Favorite Cider?

[maltyapples]

It's possible this has been done before, but given this is a beer site, maybe not!

What's your favorite cider, and what makes it great in your book? AND, most importantly, where can it be found??

For me the standard sits with strongbow. Crisp and tasty, and readily found in most large beer stores or on base. My favorite, however, is Ace Pear Cider, brewed here in the US (I'm pretty sure) and crisp and tart as the days are long. (harder for me to find, but Total Wine on the east coast sometimes has it)

[corkybstewart]

All we can get in stores where I live is Woodchuck, but I keep a bunch of cider on hand. I make crabapple cider every fall and last year I also made a spiced cider which will sit in a keg until at least this fall. A friend has pear trees so we're talking about making a perry soon.

[NovoGuide]

Scrumpy Jacks out of England is hands down the best cider I've had. It comes the closest to real apple cider but with the fullness of an alcoholic drink. I always drank Strongbow until I discovered this superior drink.

In the U.S., I recently had Woodchuck Summer and it was excellent. I would highly recommend it to cider drinkers.

[maltyapples]

What's the ABV of Scrumpy? Is it more sweet than dry? My curiosity has been piqued.

PS - welcome to realbeer! I'm new too!

[NovoGuide]

Maltyapples,
It's 6%, but it has been a couple of years since I've had it so I can't quite recall the exact taste but I do remember it had a sweet smooth taste. I think it is imported to the U.S. but I have not found it anywhere in the midwest.

We used to buy Strongbow in 3 liters bottles to pass around because it was so cheap, tasty, and got the party started.

Thanks for the welcome, good thread

[M.K. Jeeves]

I first drank Strongbow on draft about 8 years ago in London. It was nice for a change of pace, but 3/4 of the way through my pint, I could feel my eyes start to cross. It seemed like it had an accelerated punch to it. I tried Magners and Bulmers at later dates and the same results, instant buzz! (which is not a bad thing). It must be the sugar content. I could only imagine the mangitude of the hangover I would have if I drank more than a few of these. It kinda brought me back to the old Boones farm, Annie green springs days of my wasted (literally) youth. :)
I do make an excellent Granny Smith cider at the house.

[maltyapples]

Granny smith sounds pretty tasty. Tart and delicious? How long do you age it? (how long can you stand to be patient? XD)

[M.K. Jeeves]

About four weeks in the bottle, for a 1 gallon batch, I core 8lbs apples , send them through my power juicer, stabilize with campden, add danstar or safale 04 yeast, make up water, and punch it up with a little corn sugar. Ferment about 3-4 weeks in primary. Not the cheapest way to go but, the taste is worth it.

[mannye]

Hornsby's is my favorite. When it's really really hot on the beach, it's a great alternative to buying commercial light beers. And it has a big kick too!

the Rhino on the label says it all I think. I find it in most grocery stores here in Miami/Miami Beach.

[Rumplemintz]

Don't really care for ciders because they are just too damn sweet for my pallet.
I tried a Ace Perry Cider and thought it was tasty, but after a few swigs handed it to the wife.

[roadkizzle]

My favorite cider has been one that the publican of one of the pubs in Glastonbury, England brought in a half pint for my wife after we had been making friends with him for the day we were able to be there for. It was made by one of his good friends who has an apple orchard, and was not commercially available.
That cider beat out the next best one I've had, which my wife purchased at The Rifleman's Arms in Glastonbury as well. This cider was Wilkin's Farmhouse Cider. I'm not sure the blend, but it was probably the medium sweet-sweet version.

Neither of these ciders were nearly as sweet as any of the big name labels, such as Strongbow, and definitely 10-100 times better than Ace. These ciders have more in common with saisons, and wild ales than anything else. Tart beverages with a very strong funkiness from the yeast and other microbes. Delicious though, and I'd gladly drink much more of them... as long as I could continue being that they were about 7% abv.


The closest I've come to them here in the U.S. has been some of Crispin's Artisinal series, which are thoroughly enjoyable, and not overly sweet.
The Honey Crisp is good, albeit my least favorite of the three I've had, Cider with honey as an additional fermentable.
Lansdowne uses molasses as additional fermentable, and fermented with english stout yeast. This one was very good, and my second favorite of Crispin's.
The last was my favorite, because it had the most funkiness and complexity. The Saint, fermented with belgian trappist yeast, with maple syrup to add fermentables.

[jonlouisville77]

I like Strongbow, but there are alot of good Irish ciders too, like Magners and Bulmers. Alot of people don't realize how popular draft ciders are over there. My brother tells me that none of the young folks in Ireland drink beer anymore! Its all ciders!

[unkle bik]

Mine.

I am drinking a pint of it, now. Made from a local cider in the Akron area. I added 1# of brown sugar heated up with a qt. of water & 2 cinnaminn stix.

Dry champagne yeast was used to ferment. Starting gravity of 1.060, finished off @ 0.098. If I do the math correctly, I am assuming ABV~8.0%.?

No hint of cinnamin, but light carbonation & a dry finish.