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Cool project, made me very thirsty and in the mood for eating an apple. Or three. Stupid question from a non-native speaker: what is the difference between app

by unwind 5y ago

Cool project, made me very thirsty and in the mood for eating an apple. Or three. Stupid question from a non-native speaker: what is the difference between apple juice and apple cider? In my mind, you ferment juice to make cider, but the article calls the initial raw liquid coming straight out of the press "cider".

elemeno 5y ago
It's an americanism as far as I can tell - 'cider' is what would be called apple juice in the UK (or maybe just fresh pressed apple juice) and 'hard cider' is what would be called 'cider' in the UK (i.e. the alcoholic beverage).
timlyo 5y ago
That's correct in the most of the English speaking world, apple juice is what it sounds like, cider is fermented apple juice (as far as I'm aware, it is in the UK). In American English cider is apple juice, and hard cider is fermented, alcoholic apple juice.
- mcdonje 5y ago
  Correct that we call it hard cider if it's fermented. For non-fermented, we draw a distinction between apple juice and cider. Best explained by Flanders: https://youtu.be/L1BfF77Pvio?t=15 https://youtu.be/L1BfF77Pvio?t=15
definitelyhuman 5y ago
Good question! Cider is unfiltered and cloudy, and gets a rich brown colour from the pulp sediment. Apple juice is totally clear, and has been strained of all sediment. As others mention hard cider is alcoholic, but most people just overload and use cider, and distinguish by context - which isn’t helpful. You can make hard cider from juice or cider, the flavour will differ, but it the name. However, most commercial cider is just flavoured malt liquor - which also gets the same name, so ingredient checking is important!
- messe 5y ago
  It also depends where in the world you are. Cider, in the UK and Ireland, is never anything but a fermented alcoholic drink.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  This is a USA perspective. Cloudy apple juice is referred to in the UK, and most places apart from the USA, as "cloudy apple juice". Cloudy fermented apple juice is referred to in the UK as "scrumpy" or "scrumpy cider". It's mainly made in Herefordshire and the West Country, and it can be surprisingly strong; in many West Country pubs, they won't let you order a pint of scrumpy, they'll limit it to half-a-pint, unless you are known (or have a local accent). I have heard, but I don't know, that it was customary to chuck an iron ploughshare into the cider fermenting vat; it would completely disappear by the end of fermentation. I have heard a similar tale about throwing in a horse's head - nothing left, dissolves completely. I'm sure they don't use these adulterants in the production of commercial "hobo cider", such as White Lightning. But vegan "ciderpunks" should maybe ask questions about the scrumpy they are ordering.
  - biotinker 5y ago
    > customary to chuck an iron ploughshare into the cider fermenting vat; it would completely disappear by the end of fermentation. I have trouble believing that this was customary. It's absolutely the case that iron will dissolve in a large vat of fermenting apple cider, but the result will be a cider with some very odd and unpleasant colors and flavors. Not something that someone would want to induce intentionally. Most cidermaking books will instruct one to keep the cider from any contact with any iron, copper, or lead as all three will readily dissolve.
    - denton-scratch 5y ago
      I hear you! It sounds like a bonkers tale to me (which is partly why I related it here). I've never tried to make cider, and I've never read a cider-making book. It certainly doesn't sound like the kind of hygiene practice that is normal in fermenting processes. But I do have the impression that hygiene is not taken as seriously in cider-making as in, for example, beer-brewing.

by unwind 5y ago

elemeno 5y ago

It's an americanism as far as I can tell - 'cider' is what would be called apple juice in the UK (or maybe just fresh pressed apple juice) and 'hard cider' is what would be called 'cider' in the UK (i.e. the alcoholic beverage).

timlyo 5y ago

That's correct in the most of the English speaking world, apple juice is what it sounds like, cider is fermented apple juice (as far as I'm aware, it is in the UK). In American English cider is apple juice, and hard cider is fermented, alcoholic apple juice.

mcdonje 5y ago
Correct that we call it hard cider if it's fermented. For non-fermented, we draw a distinction between apple juice and cider. Best explained by Flanders: https://youtu.be/L1BfF77Pvio?t=15 https://youtu.be/L1BfF77Pvio?t=15

definitelyhuman 5y ago

Good question! Cider is unfiltered and cloudy, and gets a rich brown colour from the pulp sediment. Apple juice is totally clear, and has been strained of all sediment. As others mention hard cider is alcoholic, but most people just overload and use cider, and distinguish by context - which isn’t helpful. You can make hard cider from juice or cider, the flavour will differ, but it the name. However, most commercial cider is just flavoured malt liquor - which also gets the same name, so ingredient checking is important!

messe 5y ago
It also depends where in the world you are. Cider, in the UK and Ireland, is never anything but a fermented alcoholic drink.
denton-scratch 5y ago
This is a USA perspective. Cloudy apple juice is referred to in the UK, and most places apart from the USA, as "cloudy apple juice". Cloudy fermented apple juice is referred to in the UK as "scrumpy" or "scrumpy cider". It's mainly made in Herefordshire and the West Country, and it can be surprisingly strong; in many West Country pubs, they won't let you order a pint of scrumpy, they'll limit it to half-a-pint, unless you are known (or have a local accent). I have heard, but I don't know, that it was customary to chuck an iron ploughshare into the cider fermenting vat; it would completely disappear by the end of fermentation. I have heard a similar tale about throwing in a horse's head - nothing left, dissolves completely. I'm sure they don't use these adulterants in the production of commercial "hobo cider", such as White Lightning. But vegan "ciderpunks" should maybe ask questions about the scrumpy they are ordering.
- biotinker 5y ago
  > customary to chuck an iron ploughshare into the cider fermenting vat; it would completely disappear by the end of fermentation. I have trouble believing that this was customary. It's absolutely the case that iron will dissolve in a large vat of fermenting apple cider, but the result will be a cider with some very odd and unpleasant colors and flavors. Not something that someone would want to induce intentionally. Most cidermaking books will instruct one to keep the cider from any contact with any iron, copper, or lead as all three will readily dissolve.
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
    I hear you! It sounds like a bonkers tale to me (which is partly why I related it here). I've never tried to make cider, and I've never read a cider-making book. It certainly doesn't sound like the kind of hygiene practice that is normal in fermenting processes. But I do have the impression that hygiene is not taken as seriously in cider-making as in, for example, beer-brewing.