By Greg B.  I picked up a French Cider the other day just out of curiosity.  For years, in the fall, I would brew a cider of some sort, only to have it never come out like the ciders I expected (Magner’s or Woodchuck).  It was only recently that I began to learn about other ciders, more dry and traditional cider and figured I’d buy a bottle and see what this was all about.  During my cider fermentation experimentation years, I had tried twice with beer years, once with champagne yeast and once with a wine yeast to make the cider.  All came out exceptionally dry, and most exploded when springtime and warmer temperatures came around.  So  bought a bottle of Clos Normand Brut Cider and eventually, got around to opening it.

I given my new knowledge, I expected a beer that was much more similar to my homebrews than to anything I had sampled before, but I was wrong.  This cider poured a very clear light golden color with a very activity and singing head which rapidly grew and receded.  The beer smelled strongly of apples, and sweet apples at that.  The taste was basically exactly how the aroma went, sweet apples with added carbonation from the aggressive carbonation of the beer.  Overall, this did not really impress me, but I think I need to learn more about the style before I pass judgement and give this a rating 4% abv (assumed rating… 2.4?).

Try this beer with: salad, it might be too sweet for much else, though perhaps a fruit dessert would be nice