Gwatkin Foxwhelp Dry Cider

Brewed by Gwatkin Cider
Style: Cider
Hereford, England

Bottle. Golden and still. Aromas are minimal apple juice with lots of woody notes, sake and alcohol. Quite peppery. Flavours are very dry and woody with lots of mushroom. Vinegar and citrus come through with lots of barnyard funkiness. Very little apple. I like "real" cider but didn’t get on with this at all.

Bottle, from a stall at Lincolnshire Show. Gold, no head or condition. Gentle apple nose with slightly fungal woodiness and a touch of peppery spiciness, dry and alcoholic in the mouth with a pronounced barnyard note and some delicate phenolic flavours, although gentle sweet citrus apple is noticable in the background, dry woody finish with some retronasal alcohol and a slight oily tang of citrus at the back of the throat, plus a touch of apple on the burp.

At the cider festival, the Royal Oak, Bath 13/06/09. deep gold in colour and slightly cloudy. Dry savoury aroma with some tart apples. Flavour was also dry, with a touch of wood in the finish. Good.

Bottle - Big bubbled head on clear deep amber body; The nose has quite warm sweet barrel aromas with yeast and a little acetic acid behind, apple skin as well, quite sweet for a dry Cider and not really elegant; Strange body, very soft textured almost oily, very yeast dry with quite a bit of tannins; A sharp acetic bite when swallowed with an almost Rochfort yeasty aroma. Very strange Cider and not as elegant as the other Gwatkin’s I have had.

750ml bottle (filtered) from Ciderstore. Clear, mid-gold colour. Still. Oak is noticeable in the aroma - more woody than vanilla though. Also mildly spicy fruit. Bone dry, with light tannins and a decent amount of residual fruit. Firm mouthfeel, but easy drinking. Clean, refreshing but not the most farmyardy. Quite wine-like. Well suited for home drinking with food. Went quite well with a spicy Chinese stir fry. The bottled and draught versions are distinctly different.

Hazy golden with no head. Apple juice aroma. Tart flavour with oak notes and a hint of smoke.

Appearance
Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 5   Pale(1)->Dark(5) : 3   Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 1
Aroma
Intensity : 3  
Yeast : 3   Bread : 2   Hay: XX   Brett : 2   Floral: XX   Wood: 3   Leather: 3   Barnyard : 3   Medicine : 2   Phenols: 3   Cheese : 2   Vinous: 4  
Notes: Caramel : 2   Honey : XX   Applesauce: 1   Appleskin : 4 Pear : XX   Tropical Fruits2  
Flavor
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 2 Juicy: 2   Sourness : 2   Bitterness: XX   Farmy : 2   Complex: 3   Length : XX
Palate
Light(1)->Full(5) : 4   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 1 Chewy: XX   Sharp: 2   Chalk : XX   Astringence : 4   Tea tannins : 3   Alcohol : 2
Comments: Very well-balanced, dark, thick cider that starts almost caramelly, but finishes dry indeed.

From barrel @ GBBF 2007, London. Hazy yellow grey color with virtually none head. Aroma is light to moderate apple. Flavor is light to moderate sweet with a average duration. Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is flat.