Granny Smith

Endless Cider, without a doubt is the stripiest cider I’ve reviewed so far. Inspired by a trip to the UK, The Endless Apple Cider takes apples from Gippsland and turns them into a cider designed to convert people into cider fans. What a great idea, but did they pull it off?

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Apple Thief set themselves apart in the market by making ciders from single varieties of apples. The clue is in the name, Apple Thief Granny Smith Cider. David Purcell the owner and cider maker, grew up in the apple orchards of Batlow, New South Wales. He’s set himself a challenge making ciders without blending varieties instead it’s made exclusively from Granny Smiths.

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Cider in a can, the last time I had cider from a can I was quite a bit younger and the cider was fake rubbish. Australian Brewery Fresh Press Cider wants to change this perception in the name of quality. By lifting the quality of the can and more importantly what goes into it.
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This is the final chapter on my 4 part series looking at some of the best cider from New Zealand that I could find in Australia. Today I return to  Zeffer’s cider house to review the Zeffer Dry Crisp Apple Cider. Only problem is it’s now called Zeffers Crisp Apple Cider. Read More

Round three on my cider tour of New Zealand (from the comfort of the couch) sees me sampling a Weka Apple Cider,  Moa Breweries entry into the cider game.

I come into this review with a level of scepticism. Weka is made by Moa. Moa is a beer company, a rapidly growing beer company. I’m always dubious of beer brewers making Cider. It seems the bigger the company the less chance that real apples are used in the cider. I got even more worried when I found out that one of the brewers on the Moa team is the ex-head brewer of Heineken, they don’t get much bigger than that.

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I decided to review Tilse’s Apple Truck cider after seeing it my local pub. They poured the pale cider from the tap into an icy schooner. Produced at top end on the Hunter in the little town of Scone, Apple Truck Cider is the mostly locally made cider to where I grew up. When reviewing ciders I’m always interested in how the local climate affects the flavours.
Scone is on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. The winters do get chilly which apples need to fruit. While the summers have plenty of sunshine. The Granny Smith and Red Delicious love conditions like this. These Granny Smiths make a very clear and pale cider. Read More

A cider, by wine makers, Napoleone Apple Cider is a family operation that grows, presses and ferments the fruit themselves. This gives them total control over the end product, which has earnt them a silver medal in the 2013 Cider Australia Awards for medium ciders (specific gravity between 1005 and 1012).
The Napoleone family immigrated from Italy in the 1940’s settling in the Yarra Valley. They set about planting apples for the eating market. Today they have around 250 hectares of apple trees. In the late 1980 vines were planted and was later turned to wine sold under the Punt Road label.
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Back in 2010 two mates set themselves with a simple goal – to make Australia’s best cider! By keeping it local and keeping it simple, the Hills Cider Company has come up with a cider that is hard to beat and gives you every bang for your buck. Read More