Cider

[julesd68]

Do we have any cider aficionados out there?

Just spent a lovely few days down in Dorset and Somerset. One of the greatest joys was discovering Addlestone's cider. Simply awesome. For the first pint and a half I thought I was drinking delicious hand-pressed cloudy apple juice - I asked the barman if it had any alcohol in it! After two and a half pints I realised it did; it kind of creeps up on you ... I went back to my lodgings feeling very contented indeed.

Anyway, the question is, if I like this particular brand of cider, are there any other brands you think would be worth me giving a go? :cheers:

[hifinutt]

yes absolutely love cider , used to have a weekend away on a chaps cider farm near ledbury but sadly it became ineconomic and they were all cut down !!!
woodpecker about many others is my fav

[julesd68]

Just opened a bottle of Sheppy's "Dabinett Apple" that I picked up from Waitrose tonight. Delicious and delicate flavour. 7.2% vol so an old man like me should be careful ...

[Stratmangler]

Westons organic is rather good - Tesco sell it

http://www.beerhere.co.uk/acatalog/UK86_Westons_Organic_Cider.JPG

[jollyfix]

yep love it,orchard pig cider and wilkins just up the road,i have a few friends who make it.when any mates come down to visit i always take them to the cider farm for a drop of the good stuff.Being told i was taking him to a cider farm,my mate Chris said "oh ive been to one before,they had a nice restaurant too".No this is a cider farm i said.cobb webbs,cows,an old barn and some of the best cider around.He like everyone else loved the place and the cider...and never ever drink it with ICE.....

[Reid Malenfant]

Try some Magners, if you really feel like experimenting try Magners pear cider, I swear you'll never find something so nice that'll quench your thirst on a hot summers day :D

Damn, forgot it has to warm up a bit :eyebrows:

[julesd68]

Oh dear, I feel a habit is coming on :doh:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Guys,

With the greatest respect to all of you. CIDER IS THE DEVIL WORK. I'm nearly 40 and still cant stomach the stuff after MANY times drinking the stuff, I'll stick to my single malts and stouts. :cool:

[The Grand Wazoo]

Nowadays I can't poke up with the stuff myself. I used to buy it from a local farm in Sussex when I was a poor teenager, but then I did a lot of stupid stuff when I was a teenager! Later, I worked with a guy in Devon who used to make his own with his great great grandad's apple press & he used to have a pint every morning with his breakfast - he's dead now!

[julesd68]

Guys,

With the greatest respect to all of you. CIDER IS THE DEVIL WORK. I'm nearly 40 and still cant stomach the stuff after MANY times drinking the stuff, I'll stick to my single malts and stouts. :cool:

:rfl: :drinking:

[snuffbox]

The sign of a good cider is that it seems to go down effortlessly and has no noticable effect.
Its only when you stand up that you realise that your legs are pissed.

[RichB]

Try some Magners, if you really feel like experimenting try Magners pear cider, I swear you'll never find something so nice that'll quench your thirst on a hot summers day :D


+1 to that, in the last few years I've developed a taste for the pear cider but it does seem to be a seasonal thing, colder months have me hankering after a nice IPA or bitter (anything from the Jarrow Brewery is good).

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Thatchers Katy is a fave of mine, it so light yet so full of booze ...
Or if you like it cloudy 'old rosy' is a goodun!
We used to drink an old rosy/Kingston press combo at a quiz on a monday night a few years back ... We always lost! I thought I'd gone blind on it the one night ... It turned out I'd fallen on the floor and managed to end up face up under the pool table!
Of course living in near hereford we get a lot of local stuff in local pubs .. Can never remember the name of it!
If anyone ever visits Worcester I can recomend a pub called "the camp" at grimley http://www.ukpubfinder.com/pub/5210 beautiful old pub on the river bank with peacocks mooching about the garden ... They do some real rough cider there ... Ooo it ain't half strong! Good for the soul though!

[julesd68]

Thanks Hamish for your recommendations, both of which I will be trying from Waitrose. It is amazing what a renaissance cider is having - Waitrose now stocks over 50 ciders!! Not all are available in store of course but that's pretty impressive. I will see how many I can get through on my cider odyssey.

[julesd68]

Big thumbs up for Sheppy's Dabinett which left me feeling very mellow last night.

