Commercial Hard Ciders

[WilliamSlayer]

They carry AO in Outback steakhouse now. Not my first choice, but better than nothing. Glad to see cider creeping into prominence.

 

[GuldTuborg]

and in this case I think they named their cider "Honey Crisp" without any real Honey Crisp apple in it. They have used honey in the process rather than sugar. It was a cloudy cider and labeled as such.

Per their website, this is correct. They add honey, but no Honey Crisp apples. Considering the price HC apples demand, this seems to me like a rather underhanded marketing gimmick.

 

[blakelyc]

Per their website, this is correct. They add honey, but no Honey Crisp apples. Considering the price HC apples demand, this seems to me like a rather underhanded marketing gimmick.

That is mightily underhanded! I picked up a quart of actual honey crisp apple cider at whole foods this weekend just to try it. I love those apples, but it don't think I would make a cider from them (or that juice, at least). I also have. I idea what other apples I would put it with. It was quite unique.

 

[tomb1]

Per their website, this is correct. They add honey, but no Honey Crisp apples. Considering the price HC apples demand, this seems to me like a rather underhanded marketing gimmick.

I agree. My earlier response did not take into account marketing b.s.

 

[Descender]

Angry Orchard Apple Ginger: this stuff is the closest thing to martinellis I've ever had. Sweet, with a slightly bitter finish. I don't taste any ginger at all. Only 5% abv, so not something I would try to catch a buzz off of.

 

[alaskatammy]

Wow! I wonder if I'm outta my league here. I guess I like what I like! I like the commercial stuff (well, some of it). My tastes are evolving though. I'm hoping to be able to make some palatable stuff. I've been working my way through the liquor store coolers with ciders. I like the Woodchuck! Also like the Crispin Artisans- tried the honey & the saint. Also, like Angry Orchard. I bought a big bottle of the Icehouse/Iceman high abv stuff & I liked it. Helluva buzz too! I also bought Farmhouse Select (by the Woodcheck folks I think)- blech! Dry & not appley. I had to add a bit of apple juice to drink it.

My faves- are tha Canadian makers- Growers Brand (if you go for that pop taste- yummy!!!- love the pom) and I love the Okanagan. Anyone tried these? Higher abv, than what I find on my stateside shelves. And, personally, I want that. If I wanted apple juice- that's what I'd drink.

Now, how to copy that. Can the calculators be used backwards by entering the gravity & abv to help come up with a recipe?

 

[jamrs90]

All you'd be able to get is a number to shoot for as an original gravity for a recipe. You wouldn't be able to get specific ingredients.

 

[mikeysab]

Most commercial varieties of cider are a disappointment. The honey crisp from crispin is good as is Farnum Hill and Strongbow. Magners is fine, but slightly sweeter than I care for. After trying Fox Barrel perry, I prefer it to commercial ciders. But nothing beats a homebrew cider. Juice, sugar and 3711 yeast. Dried out and delicious. For an occasional treat, I put a gallon on bourbon soaked oak. That doesn't last long at all.

 

[Descender]

After trying the last of the sixer of the angry orchard apple ginger, it has more apple taste than I picked up on originally. I still don't taste ginger though...

 

[ericbw]

Wow! I wonder if I'm outta my league here. I guess I like what I like! I like the commercial stuff (well, some of it). My tastes are evolving though. I'm hoping to be able to make some palatable stuff. I've been working my way through the liquor store coolers with ciders. I like the Woodchuck! Also like the Crispin Artisans- tried the honey & the saint. Also, like Angry Orchard. I bought a big bottle of the Icehouse/Iceman high abv stuff & I liked it. Helluva buzz too! I also bought Farmhouse Select (by the Woodcheck folks I think)- blech! Dry & not appley. I had to add a bit of apple juice to drink it.

My faves- are tha Canadian makers- Growers Brand (if you go for that pop taste- yummy!!!- love the pom) and I love the Okanagan. Anyone tried these? Higher abv, than what I find on my stateside shelves. And, personally, I want that. If I wanted apple juice- that's what I'd drink.

Now, how to copy that. Can the calculators be used backwards by entering the gravity & abv to help come up with a recipe?

To copy that, you're going to have to ferment it dry, then sweeten with more cider or juide; bottle carb and pasteurize it when it's carbonated (probably within days). There are lots of instructions on here for that, but follow the instructions or you'll get explosions. The easier (expensive) alternative is kegging.

Sweet, carbonated cider is hard to do.

 

[MindenMan]

I will plead ignorance on Commercial Ciders. I've had a couple, and they were not a shining example of what I would make for myself. I am currently drinking a cider I made in May or June. It is very smooth, and a touch too dry for me. One drop of liquid Splenda really rounds it out, w/o making a Mentos/Diet Coke style gusher. I pasteurized them in my dishwasher, when my sample plastic bottle was firm to the touch. I had one blowout, and I still hear what sounds like tiny glass chards running around in the bottom of the dishwasher. If I had a wet vac, I would vacuum it out. My point is, I thought there was enough "extra" sugar to come out a bit sweeter. I will border on sweet next batch, and see if I can get the carbonation and sweetness bith at the levels I want.

