Dr Pilkington’s Miracle Cider

Got problems with bower birds? Curly hair getting you down? Dr Pilkington’s Miracle Cider Is here to help. The real question here is this a good cider or is Dr Pilkington just snake oil?

Dr Pilkington’s Miracle Cider is a collaborative effort between South Australia’s Vale Brewing and Chapel Hill winery. Vale Brewing has a solid reputation in the craft beer world and with the demands for cider picking up, it was a savvy move for them to launch a cider.

I was surprised to find out that this is made from 100% apple juice. At first glance of the bottle, I might have assumed the addition of some nasties. Brianna from Vale Brewing said “We use 100% fresh fruit with minimal intervention in small brew batches to ensure quality and freshness. We don’t add concentrate, sugar or water as this disrupts the level of purity and freshness.”

There are a couple of different versions of the labels on each with the tongue in cheek claims of the ailments that the Miracle Cider will cure. It’s meant to be a bit of a conversation starter but these Bowerbirds are getting out of control and the cider is not helping at all.

The Nose.

There is a bit of a ripe eating apple nose but it is dominated by a heavy sulphur which over powers everything else.

The Taste

Surprisingly it doesn’t taste like medicine. What it does taste like is a bombardment of apple acidity. It doesn’t seem too sweet mainly because it is so sharp. The bubbles provide a mass of little spikes like 2 hedgehogs Greco-roman wrestling on my tongue, which I quite like. The website suggests serving Dr Pilkington’s over ice. Normally I wouldn’t recommend watering down a cider like this. Saying that, I tried one bottle straight and the next with 3 or 4 ice cubes. This mellowed out the acid and surprisingly much more enjoyable.

Final Thoughts on Dr Pilkington’s Miracle Cider

Vale Brewing has done a great job on the packaging traditional yet light hearted label. The type of thing that gets someone in who was keen to try a cider and is easy to drink with a few ice cubes, it’s not going to put them off ciders. I hope people won’t think this is the only way to serve cider. Now any ideas how to tame these Bowerbirds?

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