hard cider

[Sunna]

is that true bp ....iv drunk plenty of ruff cider in my younger days , cheap yes ..strong yes ....nice ....no .
aldi cider ....5.4 alc....£1.99 for 2 lts ...3.5 pints not bad

aldi pear cider a little more at £2.30 for 2lts also 5.4 alc much nicer , no shits in the morning.


merrydown .....£ ...?.....the best taste ....7.5 alc we called it part 4 bail cider .

strongbow super ...£ .....very nice ....7.5 alc .....I always ended up fighting.

white lightning / frosty jack/ barnstormer / 3 hammers / as loved by the local pissheads in the park....

[bigpaul]

that stuffs all rubbish Sunna, White lightning is the worst!! what you need is a few quarts of INCH's cider from Devon, or some of the Somerset farm cider, then you will taste the difference, the commercial stuff is full of chemicals and other crap.[/b]

[Midnitemo]

Sunna.....the monkey house at defford? need I say more...if the landlord didn't know you there was a two pint maximum rule.

[Ranger]

When I was stationed at Maidstone I used to drink in a pub called The Minstrel that used to sell local produced real ales, local fruit and veg wines and a cider from a farm near a village called Biddington. The cider was in a 40 pint plastic barrel plonked on the end of the bar with a small tap near the bottom. The landlord would not sell it in anything other than half pints though he would sell you a pint of snakebite made with it. This stuff was so raw I swear you were picking bits of apple out of your teeth after drinking it. Mind you, this was 25 years ago and the pub is now called Ye Olde Flying Pig and I've no idea what drinks it serves now.

[bigpaul]

you can still get some of the real farm cider but its getting harder and harder to find places who stock the genuine article, they are getting less and less, not surprising when most people drink limp wristed wine at home.

[Ravenwing]

Hecks, Burrow hill, Richie's, Ashill's, Crossmans,Naish's, Orchard pig, Pennard, Shelly's, Thatchers, West Croft a d a few others..... Still goin' strong in Somerset....

[WalterHarrison]

"This method sounds very much like what my hillbilly grandfather used to do. I am certainly going to try some!

http://www.distillingliquor.com/2015/02/...tillation/

Applejack is a liquor that is freeze distilled, as opposed to steam distillation. George Washington owned one of the largest distilleries in colonial America and also made Applejack, which was used as currency during America’s colonial period. The word “jack” derives from the process of freeze distillation, which has historically been called “jacking.” Applejack was/is commonly distilled from apple cider."

I'm glad I came across this thread. Nothing beats a great cider.

[Mortblanc]

I finally made the plunge and have 2 gallons fermenting in the back room right now.

We will wait and see how this works out.

The recipe I used is so simple even I could not mess it up.

[CharlesHarris]

(5 August 2018, 00:11)Mortblanc Wrote: I finally made the plunge and have 2 gallons fermenting in the back room right now.
We will wait and see how this works out. The recipe I used is so simple even I could not mess it up.

Traditional fare here:

http://www.nbc29.com/story/13265140/meet...rd-company

America's oldest native distillery is tucked away in the North Garden section of Albemarle County, VA and nobody really knows that Laird and Company is there.

Laird and Company has been in the apple brandy business since the 1700's. Now, all of the company's apples are carefully distilled at its North Garden facility. For more than 40 years, Plant Manager Lester Clements has been in the business of turning apples into brandy, which is distributed all throughout the country. Before it can be distributed, there's a lot of work that has to be done.

Plant Manager Apprentice Daniel Swanson said, "We grind apples, make cider, then turn it into apple brandy." First, the apples are brought by the pound to Laird and Company's North Garden Plant. Then the apples are ground up and put through a special machine to squeeze out the juice. Then, the cider needs time to ferment.

Clements said, "It'll ferment up to probably 6-or-7 percent, in that neighborhood, and then we take it to the stills and get the alcohol in it." From start to finish, the process usually takes about two weeks to complete. Then, the brandy is aged in barrels until it's ready to be sold.

Swanson said, "It's hands on. We're helping with the apples, helping with the barrels, shipping and receiving."

The process results in a Virginia based product that's been enjoyed throughout the country since 1780.

Clements said this year the North Garden Plant will go through close to three million pounds of apples to make close to 350 barrels of apple brandy.