# I have recently tried hard cider, and I like it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448 "2015-12-27T04:16:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/21 "2015-12-28T15:38:14Z")
I don’t like the overly sweet ciders that taste like Jolly Ranchers, but the drier ciders are great on a hot day; they don’t fill you up the way a beer can. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/22 "2015-12-28T15:45:06Z")
If you could find some French Normandy ciders, they are sold in champagne-type bottles, I would give them a shot. Those and the ciders out of Quebec are my favorite regions. Also, English ciders like Aspall and Samuel Smith are worth checking out, and it you like the funk, Basque ciders can get quite tart and barnyardy, like a lambic or other sour beer. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/23 "2015-12-28T16:14:48Z")
1911 is a good one, too. I made some for the first time this fall. I’ve brewed a lot of beer over the years, but this was the first try at cider. 5 G of unpasturised from a local mill and into a carboy for a couple weeks with some yeast. Turned out great. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/24 "2015-12-28T18:13:04Z")
[quote=“Baker, post:9, topic:741448”] If I lived in Australia I’d like to try the Dicken’s brand of hard cider. [/QUOTE] I was talking with a woman I know about cider. Although she is in her 50s, she claims that she has _never_ had a Dicken’s Cider!! I asked repeatedly for clarification, but she insisted she has never had a Dicken’s Cider. She eventually got it and was horribly embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/25 "2015-12-28T19:24:28Z")
As tasty as they are, I have a suspicion that somehow the commercial apple ciders like Angry Orchard are not quite what they appear; if you actually ferment apple juice, it ends up bone-dry unless you do something to arrest the fermentation. Even then, it’s less sweet than the original juice, and the aroma is different as well. Still mighty tasty, but not nearly as sweet and crisp as Angry Orchard. I wonder if there’s some sort of fermenting, filtering, and then adding aroma, acid and sugar back to the product kind of action going on similar to orange juice flavor packs. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/26 "2015-12-28T19:58:29Z")
> [@bump](#): > > As tasty as they are, I have a suspicion that somehow the commercial apple ciders like Angry Orchard are not quite what they appear; if you actually ferment apple juice, it ends up bone-dry unless you do something to arrest the fermentation. Even then, it’s less sweet than the original juice, and the aroma is different as well. Still mighty tasty, but not nearly as sweet and crisp as Angry Orchard. > > I wonder if there’s some sort of fermenting, filtering, and then adding aroma, acid and sugar back to the product kind of action going on similar to orange juice flavor packs. Fresh apple juice is what, 13 °Bx? Even if you arrest fermentation at 5% ABV, I don’t think that leaves you enough sugar considering how sweet some of them are. Maybe some apples are sweeter, or there’s some amylase action going on, or they simply concentrate it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/27 "2015-12-28T20:12:29Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I had just been reading _Wolves of the Calla_ and wishing I could taste some _graf_, which is defined as “apple beer.” Now ever since I found Angry Orchard, I have my \*graf \*and it makes me want to practice flinging plates at robot wolves. I’ve found homebrew recipes for graf online which are basically a spiced ale with apple juice as the base instead of water. I made a batch about a year ago and it came out strong as hell (well over 10% ABV, as I recall). > [@bump](#): > > As tasty as they are, I have a suspicion that somehow the commercial apple ciders like Angry Orchard are not quite what they appear; if you actually ferment apple juice, it ends up bone-dry unless you do something to arrest the fermentation. Even then, it’s less sweet than the original juice, and the aroma is different as well. Still mighty tasty, but not nearly as sweet and crisp as Angry Orchard. I’m fairly sure that, like most beers, hard cider isn’t bottle-conditioned - they pasteurize it to kill the yeast, add extra sugar, and force-carbonate it before bottling. I can’t recall ever seeing a cider that was labeled as bottle-conditioned, but some of the expensive ones that come in 750ml bottles probably are. > [@leftfield6](#): > > Strongbow in a can is surprisingly good. I liked the imported Strongbow that was available up until a few years ago, but apparently they’ve decided that Americans like sweeter ciders and they pulled it and replaced it with “Gold Apple” and “Honey Apple” flavors, neither or which are as good as the original. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/28 "2015-12-28T20:42:09Z")
> [@bump](#): > > As tasty as they are, I have a suspicion that somehow the commercial apple ciders like Angry Orchard are not quite what they appear; if you actually ferment apple juice, it ends up bone-dry unless you do something to arrest the fermentation. Even then, it’s less sweet than the original juice, and the aroma is different as well. Still mighty tasty, but not nearly as sweet and crisp as Angry Orchard. > > I wonder if there’s some sort of fermenting, filtering, and then adding aroma, acid and sugar back to the product kind of action going on similar to orange juice flavor packs. “Backsweetening” is the term for this, and it’s certainly common in homebrew circles, at least. You can read about Angry Orchard [here](http://beervana.blogspot.com/2014/06/cider-saturday-how-angry-orchard-is.html). > [@](#): > > 1. Do you ferment to dry and back-sweeten or stop before it’s fermented out? If you back-sweeten, what do you use? > David Sipes: “We ferment our ciders to reach a specific flavor profile and then, depending on the cider, focus on brightening a cider’s sweetness with apple juice. In some cases, we may use a very minimal amount of additional sugars to add some sweetness to the flavor profile.” You can certainly just ferment it to the sweetness you like, pasteurize, and force carbonate. An arrested fermentation (say, at 1.05 gravity) is still pretty apple-y and sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/29 "2015-12-28T21:56:59Z")
