The Brew Master

COURTESY OF SEA CIDER Enlarge Image

One of Sea Cider’s many potent brews.

I’ve always been curious about cider. Here in Canada, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as many people who enjoy the fermented apple product as there are in other areas of the world, most notably the United Kingdom.
   
It’s not beer and it’s not wine, so where does it fit? Most people drink cider much in the same way they drink beer — from an individual-sized bottle, a can or a pint glass. Like beer, it’s on tap at the best British pubs. But, while it looks and is served like a brew, cider is actually more like wine than beer.
   
First of all, forget about the flavoured ciders that come in six-packs and plastic two-litre bottles — it’s the equivalent of lime-flavoured beer or a wine cooler. Let’s talk about the dry cider that actually tastes like fruit. Cider, like wine, is made by crushing apples and fermenting the juice, with yeast converting the sugar into alcohol. Wine and cider each have their own idiosyncrasies when it comes to the process but, for the most part, they run parallel. When fermented dry, wine ends up in the 12 to 14%  alcohol range, while cider is more often in the 6 to 8% range.
   
Cider is typically made from cider apples but, unlike wine, can be made with almost any type of apple. Cider apples are divided into four categories based on acidity and tannin (the latter is that mouth-drying component you get in red wine): sharps, sweets, bittersharps and bittersweets.
   
Will the category ever take off in Manitoba/Canada/North America? I have no idea. But I like the few dry ciders that I’ve tried that are available here. It’s a lower-alcohol alternative to wine that doesn’t leave you feeling quite as bloated as beer. I’ll drink to that.
   
Both Liquor Marts and private wine stores are currently able to carry cider; forthcoming legislation changes will see ciders available at selected beer vendors later next year.

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Sea Cider "Pippins" (Victoria, B.C.; $19.99/750 ml bottle)
   
While the Pippins is the lightest in colour of the three ciders, it’s also the most aromatically intense, with big bright apple and cinnamon notes on the nose — not unlike a slice of apple pie. At 9.5% alcohol, the Pippins is still well-balanced, with brilliant juicy apple and spice notes on the crisp palate and some crisp effervescence that makes this stuff dance on your palate. It’s a really impressive cider.

Strongbow Cider (England; $3.95/500 ml can)
   
Medium gold in colour, the Strongbow has fairly muted, bruised apple aromas that are pleasant enough. It’s a dry, crisp cider but it’s not overly intense — rather, the Strongbow is an easygoing drink that doesn’t get too apple-y, if that makes any sense. It’s probably the best place to start if you’re getting into cider. At 5.3% alcohol, it’s also the lightest.

John Kepplers Premium Apple Cider (Ireland; $3.99/500 ml can)
   
Light copper in colour (the darkest of this week’s ciders), the Kepplers brings crisp ripe apple and a hint of spice on the nose. There’s some weight on the palate, and some moderately intense ripe apple flavours and a hint of sweetness. The Kepplers weighs in at 6%  alcohol.

   
Like most wine columnists/judges, Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson is also passionate about beer, and has a hybrid beer-and-wine gut to prove it. Follow him on Twitter at @bensigurdson and/or email him at uncorked@mts.net.