 

[chevalcider]

I have recently sampled a few more commercial ciders. To date I have had Weston's Wylde Wood Organic Pear...it was good. Dry with a definite pear flavour to it. Next up was Crispin Artisinal Reserve Honey Crisp. I already mentioned on a previous post. Not a fan. After that came a Woodchuck pear flavoured number. My wife liked it. I thought it was more of a watery pear/apple pop! Next came a Strongbow. Won't spend my money on that again! This past week I drank an Angry Orchard Traditional Dry. I liked it. It has a bite to it. I thought a mix of sour and bitter which left a pleasant after taste. My question about the Traditional Dry is this...is it REALLY dry? I thought it still had a bit of a sweet taste to it.

 

[oljimmy]

Hey Cheval, in my experience, very few so-called "dry" ciders in the American market are actually dry. Dryness is defined by the relevant authorities as below 1.002 FG, and that is an extremely rare find. I bet Angry Orchard's dry is over 1.012 ,which will qualify it as "sweet", rather than dry.

I have also learned that many of the apparently "artisinal" cider producers are owned and operated by huge multinational beer companies, like Anhauser-Busch InBev, who bought them up early on and are attempting to make money from the "craft" market. Thus, Woodchuck is owned by Irish giants C&C, MillerCoors owns Crispin, and the Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) owns Angry Orchard. Something to bear in mind when sampling these "craft" or "artisinal" ciders... when huge corporations take over, the productions methods can go south (i.e. weird additives, sugars, calling things "honey crisp" when there are no honesycrisp apples in the cider...).

 

[Descender]

Had Crispin Honey Crisp today. Split a 22 oz bottle with our bartender. Too sweet for my taste. Strong apple flavor, couldn't taste the honey. I would say its good, but I wouldn't be able to catch a buzz off this without a stomach ache.

 

[pauldliny]

We've had Stella Artois Cidre. Really like this one, crisp and not too sweet with a decent apple taste. Very expensive at 7.99 for 4 bottles though.

 

[EpicCider]

Had Crispin Honey Crisp today. Split a 22 oz bottle with our bartender. Too sweet for my taste. Strong apple flavor, couldn't taste the honey. I would say its good, but I wouldn't be able to catch a buzz off this without a stomach ache.

I actually had this as well. For a main-stream sweet cider, I thought it was actually very good. Although I think they are a little mis-leading on how they prepare the cider.

It sounds like they take a hard cider base and then basically add apple essence to it. I'm not really sure it's as organic/nautral/etc. as the label implies.

All that said, I agree that with cider like that.. it's simply too sweet to have enough to get a buzz going. I would have to pound a lot of water to avoid feeling miserable if I had more than maybe 2 of these.

 

[schwiz]

I like the crispin british pub style cider. Also, Thatcher's Green Goblin is out of this world! By far my favorite commercial cider so far. Also Fox in Barrel Perry is really good too.

 

[Subsailor]

Wow! I wonder if I'm outta my league here. I guess I like what I like! I like the commercial stuff (well, some of it). My tastes are evolving though. I'm hoping to be able to make some palatable stuff. I've been working my way through the liquor store coolers with ciders. I like the Woodchuck! Also like the Crispin Artisans- tried the honey & the saint. Also, like Angry Orchard. I bought a big bottle of the Icehouse/Iceman high abv stuff & I liked it. Helluva buzz too! I also bought Farmhouse Select (by the Woodcheck folks I think)- blech! Dry & not appley. I had to add a bit of apple juice to drink it.

My faves- are tha Canadian makers- Growers Brand (if you go for that pop taste- yummy!!!- love the pom) and I love the Okanagan. Anyone tried these? Higher abv, than what I find on my stateside shelves. And, personally, I want that. If I wanted apple juice- that's what I'd drink.

Now, how to copy that. Can the calculators be used backwards by entering the gravity & abv to help come up with a recipe?

My Wife loves the Angry Orchard offerings and we both enjoy Okanagan. We were sitting around the fire pit last weekend drinking some of these: J. K.'s Hard Cider



I thought they were pretty good, not too sweet and I enjoyed the slight aftertaste of maple.

 

[alaskatammy]

I finished (drinking) my first batch of cider- man I need to make MORE! Less sweet than I generally drink, but good. Real good- I meant to save some to share, but it didn't happen. =) So, I'm back to supporting the store- while I wait on another batch.

I bought some AO green apple yesterday & that was pretty tasty. I've recently bought a 6 of strongbow & that is NOT my cup of tea. JK's isn't either. I like the Crispins, but they're $6.50 a bottle here. OUCH! AO's on sale for $8.50 a 6. Cheers!

 

[Rhu]

If you ever see Westons Old Rosie Stateside give it a whirl..super dry 'scrumpy' style cloudy English cider...one of the better ones out there. On draught in my local Pub it's about 9.3 abv...don't know what the bottled version will be though.

 

[AZIPA]

Anyone know where I can get Weston's Ol Rosie farmhouse cider in Phoenix,AZ? I found it in England last year. The best cider I've had to date.

 

[oljimmy]

It is a phenomenal cider. Sadly, they don't appear to import to the US yet. Which is sad because my friends in Vancouver Canada drink it regularly, and that's a much smaller market. Best I've found is thedrinkshop.com, where you can order 8 Old Rosies to the USA for $120.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

These are some truly AWESOME ciders, should be available just about anywhere in the USA.