Twisted Sister is the cider label made by the Victorian craft brewers, Grand Ridge Brewery. Grand Ridge has been winning awards for their beer since they started up in the late 1980’s. The 4 daughters, however, were cider drinkers and not beer fans. What’s a father to do? Make cider, the Twisted Sister Cider.
The Twisted Sister Cider is made of a blend of Gippsland apples, mostly Royal Galas, Red Delicious, Pink Ladies and a few from a secret stash. They know the only way to make a good cider is to use fresh apples and never use sugars or concentrates.
The goal here was to make a fresh, elegant cider. They used all of their beer brewing knowledge to pull this off. I’m not sure how that works because beer and cider are so different in terms of production. But even I know that freshness is key to a good beer. So let’s hope that’s the element that comes through from their brewing experience. 
When doing my research about Twisted Sister, I spoke with Belinda the operations manager, she mentioned their involvement with the Need for Feed charity. The charity helps out farmers in times of drought and flood by supplying food for livestock. Grand Ridge kicked in some Twisted Sister in hampers for the farmers. Little gestures like this can be a real boost to one’s mental well-being. As a farm boy, I know how tough it can be when the weather works against you. If you would like to help out or learn more please see the Need For Feed site
The Nose
The Royal Galas and Pink Ladies and their sharp floral notes are the main scents but under that, is a little milk chocolate hiding away.
The Taste
Grand Ridge Brewery have met their goal with the Twisted Sister, the freshness is certainly here. Bright and light acids and floral notes. This thing is seriously crisp. not exactly deep but it represents apples used perfectly. The sharpness is balanced by a good helping of sweetness. The finish clean but still has plenty of apple flesh flavour.
Final Thoughts on the Twisted Sister Cider
I asked Belinda about what she likes to eat with a bottle of Twisted Sister. She was quick to point out it went well with the salmon in the brewery’s restaurant. While I haven’t tried the salmon, I have been writing this over the period just after Christmas when you’re trying to eat up all the leftover leg ham. It goes well with a ham and mozzarella pizza. I think food is the key to this cider. The sharp acids work so well at refreshing your mouth for the next bite.
| Product | Twisted Sister Apple Cider |
| Company | Grand Ridge Brewery |
| Sweetness | Medium |
| Alc/Vol | 5% |
| Website | grand-ridge.com.au/cider.html |
| Country of Origin | Australia |
| Region | Mirboo North, Victoria |
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September 22, 2017
I first tasted twisted sister apple cider at a farmers market on Phillip Island and absolutely loved it so when I had a chance to buy more at Dan Murphy’s I was over the moon. But the box I purchased at the Shepparton store is not the same as what I got at the farmers market, this box of cider is flat and not at all nice to drink. Does this cider have a used by date as I could not find one? Can I replace it? The bar code is 52213 00251 can you please tell me if this is an old box of cider?
September 22, 2017
Cider will change it’s flavour over time. Have a read of this for more information on how ciders age.
I would suggest getting in touch with Grand Ridge or Dan Murphy’s about when it was made. The other thing to keep in mind is that the apples will change flavour year to year based on the weather conditions among other things.
November 2, 2017
Hi there. I tried your cider at Dan Murphy’s Mornington from your lovely sales person. I bought 4 bottles of the pear.
I really liked the flavour as it was not too sweet. I thought however that I would like to share with you I thought that there was alot of gas in the bottle resulting in every mouthful being very gassy. I don’t know if you have found this with your product but I just thought I would share some feedback. I still really like the flavour and am glad that I tried it.
November 3, 2017
Many of these products are made on a very small scale. The fruit varies from year to year so blends need to adapt. It may be a little gassy but next time might be better. But that is half the fun.