Doc’s Draft Hard Apple Cider

Brewed by Warwick Valley Wine Co., Inc.
Style: Cider
Warwick, New York USA

Serve in Bowl, Flute, Lager glass

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

12oz bottle. Poured into that same Sly Fox tumbler. I have bad memories of volunteering at the booth next to this one at Brewtopia. Too much sweet cider hurts almost as bad as soloing a box of wine alone on your birthday. Anyway, color is a clear, pissy pale golden wheat. Quickly settling off-white fizz. Smell is yeasty, a little perfumey(like fabric softener sheets), & tannic, with macerated apple slush & skins. Strong carbonation. Tastes of diluted cider & hydrogen peroxide. Apple cores & grass. Some caramelization. Softer red apple as it settles in. Alcohol is noticeable & nasty. Subtilely tart, barely woody. There’s some chalky yeast left in there. Plastic on the finish. Sulfites are very obvious. Better on draft.

22 ounce bottle from... Kroger. Oh my! Pours a clear very pale amber color with a very thin head, no head retention or lacing. Not much to look at. Weak aroma of sweet apples with a nice tart finish. Taste is fairly straightforward apple with a bit of spice in the finish. Sweet throughout. Lively carbonation... medium bodied.

Bottle courtesy of Kinz at the 8th Richmond Gathering. Blond bodied. Bubbly white head. Apple aroma (apple pulp and skins). Some apple juice in the nose as well plus sugary , candy-like apple. Taste is apple, apple skins, and sugary notes. Hints apple pie later on. Body is light and vigorously carbonated. Rather dry as well. Ends with more apple skins, green apple and candy/sugary notes.

Bottle courtesy of Kinz at the 8th Richmond Gathering on 06/06/2009. Very clear slightly golden yellow body with a very small white head that rapidly diminishes. Sweet apple aroma. Sweet apple flavor, some sugary notes with a bit of faint vanilla. Medium light body with moderately high carbonation and a smooth fruity finish.

Pale gold. Smells like apples. Tastes like apples. A bit spritzy. Clean, straightforward stuff. Not bad, but not outstanding. Having said that, easy to drink.

Bottle. Pours a clear thin golden light yellow without much head. None in fact. Some from agitation, but that goes away quickly. Lots of apple, some champagne yeast, some crisp acid notes. Slightly thicker body than it looks, smooth and velvety. Not cloying, but with a touch of sweetness, balanced nicely by some crisp tartness and a little acidity. Smooth finish with a bit of vanilla. Pretty tasty, and good for what it is.

Nothing quite compares to a crisp hard cider. This is great with all kinds of food or on its own. I love the natural flavor of this particular cider versus its sticky and sweet artificial competitors.

22 oz bottle. Pours a perfectly clear pale yellow body with a thin fizzy white head that vanished to a thin ring immediately. The nose is fresh apple juice with a bit of skins and some very light alcohol. Very crisp and clean tasting, lots of red apples like Red Delicious and some Gala, with just a slight note of yeast byproducts and alcohol. On the sweeter side, yet very natural tasting, it does not seem as though they have added a bunch of adjunct sugars. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, very spritzy, with a slight lingering cheek coating finish. This was pretty decent if you are looking for a really clean, crisp, almost "sterile" tasting cider, but I can not say that it stacks up with the Dupont line of French ciders. I need a bit of funk to really get me excited about a cider. Why completely filter a cider?

22 oz bottle. Pours clear yellow with a fizzy white head. Apple aroma with bready, yeasty, and doughy notes. The flavor has crisp red apple and some general sugary sweetness. Nice enough.

Pours a clear gold with a pinkish tint and fizzy white head that completely disipates, and quickly, leaving no lacing. The nose is candy sweet with raspberry notes above an intensely potent apple aroma. The flavour is equally sweet, with light apple flavours and minimal barnyard funk. It is almost syrupy, but still relatively clean. I’m not very educated in ciders, but I liked it.