Apple Cider Reconstitution

As you may have gathered from the previous post, I spent a quiet birthday at home with the family, or rather with Eileen, as Matthew was at work. I finished doing some tidying up in the garden, despite being under orders from my good lady wife, not to overdo it. I’m not sure what she thought I’d be doing, especially as the bone-dry ground far too hard for any digging.  in the meantime, she prepared a very nice joint of roast pork for our Sunday dinner. As far as the drink was concerned, I went for something a little different for this special occasion, by selecting two high strength alcoholic beverages.

The first of these was a large 750 ml bottle of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Celebration Ale, which was given to me by a work colleague as a Christmas present. However, with a potency of 7.9% abv, and a volume one
and a half times that of a normal bottle of beer, I was reluctant to open it, because I thought it was a lot of strong, high-octane beer to get through in one sitting. I needn't have been concerned because the beer was packaged in a corked bottle, so it was quite easy to re-cork it, and save some for later - or at least it was until the cork dried out!

I’m pleased to report that the beer was excellent, and despite its high strength it didn't taste sweet, or cloying, as one might have expected from a beer of this gravity. According to the bottle, Celebration Ale is best served lightly chilled and is perfect to be enjoyed on any occasion, including celebrations, particularly in view of its strength. It is a blonde ale bursting with bright citrus and tropical fruit notes, balanced with a subtle herbaceous character, set against a warming spiciness, which derives from the use of Australian Vic Secret hops. Brewed in the French town of Arques, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France, bordering Saint-Omer, an area that has been under Belgian, English, French and Spanish rule at different times, during it long history. It was definitely a fitting beer for a significant birthday celebration.

The other drink celebration drink I enjoyed wasn't a beer but was instead a bottle of Waitrose No. 1 English Vintage Perry. Produced in partnership with Weston’s, the renowned West Country cider maker, who were established in 1880, and made with 100% fresh pressed pear juice this Herefordshire Perry is made using fresh pears, selected from a single year’s harvest. The Perry is slow matured to bring out the complex pear flavours generously refreshing scrub that deliciously refreshing with baked fruit flavours and a hint of Ruby Grapefruit and spice. It's a perfect match for creamy cheeses according to the label on the bottle. I'd selected it as the perfect match for a joint of roast pork, and I certainly wasn't wrong with that judgement.

The only trouble was this enjoyable and rather good, sparkling perry has an alcohol content of 8.0% so, following on, from an equally strong beer, was probably not a good idea, even though I was celebrating a significant milestone in my life. As with the Celebration Ale. I didn't drink the bottle all at once, in fact I ended up re-capping it as best I could and drinking the remaining half, the following day. Kept in the fridge it was still good and hadn’t lost its sparkle or its appealing taste.

Now I was going to tell the tale about cider being responsible for the first time I became tipsy, at the tender age of 14, but looking back I discovered that I’d posted that particular story, back in August 2020. I must have been bored, during Covid, but the post is still worth re-reading, especially as it sets out my feelings about cider, and how I disapproved with CAMRA becoming sidetracked with their separate, and in my view completely unrelated campaign in support of fermented apple (and pear) juice.

That stance has mellowed since then, especially as I’m not longer a member of CAMRA, but also because I’m becoming more enamoured with traditional cider and perry, and the role these drinks play in pub life today. Give it a read, along with the other article it links to, which is about – you guessed it, Waitrose No. 1 English Vintage Perry.