Gwatkin Stoke Red Medium Sweet Cider

Brewed by Gwatkin Cider
Style: Cider
Hereford, England

Cask, Hinckley Fest 09. Hazy orange brown in colour. Aromas are ripe, earthy apple with spices and some vinegar. Flavours are very sweet, ripe apple with earthy notes. Some toffee apple with vinegar acidity. Traces of sulphur. Good.

Bottle, from a stall at Lincolnshire Show. Deep gold, no head or condition. Pleasant but understated spirity apple sweetness in the nose, sweet and full in the mouth with fresh apple juice to the fore but with a suggestion of nutty almonds and a developing woodiness that is almost resinous, finish is quite short with a vague note of citrus tang and briefly lingering woodiness.

Bottle picked up at Garden centre near Dinmore between Hereford and Leominster 28-06-08 Pours mid yellow in colour. Sweet farmy cooked apples, rich appley taste nice sweetness which isn’t overpowering very, very drinkable. A6 A4 F7 P4 OV14 3.5 Had this cider again 19-02-09, picked up from same garden centre near Dinmore Wonderfully clear good looking cider. The nose is almost apple schnapps or even more apple brandy than cider, sweet but tasty apples, some straw, very juicy and strength is apparent. Could get quite polluted on this stuff in the summer months if I had a few bottles kicking about. Even better second time around mark moves up a couple of notches. A7 A5 P7 P4 OV14 3.7

Appearance
Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 2   Pale(1)->Dark(5) : 3   Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 1
Aroma
Intensity : 3  
Yeast : 3   Bread : 1   Hay: XX   Brett : 2   Floral: 2   Wood: 3   Leather: 4   Barnyard : 2   Medicine : XX   Phenols: XX   Cheese : XX   Vinous: 4  
Notes: Caramel : XX   Honey : 2   Applesauce: XX   Appleskin : 2 Pear : XX   Tropical FruitsXX  
Flavor
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4 Juicy: 4   Sourness : 2   Bitterness: XX   Farmy : 2   Complex: 3   Length : XX
Palate
Light(1)->Full(5) : 3   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 1 Chewy: XX   Sharp: XX   Chalk : XX   Astringence : 1   Tea tannins : 1   Alcohol : XX
Comments: A mostly sweet example, but frank, juicy,leathery and really quite complex.

Cask@Flower Pot, Derby. Cloudy golden cider with a lightly dry and mainly sweet aroma. The flavour is sweet apple jucie, slightly vinous and slightly dry. Overall a nice sweetish dry cider.

Cask Stillage at the Bhurtpore Inn, Aston 12/07/2003 Amber coloured with a slightly cloudy appearance. Extremely fruity aroma and flavour. Lasting finish.

Murky reddish copper colour - quite deep for a cider. Old Silk’s a bit of a sweetie when it comes to cider whereas I tend to favour maximum attenuation and full-on funk. So, this being a quite sweet, relatively soft and fruity cider, it will come as no surprise that my mark is marginally lower. Very succulent and juicy and with a fairly high farmyard factor. But, in truth, its a bit sweeter than I’d like, although a modest acidity on the finish mitigates. Doesn’t quite scale the heights for me but still jolly decent. From the barrel at the Oakdale Arms, Haringey.

Weird, my 666th rating is infact a cider, and completely unintentionally. Cloudy dark apple juice in colour. Very funky aroma. Big juicy apple taste, bit of blue cheese in there too. Quite juicy and tart in the finish. Nice stuff!