Hogans Medium Cider (Bottled)

Brewed by Hogans Cider
Style: Cider
Alcester, England

Serve in Bowl, Flute, Lager glass

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Clear golden colour, almost no bubbles. Fresh aroma. Fresh, sweet apple taste with a slightly vinegary, farmyard aftertaste ( initially a little unpleasant but fades after a few mouthfuls). Goes down easily, but a touch too sweet, not much depth.

Pours gold with a few bubbles. Aroma suggests something of apple pie. Med body. Somewhat sweet, but it’s rather sweet/tart with some appleskin balancing. This is very drinkable stuff. Goes down like water. Tastes more fresh than most. Finishes with some apple skin bitter at the lower back tongue edges. Pretty good stuff.

Bottle. Head is initially small, fizzy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is dark yellow. Aroma is moderately yeasty (barnyard, horseblanket), notes of sweet apple, oak, toasted grain, brown sugar / caramel, band-aid, earth. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery/syrupy texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. I actually quite like cider when it’s done right...I’m not just rating for ratings’ sake. But sheesh, it’s sooooo rare to find a good one. Too often they just smell like apples and nothing else, or worse, artificial apple flavoring. But I continue to try new ones when I see them, because sometimes you find an Etienne Dupont or a Rhyne. So this is a good example why I keep looking. An extremely rustic, very delightful example. Big horseblanket-and-bandaid aroma, a la Etienne Dupont. Unlike Dupont, though, this has a deeper, earthier caramel-apple aroma that is able to compete well with the wild notes. Some Dupont vintages are too yeasty/phenolic, which can overpower its more delicate apple character, but that’s no risk here. Nice oak note as well. After the garbage-dump samples of Julian and Glider ciders, this is a huge blast of goodness. A bit too syrupy-sweet for what I like (would love to try the Dry), but that’s a minor gripe. This is some seriously good cider.

The Shelton Bros shit on us again! Bottle from Blachard’s in Alston, Mass. Generic pint glass pour. Clear, golden yellow color. Zero head, light effervescence. Smells of lettuce, hay, vanillin, & margarine. Biting apple skins. Green beans. Rubbing alcohol. Table sugar. Bittersweet apple twang upfront. Big band-aid & pesticide notes. Lots of lingering irritating/rancid acidity. More added sugar. Minerally. Rust, oak, vanillin, mold. Dry, somewhat yeasty & bittergreen finish. Feel is decently carbonated, but with way too much added acidity. Not terrible, but this is pretty sloppy. Tastes a lot like oak-aged Woodchuck.

Bottle. Pours with a completely clear, moderately deep golden body with minimal head. A few small bubbles slowly rise. No lacing, minimal legs left on the glass. Aromas of barnyard, hay, plastic, phenolic (not quite french cider phenolic, but on its way), burnt, sulfur (rotten egg before it blows off), malic acid and peanutshells. Manure. Dry, bitter, seems like mostly bittersharps, maybe a few bittersweets (apples). Flavors are medium sweet up front, finishes somewhat dry. Very phenolic, smokey, bandaid, clove. Earthy, dirt, soil. So phenolic that it is nearly bacon like. Super odd. A hint of spearmint. Probably a bit too phenolic for my tastes. A good amount of tannin. Crisp, dry apples. Crisp finish. The phenols are very hard to get around. Some malic acid. Dry, mouthdrying finish. Light bubbles, tannins add up to a medium bodied (for a cider) presence on the palate. A strange cider.

clear apple juice appearance. minerallic juicy nose with calcium and dishsoap notes and undertones of spiced cider. light body with a watery finish and more calcium/mineral/soap flavor especially strong in the finish. medium acid and light to medium sweetness with some bitter peel/skin in the finish which turns from forgettable to enjoyable as the glass warms.

Bottle 500ml.
Clear light medium yellow orange color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, fully diminishing, off-white to white head. Aroma is moderate to light heavy apple, overripped apple, green apple, light rubber. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and light acidic with a long to average duration, a dry finish. Body is medium, texture is watery, carbonation is flat. [20100115]

Bottle from a Tesco in Birmingham. Golden with slight carbonation. Aroma of juicy apples with a slight honeyed edge. Flavour was medium dry, with a bit of tartness in the finish. Ok.

UPDATED: AUG 9, 2010 Bottle 50 cl. Clear golden with a rough white head. Lighty astringent leathery nose with peel and Brett. Medium body, lightly sweet apple but dominated by a peely astringency and some light notes of yeast. Finish is dry and tart. 160110

Bottle. Light gold. Aromas are light apple juice with some citrus and vinegar. Flavours are dry and slightly woody with some sweet mellow apple juice coming through. Dry on the finish but becomes a bit flat. Fairly decent. The bottled version is 6.3%