Brady’s Lookout 1820’s Blend

Brady’s lookout 1820’s Blend is a handcrafted fine cider based around apples developed in the 1820’s. These are now considered as some of the most classic apples out there.

The 1820’s Blend is prominently made from the Kingston Black apple, a famed dark red cider apple developed in Kingston, Somerset first recognised around 1820. The rest of the cider is made up of apples from this period from regions of France and England.

Brady’s Lookout is not looking to make a French Cider or an English cider in Tasmania, their goal is to make at Tasmanian Style cider. The region is famed for cool-climate sparkling wines. That’s the style that Brady’s Lookout Cider is trying to copy over into the world of apples. These heritage apples grown in this area have a thicker skin and more russeting (brown rough areas on the skin) this is said to add more tannin to the blend. To add to more of that Tasmanian vibe there is a hand full of Huon Crabs Apples in there as well. All the apples are either grown in their 4-year-old orchard or another local orchard that is a little more established.

The 1820’s Blend is a cloudy bottle conditioned cider. It is using a commercially available yeast, but the firm is also making a wild yeast which I will review in the next few weeks.

The Nose

It is lulling me into a false sense of security, is an easy mix of dried apple and dried apricot coupled with a cloud of clay dust. I think something bigger is coming.

The Taste

The burnt caramel coloured cider has a vigorous bubble prickling my tongue from every angle. Once that settles down, I’m being treated to a wave of relaxed, easy to drink bitters. Tart stone fruit flavours ring out making it just tart enough to keep you focused.  The bottom of the bottle has some heavy sediment as expected in a bottle conditioned cider, whipped up by the fizz. I try to keep them in the bottle, but they add a bit of toast and add to the subtle bitters. The finish is texturally chalky.

Final Thoughts on Brady’s Lookout 1820’s Blend

This is a big voracious bubble fine cider bit of a rough look about it. But it is easy to drink. It’s one of those 750ml bottles that should be shared but really you want to tell your mates is rubbish and you’ll just have to finish the bottle yourself. Especially if you are a bit of a cider geek like me.

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