Woodpecker Sweet Apple Cider (24 x 500ml Cans)

Product Information

In Britain there is a geographical split in the types of apples used to make cider. In the West Country (Somerset, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Devon, Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire) traditional cider apple varieties are grown in the local orchards. They have evocative and poetic names such as Handsome Norman, Foxwhelp and Porter’s Perfection. Kent, Sussex and eastern counties such as Suffolk are the traditional heartlands of cider made with domestic apples familiar to anyone with a fruit bowl – Gala, Russet and Cox are just three popular varietals that end up in a glass of cider. Prices reflect the alcohol strength and the size of the bottle, and do note that it can be cheaper to buy a box direct from the producer – many cideries only sell direct, in fact. The variations in aroma, flavour and sweetness are vast. Palate cleansing, smooth, sweet, acidic or tart; British ciders offer plenty of scope for exploration. cider, the expressed juice of a fruit—typically apples—used as a beverage. Pears that are used in this manner produce a cider better known as perry. Distinctions Jane was the UK’s first accredited Pommelier (cider sommelier) and Britain's first Beer Sommelier of the Year. She is the instigator and driving force of the UK’s annual national beer day – Beer Day Britain (15 June 15). She is a former Imbibe Magazine Drinks Educator of the Year. For her beer work she was awarded the title Outstanding Individual Achievement in Beer from the Beer & Cider Marketing Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Britain’s All Party Parliamentary Beer Group.

Craft Cider Making, by Andrew Lea–a cidermaking book which also references cider apples and their cultivation Before we dive into content around specific cider varieties, it’s important to put things into context. These days, if you live in a region dominated by large grocery store chains, you could be forgiven for only knowing a handful of apple varieties by name, including such common (at least in North America) varieties as:Due to the above mentioned variability of juice characteristics, the numbers below should only serve as rough estimates of what you might expect in terms of sugar, acidity, and tannin of a given variety. Turn the press down onto the fruit until you feel real tension. As soon as you do, don’t keep turning but leave this in position for a few minutes. You will see the juice will start to run. When the juice stops then tighten again and leave. The juice that comes out should have one crushed campden tablet per 4.5 litres collected, placed at the bottom of the container before or as the juice starts to run. This will prevent oxidisation (browning of the juice) and bacterial spoilage. Remember you must let the press do the work - it’s a lot easier! Adjusting the taste Acidity A variety might be called bittersweet it it has a low level of acidity and a high level of tannin, bittersharp if it contains high levels of both, or sharp if it is high in acidity but low in tannin. These terms don’t explicitly include the sugar content of the apples, though this is also an important factor in cidermaking as it drives the alcohol content of the finished product. Thus, while a sweet apple in this categorization scheme has low tannin and low acidity (and thus not ideal in cider, except as part of a blend), the term doesn’t necessarily refer to its sugar content relative to other apples. The categories above break down along these lines (original source: Andrew Lea’s article here, which you should read):

Sweetness and dryness are, however, not only a question of taste. They also denote alcohol and sugar content. Within the gamut of ciders on offer – with off-dry and semi-sweet falling between the two extremes – the rule of thumb is that dry cider tends to have a higher alcohol content. This is because most of the natural sugars found in the apples have been converted to alcohol. However, before those who prefer a lower-alcohol drink start reaching for the sweet stuff, it is also important to know that these varieties, perhaps unsurprisingly, contain a higher sugar content and thus higher calories, the sweetness derived from added sugar, sweeteners or apple concentrate, as well as from a slower fermentation process. For those who are keen to keep their sugar consumption to a minimum whilst still enjoying a refreshing cider drink, the natural choice would be scrumpy, which contains no added sugar, and which is flat rather than fizzy. When choosing which cider to start the tasting process with, a good guide is to think about which other alcoholic drinks you enjoy. For example, if you prefer dry white wine to sweeter varieties, then it’s reasonably likely that you’ll also have a preference for the dryer ciders. Likewise, if you would typically choose traditional ales over a lager, the same holds true. But it is ultimately a question of responsible experimentation; why not, then, start with a cider that falls somewhere in the middle of the dry-sweet, alcoholic-sweet spectrum and proceed from there? Cheers!In most European countries the name is restricted to fermented juice. In North America the freshly expressed juice that has not been subjected to any permanent preservative treatment is generally called sweet cider, whereas juice that has been permitted to undergo some natural fermentation is designated hard cider. The expressed juice of apples that has been treated by some method to prevent spoilage while in hermetically sealed cans or bottles is marketed as apple juice in most countries. Nutritional content Fermentation: Add 4 grams of our Apple Nutrient to 5 litres (1 gallon). The fermentation will take more nearer 14 days but will depend on temperature. The first thing we need to do before the start of fermentation is to take a hydrometer reading of the juice. To do this, place the hydrometer in the juice and we will see a reading where the hydrometer is level with the liquid. We can then use this reading to work out how much alcohol will be present after fermentation. See the table below for reference. SG Reading Final Reading (end of fermentation) Approx ABV (Alcohol By Volume) Start Thatchers Cider was founded in 1904 and the family is now in its fourth generation of impassioned cider-makers. Still made on Myrtle Farm in Somerset now, as it was then, when it was founded, it was thought to be so far the best around that employees would sometimes get paid in the amber nectar. New technologies have, of course, been introduced over the years, but the devotion to creating some of the best cider in the country – from the smooth Thatchers Gold, which is known as a real ‘cider drinker’s cider’ to some of the best sweet cider in the UK in the form of sweet sparkling Thatchers Rosé to the arguably the best non-alcoholic cider in the UK: the medium-dry and crisp Zero – has remained constant. Explore more here. So…how do you achieve balance? There are various options after your fermentation–ranging from oak-aging (which can impart tannins to low-tannin ciders) to additives (e.g., powdered malic acid to increase acidity or powdered tannin to add astringency) to malo-lactic fermentation (a bacterial, post-initial-yeast-fermentation process whereby harsh acidity is reduced by transforming malic acid to lactic acid, thereby reducing the intensity of the acidity in the flavor profile)–but, if you have access to multiple apple varieties, the best approach may be start with blending juices for balance up front. At a minimum, blending initially will minimize the number of interventions you’ll need to make later on in the process.