> [@bump](#): > > As tasty as they are, I have a suspicion that somehow the commercial apple ciders like Angry Orchard are not quite what they appear; if you actually ferment apple juice, it ends up bone-dry unless you do something to arrest the fermentation. Even then, it’s less sweet than the original juice, and the aroma is different as well. Still mighty tasty, but not nearly as sweet and crisp as Angry Orchard. > > I wonder if there’s some sort of fermenting, filtering, and then adding aroma, acid and sugar back to the product kind of action going on similar to orange juice flavor packs. What? A.O.'s Crisp Apple is quite dry, which is why I like it so much. Dry but with no harshness at all. It’s the cider I’ve waited for all my life. At 5% ABV I suppose they must have done something to halt the ferment, or else started with inherently dry apples? For ingredients they list hard cider, natural flavors, CO[sub]2[/sub], malic acid, and sulfites. You’re right about the aroma, acid, and CO[sub]2[/sub], but I can’t detect any sign of added sugar. Fun fact: Nobody in early America ate apples as a snack, because the tasty varietals hadn’t been developed yet. Johnny Appleseed was actually propagating the hard… \<_hic_\>… cider industry. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/30 "2015-12-28T22:38:07Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What? A.O.'s Crisp Apple is quite dry, which is why I like it so much. Dry but with no harshness at all. It’s the cider I’ve waited for all my life. At 5% ABV I suppose they must have done something to halt the ferment, or else started with inherently dry apples? For ingredients they list hard cider, natural flavors, CO[sub]2[/sub], malic acid, and sulfites. You’re right about the aroma, acid, and CO[sub]2[/sub], but I can’t detect any sign of added sugar. :dubious: Pictures of the label are telling me 23 g of sugars per bottle. That’s 65 g/l! That is not dry. Is there some confusion about what the word means? ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/31 "2015-12-29T00:56:01Z")
AO’s Crisp Apple is what I’ve been drinking. The only other one I’ve tried is Strongbow Honey. It was really sweet but I guess the name was a dead giveaway! I have a serious sweet tooth so it’s not really a problem for me. I usually drink one or two and then switch over to beer. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/32 "2015-12-29T01:20:32Z")
Does hard cider give you the shits like apple juice? One big glass of apple juice and I’m on the pot for awhile. I’ve wanted to try hard cider but am a bit wary. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/33 "2015-12-29T03:17:28Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Does hard cider give you the shits like apple juice? > > One big glass of apple juice and I’m on the pot for awhile. I’ve wanted to try hard cider but am a bit wary. Not that I’ve noticed. But I probably wouldn’t notice because my shitty diet makes my digestive habits kind of a crapshoot anyways. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/34 "2015-12-29T03:41:40Z")
I’ve not noticed either, but apple juice doesn’t give me the shits either (didn’t know that was a thing. Prune juice, yeah. Apple juice? Never for me.) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/35 "2015-12-29T03:54:56Z")
I’ll get a friend to split a bottle with me. See how my innards react. Apples and me have a difficult relationship. I love them but they don’t always love me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/36 "2016-01-03T00:06:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I liked the imported Strongbow that was available up until a few years ago, but apparently they’ve decided that Americans like sweeter ciders and they pulled it and replaced it with “Gold Apple” and “Honey Apple” flavors, neither or which are as good as the original. I’m so annoyed with Heineken about that! Strongbow used to be my favorite cider, I’d recommend it to anyone, but now? Disgusting. I’m still looking for a good, not-sweet cider. I like Ace’s Pear Cider, so that’s something. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/37 "2016-01-03T00:37:59Z")
I prefer the cider I brew myself, starting from store-bought nonalcoholic cider. If I brew it long enough, it’s not sweet. (It’s also a lot cheaper.) Those of you looking for something less sweet than the typical American varieties might try Magner’s Irish Cider. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/38 "2016-01-03T02:45:59Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > I prefer the cider I brew myself, starting from store-bought nonalcoholic cider. If I brew it long enough, it’s not sweet. (It’s also a lot cheaper.) What yeast do you like? I’ve just barely started playing around with home fermentation. Haven’t tried apple yet. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/39 "2016-01-03T03:22:56Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > What yeast do you like? I’ve just barely started playing around with home fermentation. Haven’t tried apple yet. A few years ago I did an experiment with about a dozen or so different yeasts plus apples from my friend’s apple tree (we had something like 30-40 gallons of cider going) and, for me, my favorites was Wyeast’s Weihenstephaner yeast. I didn’t like any of the wine or champagne yeasts–too dry, left almost no fruit flavor whatsoever. Safale S-04 dry English ale yeast was also nice, my next favorite. The absolute best by far, though, was the one I did without pitching any yeast, just the natural fermentation, but that’s a bit of a throw of the dice, as you don’t know exactly what’s on your apples/in your apple juice. Also the cider benefit greatly from aging. It’s drinkable after a few weeks, but if you can wait six months to a year, it really makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448/40 "2016-01-03T04:40:41Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > What yeast do you like? I’ve just barely started playing around with home fermentation. Haven’t tried apple yet. Same here, I’ve actually only tried one, the “dry wine yeast” from [http://e-z-caps.com](http://e-z-caps.com). It worked pretty well with orange juice too, but I had to add some sugar to that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-recently-tried-hard-cider-and-i-like-it/741448.md?page=1)