Carlton United’s “craft by acquisition” brand Matilda Bay has a new Cider that fits into their branding a little bit better than their Dirty Granny Cider. This is the Lumber Yak.
The Lumber Yak has a big responsibility. This Cider will be the Cider sold in the craft section of your average suburban Aussie pub. It’ll be sold as part of a deal when the management buy a few of Carlton United’s beers and get this cider pretty cheap. That means this will be many people’s first Cider or it may be the Cider that many people compare all future ciders against or their only choice. That means even if this is a cheaper mass produced one, it has a duty to educate the consumer.
Matilda Bays Lumber Yak absolutely fails at this even before I’ve knocked the top off this bottle. The label around the neck says “Cold Brewed Cider”. I’ve said it before, to brew means to boil. How do you cold boil Cider? Beer is boiled during it’s production. If you boil apple juice it will ruin the delicate flavours and lose all of the freshness. Basically your going to have a bad day. I think Matilda Bay meant to say cold fermented Cider.
But hey it says it’s made from 100% Australian apples. I bet there is some added water as well.
The Nose
Over ripe green apples boarding on a caramel. There are undertones on cream and maybe a strawberry or two.
The Taste
Very mellow, no acids no tannins just a little bit weak. The bottle says crisp refreshing Cider. Couldn’t they find another word other than crisp? Do people expect a Cider to be crisp just because an eating apple is crisp? I expected a “crisp” Cider to be high in acid and the finish should be short and sharp not hanging around in my mouth. While the Lumber Yak isn’t a lingerer, it isn’t crisp it just doesn’t have the acid profile to punch out the finish. That over-ripe apple flavour is in the forefront. Textually the Lumber Yak is quite round and creamy.
To me this is very much like a muted Magners. So if you have every thought, “actually this Magners has too much flavour for me”, then the Lumber Yak is probably worth a try.
Final Thoughts Matilda Bay’s Lumber Yak
I had relatively high hopes for this Cider. Matilda Bay has a pretty good standing in the beer world. Not at the top of the class but people are happy to drink it and Matilda Bay has introduced people to different styles of beers. I was hoping for the same educational experience here, but it just gets too many things wrong. Probably more importantly the flavour just isn’t strong enough to make it truly appealing.
| Product | Lumber Yak |
| Company | Matilda Bay |
| Sweetness | Medium Sweet |
| Alc/Vol | 4>5% |
| Website | yak-ales.com.au/ |
| Country of Origin | Australia |
| Region | Victoria |
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March 15, 2019
The worst beverage to ever been inside my mouth. It tastes awful. Nothing like apple strawberry or any cider at all. We have no idea what has happened here. Has the brewer got no tastebuds?? What’s the story about mountain freshness and lumber stuff? Do turn the Yak into a Juk please so end consumers like myself don’t get misled. We shall keep the remaining bottles for the mother in law.
January 11, 2021
Have to disagree. If you don’t like Cider don’t drink Cider.
I for one am now very sad as this cider, which as far as I can tell displaced my previous favourite “Dirty Granny”, is it’s self now getting hard to find. Most ciders in Australia are like a bucket of sugar on the palate. DGs and then Lumber Yak at least moved past the “soda” (Carbonated sugary beverage) flavor profile into a drink that tastes like it was brewed.
Websters Definition of brew (Entry 1 of 2)
transitive verb
1: to prepare (beer, ale, etc.) by steeping, boiling, and fermentation or by infusion and fermentation
Note the
OR by infusion and fermentation.
Boil them apples Hugh 🙂 Or better still recommend a cider I can buy that is “crisp, acidic and full flavoured”
Bulmers over Magners any day or Thatchers or Mercury Red (also hard to find). At the moment it’s Cheeky Tiki but thats also a hen’s tooth.
Help please!
January 11, 2021
Might i recommend my best of 2020 list
or if you are looking some easier to find ciders made from 100% aussie apples that are crisp and acidic, look for some of the ones by Batlow or Bilpin from NSW, you may also like Napoleone from VIC or The Spreyton Orginal from TAS.
Most of these are available at the big-name bottle shops or better still ask your local independent bottle shop to help support these small independent cider makers.
January 11, 2021
Having just found your site and the Lumber Yak being the first review I read, I may have been a bit defensive. I know it’s CUB but I am just tired of buying 6 pack after 6 pack of the mass market, only to be totally disgusted. In fact I’ve now read 10 pages of your reviews now and so far on the mass market product you’ve covered I pretty much agreed every time. I wish I could get refunds on the Scape goat, Orchid Thieves. Castaways, Pure Blond, Somersby, and too many others.
I just want something I can find consistently, and that doesn’t make me wish I could take out an insurance policy to cover the outrageous cost (eek insurance). Oh and it can’t taste like watery sugary sugary water. (wow stretching my creativity with that description) I’m off to “Dans” to see if I can find any of the 4 above. Sadly I’m not aware of any independent bottle shops anywhere near me anymore. Yep 100% on supporting the Aussie industry. If I find something to my old, dry, bitter, acidic tastes I’ll drink the last of my Yak and move on happily. I’ll also get a Magners again to refresh my fatigued memory as I was thinking of Monteiths in my comments above.
January 11, 2021
Look for the Australian Cider trust mark on the label. It’s a logo in the shape of a hand with a apple on the palm. If a cider has that on the label it’s made with 100 Australian apples and it’s probably going to be pretty tasty. http://www.cideraustralia.org.au/trustmark/