John J. Kellys Traditional Irish Hard Cider

Brewed by Florida Beer Company
Style: Cider
Melbourne, Florida USA

If you are looking for a dry hard cider, this is the deal. It has the taste, color and finish of the stuff that I used to get in the pubs in England. A total pleasure to drink.

(12oz bottle) Quickly dissipating white head atop clear pear juice body, slightly sparkling. Aroma is moderately sweet, green apple, light white wine. Taste is medium sweet, apple juice, light white wine, pear juice. Light-medium body, low carbonation.

Drinkable but not very interesting. Golden and well carbonated, it’s got a slightly tart, fresh apple aroma which is reflected in the flavor. Slightly acidic finish.

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The aroma is strait forward apple cider, sweet and crisp. The appearance is pale gold with plenty of carbonation. The flavor is sweet and acidic but a little unpleasant. The palate is thin. This is a pretty plain blah cider.

Head is initially small, fizzy, white, fully diminishing. Body is clear light yellow. Aroma is notes of apple. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic. Light to medium body, watery texture, fizzy carbonation. Simple, but thankfully not overly sweet. Ok.

Bottled. Picked up in Blacksburg, VA. Cider is clear, anemic pale yellow with a small, white, frohty, mostly and rapidly diminishing head. The aroma is moderate-to-heavy apple juice...nothing else. The flavor is moderately-to-heavily sweet with a short, lightly acidic, trace bitter, lightly sweet finish. The body is light, the texture is watery and the carbonation is fizzy. Just tastes like carbonationed apple juice from concentrate. Totally boring and unremarkable.

on tap-pours a clear fizzy head with straw color. Aroma is apple. Taste is apple, sweet, good carbonation.

Pours like a ginger-ale with a fizzy, white head to boot. Aroma and flavor showed more complexity than I expected, with wooden notes and honey along with light vinous sourness to complement the predominant apple presence. Spritzy mouthfeel, dry finish and not as much of the gut-bomb acidity as I’ve found in other ciders. Above average for the style, and an interesting addition to the standard lineup of Guinness products I encountered at a St. Pat’s Day gathering.

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