On the menu tonight, a trip to Herefordshire with Westons Wyld Wood :eyebrows:

[Ali Tait]

I partake every year at Glasto of the Brother's Pear Cider, which I understand is specially made for the festival. Damn it's lethal! Soo nice on a hot day though.

The cider brandy from the cider bus is great too. You know you've had a couple of those!

[Ali Tait]

Guys,

With the greatest respect to all of you. CIDER IS THE DEVIL WORK. I'm nearly 40 and still cant stomach the stuff after MANY times drinking the stuff, I'll stick to my single malts and stouts. :cool:

Ye big jessie! :lol:

A good Malt will get you in a fine mess if you let it. :cool:

[twelvebears]

I'm a massive cider geek/snob/bore and am very fond of most things by either Thatchers or Westons, who are the only major brands I would touch. Bulmers, Strongbow, Magners are all total crap IMO.

Test of how crap Magners are? Blerb on their bottles talking about 'a blend of 14 types of apple'. Er no. Think you'd see a wine maker 'blending' 14 types of grape? No. that just means it's from the juice of whatever apples you could get your hands on.

Westons on the other hand are great, which is why Waitrose and M&S have them do their branded stuff under licence.

Also a big fan of perry and rather disappointed at the dumbing down of calling it pear cider. Apples make cider, pears make perry.

[jollyfix]

:exactly:with you on that Steve...

[twelvebears]

:exactly:with you on that Steve...

Given your location David, I'm very glad to hear it! :eek:

Love one of my fav pubs that sells Westons Vintage - al 8.2% of it! It's having a buy one, get one free in every pint. :cool:

[julesd68]

I've got a bottle of Weston's Vintage in the fridge aswell - which shall I have tonight, that or the Wyld Wood?

[twelvebears]

Personally I'd go with the Vintage, fuller flavour.

[keiths]

Personally I'd go with the Vintage, fuller flavour.

Me too - I find the Wyld Wood a bit too sweet and bland.

[julesd68]

Here is my tasting note for Westons 2010 Vintage - :eyebrows:

"A clean and crisp medium dry cider with a hint of sweetness on the finish.
A little one-dimensional and lacking in complexity but an eminently refreshing summer tipple"

[julesd68]

Here is my tasting note for Westons Wyld Wood - yes, I know I shouldn't have opened another bottle ...

"Oh dear. It says "intensely fruity" on the label but "intensely bland" would be more accurate. A one-trick pony whose trick isn't very good. Refreshing but only hints at what it should achieve, lacking in substance and depth; leaves you feeling short-changed." :(

[lurcher]

Yep, we used to sell at least one trad cider or perry in the pub at any time. It seemed to have the ability to leave your head sober, but get your knees drunk. More than one customer fell into the canal. I can recommend Biddenden.

[jollyfix]

by now i would have been on the Glasto fest site for a few weeks (been working there for about 20yrs),cider ,cider,cider,at one point last year we had over thirty barrels of the good stuff (wilkins/thatchers/hand made cider co/parsonage farm/riches.), backstage by our mess tent.still amazed how we got any work done..

[julesd68]

Bit of a headache this morning :(

[twelvebears]

Bit of a headache this morning :(

:eyebrows:

[julesd68]

Mrs julesd68 kindly bought me a bottle of Waitrose Vintage Cider that I wasn't expecting! And it was a pleasant surprise - here's my note ...

"Mellow and medium dry with a delicious supple sweetness on the finish this is an excellent effort from Waitrose. Only falls short of the best by lacking the last word in complexity and flavour."

[julesd68]

Just put in an order at www.beersofeurope.co.uk - they stock a good range of ciders and very reasonable delivery charge :)

[julesd68]

Ok boys and girls – any of you fancy trying some different ciders?

Here are my tasting notes on 10 varieties contained in my Beers of Europe case!

Addlestones. Currently my favourite cider. It’s like drinking fresh pressed cloudy apple juice. A couple of pints later you realise its got alcohol – be warned!! Medium.

Westons Old Rosie. If you like Addlestones, give this a try. A very pleasant cloudy scrumpy that’s only just lacking the fullness of flavour of its rival. Medium Dry.

Sheppys Dabinett. An utterly delicious single variety, this one is light in body but strong in alcohol; it has an explosion of complex apple flavours for you to savour. Don’t rush it. Medium.

