Hello readers! We hope class and co-op have been treating you well. We are both enjoying 4B and are excited to be graduating at the end of this term. However, it means that this is our last term writing the beer column and we need new people to continue it in the spring term onwards. If you are interested, please send an email to Jacob Terry at jrterry@uwaterloo.ca (he’s The Iron Warrior Editor-in-Chief for the Spring 2012 term). Writing the beer column is an excellent way to learn more about beer, with the added bonus of drinking becoming your research! This week in Beer Buzz, we will be taking a look at (and tasting) alcoholic cider.
In the 1840s, alcoholic cider was the preferred alcoholic beverage of the working class. Even though beer has now stolen the spotlight, alcoholic ciders (also known as hard ciders, but will just be calling them ciders for the rest of the article) still enjoy popularity in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and France. Cider was brought to North America by settlers from England – they brought apple seeds with them and planted orchards. They quickly determined that drinking cider was safer than drinking water (water treatment methods were crude and unreliable at the time), and it was easier and cheaper to produce than all other alcoholic beverages. Surprisingly, in those times, ciders were breakfast drinks and even children had cider as their first drink of the day.
Ciders are made from fermented apples and have alcohol contents ranging from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in some English ciders. Though not technically beer, ciders are marketed and sold in the same manner as beer. Ciders have a large variance in taste – some are very sweet while others are dry. Ciders also vary in colour, from very pale yellow to orange to brown, and in clarity, from cloudy to clear. The more traditional ciders are darker and cloudier in appearance, usually have higher alcohol content, and taste more like apples than their modern, mass-produced counterparts. Other fruits can also be used to make cider drinks, such as pears (the drink is then called perry; we highly recommend giving Sir Perry a chance if you see it in the LCBO, it is delicious).
Today we chose to review two ciders, Strongbow (5.3% ABV) and Magners (4.5% ABV). Strongbow is the most popular cider in the world, manufactured by H.P. Bulmer, which is owned by Heineken. Magners is a brand of cider from Ireland produced by the C&C Group. Magners is marketed under the brand Bulmers in Ireland, but is no longer affiliated with H. P. Bulmer as a result of a legal battle. We’ve chosen these two ciders to represent both mainstream and niche ciders (even though Magners is somewhat mainstream). Strongbow pours a pale gold colour with virtually zero head. The aroma is light but conforms to what many expect of any cider: sweet apples. Strongbow has a light taste and an apple flavour similar to granny smith, though it should be noted that it is very dry. The carbonation is quite heavy, and is characteristic of most ciders. Overall, Strongbow leaves more to be desired, but does the job when looking for something widely available and outside the norm. Magners pours a deep gold, with zero head retention. The aroma is stronger than that of Strongbow, and should pique the interest of the novice cider drinker. The taste is notably sweet, not much dryness, and very refreshing. The carbonation and mouthfeel is less dense than that of Strongbow. Overall, Magners is very enjoyable and we would recommend it over Strongbow to anyone looking for a sweet and enjoyable cider.
All in all, even though it is not technically a beer, cider is one delicious beverage. We highly recommend giving ciders a chance – especially if they are traditionally brewed! As we always say Fear No Beer (or in this case, cider), and don’t forget to take some time out of your busy schedules for some delicious brews!
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