Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

I landed a week ago as a PR, I'd spent 14 months over through 2008/09 and am moderately familiar now with Toronto and the area.

There is one question that remains, one quest that eludes me. Where can one purchase a bottle, flagon, or vat of something that resembles English Cyder? I am speaking of the sort you'd get in the West Country - cloudy, possbily bitty, sour or bitter, made from apples and not the sugar.

So far I have found one Canadian brand at the LCBO/Beer Stores that could come close but is slightly effervescent and still a bit sweet to the taste. I know you can get Westons which is on the right lines but is akin to asking for lager and getting a pint of Fosters. Fine to quell a need but I'd not live on it! Other offerings seem to be of the Strongbow/Magners(or Bulmers)/Blackthorn range all of which are far too sweet and not at all what I'm looking for.

If anyone has found something good please do share!:thumbsup:

:fingerscrossed:

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

well I'm from the West Country we always called it "scrumpy" but this was made on farms by hand. I shouldn't think its called for much past the M4 corridor. Besides why are you calling it Cyder and not Cider?

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

I'm never sure where the distinction between some 'hard' farm cyders and scrumpy lies but I have a friend who makes his own and assures me that there are differences. So I didn't call it scrumpy.

As to my use of the alternative spelling, I've got into the habit of using cider for the newer mass produced sweeter or fizzy offerings (strongbow, kopparberg et al.) and cyder for the more traditional stuff and didn't really think about it.

I know of a few people who are either English descent or have visited England and enjoy(ed) cyder. I definitely drank my share wherever I was in the UK. I would like to think that its reach could extend beyond the M4!

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Yan, dyd yt not occur to you that substytutyng a y for an i ys a byt ponci lyke.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

I obviously have way too much time on my hands at the moment ...

Cyder is rarely made, at least not on a commercial scale. Cider, on the other hand, is.

Cyder is made from a single pressing of vintage fruit, rather like “extra virgin” olive oil.

Cider, the drink almost given to agricultural labourers well into living memory, was made from the cyder pulp being re-pressed at the rate of 10 gallons of water to 1 cwt of pulp. This “long drink” was conspicuously different, not only in its alcoholic value, but also its taste. This type of cider could never mature in cask or bottle and was meant for general consumption, at a time when water was not always safe to drink.

As with fine wines, Cyder does mature in cask and bottle, which the connoisseur can appreciate. “Industrial” cider and Perry can hardly be expected to be laid down to mature. Cyder is made with love and dedication, rather than resorting to the apothecaryst's bag of tricks. However, cider enjoys a wide following in the UK and many cider, and indeed wine, imbibers have discovered the “Real Thing”.

With thanks to Minchews Real Cyder and Perry!

J :)

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Alan: Had I done that no - irritating or stupid but not poncy. As I didn't it seems a fairly redundant comment.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Interesting as all that may be, if the LCBO decide in their infinite wisdom and benevolence that they are not going to stock it, then you are SOL in Ontario Im afraid:(

And tempting as it is to go in and edit the thread title to the proper spelling, I'm going to leave it, just to annoy Novo!

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Time to start growing some apple trees I fear.

'preciated:p

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Have you considered making your own cider?
My granddad used to, its not that difficult. He used to get free apples that had fallen on the ground. Mince them up, strain off the juice, chuck in a bit of sugar and wait a bit.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Yup - all my comments are redundant - except for the offensive ones. And I still think it's a tiny bit poncy, a bit like when people change the spelling of their names to have a y instead of an i.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

I think this may be what I now look into, as the easy way out doesn't appear that easy.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Imagine that mixed with the wasps in G77's garden. Angry 2 inch black wasps, drunk and leery on semi fermented rancid apple juice.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Then theres what folk round here call apple cider. What they mean is apple juice with bits

flydermays

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Have you tried these guys?

J :)

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

You have to make it in the morning as wasps get up late.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Are you familiar with a pub on Dartmoor called The Plume of Feathers? They used to brew their own, and rumour was they obtained the unique flavour, consistency and strength by fermenting half a piglet in the vat.

Whatever they did, it used to have most of us paralytic after three pints!

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Best cider I've had in a while is Rock Creek, made by Big Rock brewery here in Alberta. They use apples from the Okanagan, and it's one of my favorites.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

floating rats and anything else that used to find its way into the barrels apparently!