Thatchers Katy. Made in the same vein as the Dabinett this is a pleasant enough light single-varietal cider but doesn’t delight with the layers of flavours that the Dabinett possesses. Medium Dry.

Dunkertons Black Fox. An organic cider that is worth giving a miss. Has a slightly strange steely taste on the finish. Medium Dry.

Waitrose Vintage Reserve. Don’t be put off by the brand – this is stellar stuff. Wonderfully balanced, full bodied and just the right amount of sweetness on the finish. Medium Dry.

Duchy Originals Organic. Also from Waitrose but low in alcohol and even lower in flavour. Surely Prince Charles wouldn’t approve of this? Avoid.

Sheppys Vintage Reserve. The golden packaging would like you to believe it’s something special but it ain't … Full bodied but possesses a medicinal like flavour on the finish that you sometimes get with bad Italian red wines … yuk. Medium Dry.

Sheppys Organic. Pleasant enough summer drinking but rather one-dimensional. No real surprises, good or bad. Medium.

Gaymers Somerset. Last and definitely least, my urine has a similar colour and probably tastes better. Medium Dry.

[shane]

Got to recommend Sheppey's. The gentleman who maintains their brewery equipment once gave me a very large box of valves, including the one in my avatar, thanks to which I now enjoy the delights of thermionic heaven.

[keiths]

It's a bit of a cider desert around here, I'm afraid. My local does draught Weston's Old Rosie or Traditional Scrumpy on handpull sometimes during the summer months and they always have bottles of the (average) Henry Weston's Vintage and the (awful) Wyld Wood.

Dennis Gwatkin makes some of the finest ciders (and perries) I've ever had the privilege to sample - http://www.gwatkincider.co.uk/

[julesd68]

Dennis Gwatkin makes some of the finest ciders (and perries) I've ever had the privilege to sample - http://www.gwatkincider.co.uk/

Uh oh! You can get 12 bottles delivered for £36 :eyebrows:

[julesd68]

A little post-script on Addlestones. I had tasted it on draught whilst on holiday a couple of weeks ago and it was sublime. The bottle I tasted last night was utterly dreadful - it was so weak and watery I do wonder whether it was a bad sample. I've got another bottle in my larder to make up my mind ... It is slightly disconcerting when you read on the label that it's made by Gaymers :(
How could the draught and bottle taste so wildly different? I might see what Gaymers have to say about it!

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I can't belive I didn't mention Westons Stoford Press in my previous reply ...
I've had many an evening drinking it as it was the draft in my local for years ...
Worth a punt... easy to drink for sure!

[NickB]

Hi

Any off you tried Black Rat, not the new soft fizzy draught one but the original 9% one, they serve it in one of my locals. That will give you problems walking !!!!!!

Nick


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[julesd68]

Check these guys out -

http://www.onlywithtilia.com/shop/browsecategory/65/ciders

They seem to be the mail-order outlet for the Essex Cider Shop.

Would like to try the Welsh gear - Gwynt y Ddraig - which nobody has mentioned yet ...

[jollyfix]

GWYNT Y DDRAIG nice drop,but TY GWYN cider is the one to try. One of the best and my fave Welsh cider.

[julesd68]

Thought I would revive this thread to tell you about what is in my opinion a quite outstanding cider :eyebrows:

Surprisingly enough it's a Waitrose own brand, and my current favourite by a long, long way.

It's a 2011 vintage "Herefordshire Cider" which they describe as
"Cloudy, still and dry. Full in body and flavour with hints of vanilla".

What's even more surprising is that is brewed by Westons - I've never enjoyed any of their own branded cider as much as this!

[vinylspinner]

Agree with Nick on the Black Rat, if it is the one brewed in Melksham, awsome stuff and not for northeners!!


Nigel

[walpurgis]

Cider? Can't stomach the stuff. I made myself very ill in my youth drinking about a gallon of rough scrumpy one night and have never been able to stand the smell of any cider since!

[vinylspinner]

Come on Geoff,

Not lived until you have drank the odd rat drowned in cider :lol:

Nigel

[julesd68]

Beware the Black Rat! :eek:

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Beware-Black-Rat-Cider-warns-lawyer/story-11931316-detail/story.html

[vinylspinner]

That's the one, good for cleaning vinyl too :lol: