The Blackwood Valley Brewing Company; The Cidery
Australian; Sweet Rosie- 4.5% Alcohol Content, Bittersweet- 6.5% Alcohol Content, Spider Cider- 5.5% Alcohol Content, and Scudamore's Scrumpy- 8% Alcohol Content.
$3 (AUD) for Sweet Rosie, Spider Cider, and Scudamore's Scrumpy. $4.50 (AUD) for Bittersweet; The Cidery (Bridgetown, WA)
The Cidery holds a special place in my heart. Two years ago, not long after I arrived in Australia, their beverages were my first boutique cider experience. At that point in my hard apple drink journey I had only sampled Strongbow (not a knock on them, but it is certainly one of the most mass produced/ generic ciders on the market). In addition to their eye opening ciders, I will always think fondly of The Cidery because of the inextricable link they have with Donnelly River/Bridgetown and now the wedding of my sister-in-law and my new brother-in-law. Congrats Rae and Shane; these ciders are all a toast to you and your amazing weekend at Donnelly River!
Spider Cider- This cider has a very refreshing apple taste, my favorite Cidery cider. It has great carbonation, good sweetness levels, and no aftertaste. A great all around cider.
Rating 9.
Sweet Cider- As the name would suggest, this cider has a sweeter taste than Spider Cider. It also possesses a much richer apple flavor and less alcohol. In fact, drinking Sweet Cider is a bit like pouring freshly pressed apple juice in your mouth while gargling a bit of alcoholic soda water. That sounds a little gross, but I meant it as a positive assessment; I'm not a huge sweet cider drinker, but if you are you'll love this one. If it's any consolation, Sweet Cider was a HUGE hit at the wedding reception.
Rating 8.6
Bitter Sweet- Bitter Sweet has quite an interesting taste; the first splash that hits your lips is that of sour apple, but it's not like the candy sour apple flavor, it's fuller. Honestly, I'm not even sure how I feel about this one since I do not like sour/ bitter apple flavors in general, but this one is still pretty good.
Rating 8.4
Scudamore's Scrumpy- My struggles with scrumpy ciders are well documented, but I had an enlightening conversation with a brewmaster at The Cidery that gave me pause. She spoke of the importance of the scrumpy cider to the genre as a whole; how it was/ is the genesis of ciders as we know them today. Even after she dropped her knowledge, I told her that I appreciated all that she said, but still didn't like scrumpies. We agreed that the scrumpy cider was an, "acquired taste," and went our separate ways. With all of that said, I re-sampled the first scrumpy cider that ever passed my lips years ago with a greater appreciation for the history and tradition of hard apple ciders. To be honest, this is the BEST true scrumpy I have tasted during my tour-de-force of ciders. Scudamore's Scrumpy still has that apple- vinegar feature of most scrumpies, but somehow this one is more palatable and I could actually imagine how a scrumpy enthusiast would truly enjoy it.
Rating 7.5
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