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Hey, Ian being originally from Wiltshire I am in the same boat. Best I have come up with is Cremant St Nicolas but its more of a sparkly wine at 2.8% and Nectar de Glace at 9% ( more of a sherry). I guess I should mix the two and see what comes up! Quebec seems to be the best for cider and as I live in Ottawa, its on my doorstep. Anyway the challenge is on for the best rocket fuel. Best of luck.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Sadly there isn't any decent cider easy to come by in Toronto. I've heard rumours of the occasional cask being on tap at some of the 'real ale' places (Volo, C'est Wha?) but the Waupoos cider from Prince Edward County doesn't seem to travel well - it was quite nice at the Waring House near Picton, but like drinking vinegar at C'est Wha? (but then I think C'est Wha? might be the most overrated bar I've been to).

You occasionally see Quebec ciders in the LCBO, but as a previous poster said they're priced akin to a bottle of wine and the one's I've seen are all about 3%. I've tried my own homebrews with...middling success (one drinkable batch, two flippin horrible) but still on the hunt for the elusive scrumpy. Heard good things about west coast cider makers, but Ontario cider tastes like a fizzy alcopop to me.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Just to mention that I went into the Three Lions pub in Vancouver tonight and they had Magners cider, although they charged $8.00 for a 500ml can.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Didn't triumphguy say he was making some cider about the time of this thread?

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Wow - you remembered a thread from around a year ago to dig up and comment on.

Are you a woman?

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

With every discovery like this makes Canada just that bit more livable. And, I used the search button and picked the most appropriate. It's common sense which thus makes me a man. ;)

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Igor: Dr. Frankenstein...
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: "Fronkensteen."
Igor: You're putting me on.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: No, it's pronounced "Fronkensteen."
Igor: Do you also say "Froaderick"?
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: No... "Frederick."
Igor: Well, why isn't it "Froaderick Fronkensteen"?
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: It isn't; it's "Frederick Fronkensteen."
Igor: I see.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: You must be Igor.
[He pronounces it ee-gor]
Igor: No, it's pronounced "eye-gor."
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: But they told me it was "ee-gor."
Igor: Well, they were wrong then, weren't they?

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Wait! Can you get Kopparberg in Canada now? When I saw it in UK I nearly fainted. UK has the best Ciders there are and they import Kopparberg? (I'm swedish and used to like it until I got trained on Magners, which is just now starting to show up in Sweden. Strongbow and Stowford has been available for a while.)

Sorry I can't help you with your problem. I have a similar in reverse. I'm gagging for a Labatts or Molson. Of course neither available where I live.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Y'm intrigued to hear there is actually a difference between cyder and cider .... are they pronounced the same? If so do you always have to say "cyder-with-a-Y" to clarify which of the two you are talking about ...... hmmmmm .... <goes off to paint her tent>

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

Maybe cyder is sigh-derr and cider is sid-er??

In Ontario "apple cider" is freshly squashed apple juice. Had me wondering why they were giving cider to kids, then I realised. Duh.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

From WikipediaWhy, I have no idea.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

just one of them foreign things us immigrants have to get used to. Canadians and their cute little ways. :sneaky::sneaky:

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

He did mention that he was going to make a batch of cider. I wonder how it turned out?

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

One of my grandfathers used to press and make his own "hard cider." As a child, I recall an occasion where he put a large pork bone in the mix, weeks later it was gone. To this day I do not know if he was messing around or if the bone really did dissolve.

I was only ever allowed a small sip, but do enjoy the odd real scrumpy on occasion.

The town my folks live in still has "Ye Olde Cider Bar"....one of the last remaining in the UK (apparently)....:D

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

People who call cider, 'cyder' are wrong.

Re: Cyder Glorious Cyder
 

All you need to know about Cider home brew:

http://www.cider.org.uk/

"Small-scale Cider Making!

This portal takes you to a whole load of information about small-scale cider making. Here you can learn how to grow cider apples, how to process them into cider juice, how to ferment it into hard cider, and how to bottle and store the cider.

Later, you can learn how to tweak the process to make it just what you want - dry or sweet, fizzy or flat. There's sections on unfermented apple juice and on cider vinegar too. There's even a bit of history - these fellows are from the17th century!"

A little google goes a long way.....