maybe a silly question but.....

Something that has been bugging me since I started home brewing.
What is the difference between hard cider and wine.

This may seem a silly question at first glance but the process to make either seems more or less the same for cider and apple wine, and also cider also seems to be made from other fruits also, not just apples so that got me thinking, what is the difference?

I have had a look on the net but cant seem to find any definate answers.

Cheers.

from what i know, hard cider involves distilling the cider. Apple Jack is a example of this

Nah, cider doesn't need to be distilled.

I don't know the answer. I asked resident apple-wine expert EdWort, his answer was that ciders tend to be a little sweeter. I suspect the difference lies mostly in yeast (Ed's apfelwein uses a wine yeast).

Cider is made from apples, perry is made from pears and there are various combinations and adjuncts, but they all tend to be around 5-7% ABV.

If the main ingredient is grapes or the ABV is pushed to 12-15%, people call it wine. I have some hop wine in the cabinet: 3 oz. of hops, raisins & cane sugar, ABV ~15%.

If you push the ABV on cider to 15% using concentrates or sugar, you'd call it apple wine. If you made hard cider & concentrated it by freezing, it's applejack.

There are precise definitions of everything, I don't worry too much. http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/ is one source, but it's mainly used for contests.

david_42 said:

Cider is made from apples, perry is made from pears and there are various combinations and adjuncts, but they all tend to be around 5-7% ABV.

If the main ingredient is grapes or the ABV is pushed to 12-15%, people call it wine. I have some hop wine in the cabinet: 3 oz. of hops, raisins & cane sugar, ABV ~15%.

If you push the ABV on cider to 15% using concentrates or sugar, you'd call it apple wine. If you made hard cider & concentrated it by freezing, it's applejack.

There are precise definitions of everything, I don't worry too much.

Click to expand...

Spot on post from david_42 for a homebrewers reality check!
(Plus he got the Hop Wine recipe from me..... mine is clearing slowly and tastes surprising good!)

Not to completely hijack this thread, well, okay, i want to hijack it...
whats your recipe for hop wine?
this is the only info i've seen for one before: http://www.honeycreek.us/wine86.html
is it bitter? sweet? is it more hop aroma?
i wouldn't mind giving this a go.

cheers folks, I suspected it might be something as simple as the alcohol strength but wasn't sure.

colonel_colon said:

Not to completely hijack this thread, well, okay, i want to hijack it...
whats your recipe for hop wine?
this is the only info i've seen for one before: http://www.honeycreek.us/wine86.html
is it bitter? sweet? is it more hop aroma?
i wouldn't mind giving this a go.

Click to expand...

This is my version or this try this for david_42's version after he saw my effort. It's a 'leftover beer ingredient wine' (apart from the white sugar of course! ) that should be done on a 1 gallon basis really. Mine's dry with a nice, almost subtle bitterness (i.e. not over the top) and a little body from the raisins. I'll be aging mine for another year at least to mature it fully.