Cider Jack Hard Cider

Brewed by Green Mountain Cidery (HP Bulmer)
Style: Cider
Middlebury, Vermont USA

12 oz. bottle. Bottle says it was brewed in Middlebury, Vermont. Pours a clear, pale golden color with no head. Lots of carbonation bibbles. Looks more like a soda in my glass. No detectable aroma. Not a bad aroma, just nothing. The flavor is slightly tart apples with some yeast. Really not sweet, and actually finshes a bit dry.

Lightly sour aroma, akin to lemons. Very light yellow with little head. Very sweet, yet dry mouth quality. Lightly of apples. Very akin to mead.

My bottle says ‘cider jack draft cider’ on it - not draft cider. Somebody on the forum told me it is the same thing. So…. long time ago I decided I liked sweet bubbly fruity drinks. Is it true ‘you are what you drink?’ I distinctly remember the first time I tried orange and grape Nehi. Can’t forget the first time I scored a Mountain Dew! This is all reflected in the way I scored Frambroise raspberry lambic and sweet american hard ciders. I have had some ciders by Hornsby that where more like a wine cooler, with all their sugar and other additives in there – not really a cider. Anyway, they say the ciders in america are child’s play compared to the ciders that are available over in the UK. US ciders are simply bubbly fruit drinks by comparison. I hope someday to buy some real cider, I’m not too sure why they are not readily available here, considering the amount of UK beers I can easily get. This cider is in a short 12 oz brown bottle with a twist off cap. Has a dude staring at a red delicious apple on the front. Things are looking up, on the label the only other ingredients is malic acid, apple flavor, sorbate and sulfites! The aroma begins with a blast of sour apple candy. The smell expands to a larger volume once poured into my poor steeler stein. In the glass it has a very light pale yellow tinge, almost like a witbier. There is very little carbonation but I do see a spot in there where a bubble or two is arising. The initial flavor is a hit of slightly watery granny smith apple, not as sweet as I anticipated. The raspberry version is much sweeter. Bubbles arise every time the drinker takes a sip. Good carbonation on the palate. Very nice, not overly sweet finish - could drink a few of these. Seems like your typical so called ‘cider’ from the north east US.

Pours a nice medium golden yellow color. Smooth apple aromas. Flavor starts out sweet and finishes with a tart ending.

I’m a beer guy, I love beer. Beer has always been my drink of choice, though I do also drink wine on occasion, and spirits as well. Beer has been with us here in America since colonial times. But there is also another drink that has been here as long as beer, and that is cider. Hard cider has been popular in Europe for centuries, especially in countries such as England, Ireland, and France. Cider here in America, hasn’t enjoyed steady popularity. Hard cider is apple cider that has been fermented, and is an alcoholic drink, usually coming in at about 6% abv, making it a bit more potent than your average beer. In colonial times, cider along with beer, was an every day drink. As much hard cider, if not more, was being produced and consumed than beer at points in time. But somewhere along the line the tradition of drinking hard cider, was lost. There has always been small, local, pockets of hard cider production, but cider has become popular once again due to cider companies such as Woodchuck, and the American Cider Company, makers of Cider Jack. Cider Jack pours to a bright golden color, with a slight white head that quickly fades. Carbonation is very lively. The nose has a nice sweet/sour apple aroma. The palate delivers more tart and sweet apple flavors. Cider Jack finishes with more apple flavor and dries on the tongue. This is a crisp, refreshing, hard cider. I’m a beer drinker, but I have always been a cider drinker as well. Cider Jack is a staple in my beer fridge(ok, my wife is the one that really loves it!) and it is a nice change of pace from beer. I like drinking hard cider also because there really is a tradition involved, it is as much a part of our American heritage as beer is. Cider Jack works really well with pork and turkey. I would match this with roasted pork loin, baked ham, or roasted turkey. This makes a nice aperitif, and would go great with a desert of hot apple pie.

There is an underlying champagne yeast flavor and aroma in this hard cider. If someone hadn’t brought this over my house for NYE I don’t think I would have ever sampled it. It didn’t help the rating that I had a sweet tasting Sparks malternative before drinking the Cider Jack. Cider Jack was more dry than sweet.

The aroma is like apple vinegar with sugar added. The appearance is clear with a tiny bit of yellow. The flavor is acidic and pretty much a sour apple type of cider. There is however some sugar to balance but it still comes off more on the dry side in the finish. The palate is typical for the style. Not my favorite cider.

Pours very light yellow, with a fully receding head. Slight aroma is tart, solvent, note of alcohol. Tastes alot better than it smells. Starts sweet but has an odd dry finish. Gets an extra point because it has Nutrition Facts listed. Not a big fan of this. I still haven’t had any ciders I have truly enjoyed.