I’m here to chop wood and drink cider, and I’m all out of wood. The Golden Axe Cider is here, but I think this lumberjack has been cutting hay.

Golden Axe Cider caught my eye with some great graphic artistry on the label. Featuring a computer generated caricature of a lumberjack, the Golden Axe really stands out on the shelf. That’s only superficial. The geeks behind the cider sound like my type of people.

… a small group of self-proclaimed beverage geeks. The team is focused on sourcing quality ingredients, and also experimenting with the smaller details that make all the difference in the taste of the final product.

While they don’t satisfy my curiosity as to what method of fermenting the experimented with. We can probably guess is wasn’t keeved, as the South East Brewing Company buy their juice in “from a mate”. They are very proud of the quality of the juice they buy in which is reflected in their refusal to add concentrate or sugar to the juice. Hallelujah!! Concentrate and added sugar are the enemy of good cider. If the cider your drinking contains these additives in it just put down your drink and walk away from slowly.

Tasting Notes

Opened the screw cap, poured into a pint glass. Simple.

The Nose

You are immediately hit by the gentle sweet grassy smell of fresh cut lucerne hay . I think this is what our axeman is really cutting. There are agricultural notes throughout which conjure up images of a lawn mower going between the apple trees on the mate’s orchard.

Golden Axe Apple CiderThe Taste

Interestingly, the South East Brewing Company wanted the apple flavours to shine through and have as little yeast flavour as possible. I couldn’t detect any yeasty flavours. Which leaves me wondering how they did this? A careful selecting yeast strains would be my guess.

Despite the sweet lucerne hay smell the cider is surprisingly dry almost soda-y dry. The taste of the apples shine through. The finish is short and crisp.

Final Thoughts on Golden Axe Cider

A refreshing drink, I really dig the sweet fresh cut hay smell and the crisp finish. The Golden Axe proves that geeks tinkering about in sheds can create some pretty interesting things.

Update

Golden Axe has been in touch with me to say they use Granny Smiths, Golden Delicious, Sundowner and Fuji apples, which they source from the Yarra Vally, Gippsland and Shepparton.

Product Golden Axe Apple Cider
Company South East Brewing Company
Sweetness Medium Dry
Acidity Low
Website goldenaxe.com.au
Country of Origin Australia
Region Victoria

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