time I was at the Callestock farm they were exporting, they also make some beautiful limited addition ones and also a calvados type spirit. When I was there a couple of years ago, they had just got a gorgeous old copper still working. Cripplecock is another genuine one that is very good.

When I went on the above tour, they told me that the old farmers would chuck a dead rat in the brew to add nitrogen - I think that was a good few years ago. The very best I ever had was when I was driving down a country lane in Cornwall and saw a sign; ‘Farm cider available’, went in and the farmers wife was brewing it for the family and any passing trade, that stuff was the real deal.

woodchuck that’s all I’ve seen here. Though if you get the amish not hard cider and let it ferment that shit is good.

It’s cool to hear about what you all can find and try! Locally one can find Woodchuck, Crispin, Hardcore, Fox Barrel, JK’s and at least a couple more. The only scrumpy I’ve had is from JK- but it is so good, just kind of expensive. I’m wondering, what’s the name of that well known British mixed drink made with scrumpy, and what are the other ingredients?

I recall my late grandfather making his own, he was a farmer in my home county of Somerset. It is said cider flows through our veins!

To clarify a bit perhaps, I don’t know if you in GB have the term “soft-drinks”? Here it’s a blanket term for non-alcoholic beverages, but it usually refers to soda or iced tea perhaps sometimes to fizzy mineral water, not so much to hot tea, coffee, or water. Hard usually refers to a drink that most commonly doesn’t contain alcohol, but does in it’s particular case. We have a somewhat popular product “Mike’s Hard Lemonade”, essentially lemonade spiked with some kind of colorless distilled spirit. Maybe it’s not so different on your side of the pond, I don’t know.

never had it.

I consider myself lucky not to have a drinking problems. Which is kind of wierd because there are other things with which I find moderation difficult, including food and sometimes even sleep. If you can drink without negative consequences I say more power to you. There are other things in life with which you may be better off, but this isn’t the place to discuss all of that. I’ll just wish for folks to find a little corner of happiness in thier day.