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For UK readers: USAians use the term "cider" to refer to what UKians call "apple juice". What we refer to as "cider", they refer to as "hard cider". I have no

For UK readers: USAians use the term "cider" to refer to what UKians call "apple juice". What we refer to as "cider", they refer to as "hard cider". I have no idea what term USAians would use for spirits distilled from apple liquor, e.g. Calvados; or fortified cider, such as apfelkorn. I would be interested to learn. I've never seen apfelkorn for sale in the UK, and Calvados is only available from specialist merchants. I don't know why UK apple producers don't make these strong apple drinks; it's not as if we don't grow enough apples here. @schoen: Um yes, it's the "lasers" bit that dragged me to the article; that was clickbait. It's just about making fermented apple-juice at home. Which is not that hard; it will ferment all on it's own, you don't need to add yeast or anything. Cider is the natural end-state for apples. There was a young lady from Clyde Who ate a bad apple, and died. The apple fermented Inside the lamented And made cider inside her inside.

JimiofEden 5y ago
In my experience, cider is a bit contextual. I've heard and used it to mean both alcoholic and non alcoholic cider. But usually people default to mean a non filtered apple juice like you said. (Since we also have apple juice, but it's hard to think of it as anything other than super processed sugary drink) Apple liquor/cordials are usually called just that, or more specific depending on the type of liquor (i.e., my family keeps a bottle of Apple flavored whiskey) Things like apfelkorn probably just get wrapped up in the catch-all term schnapps, if not one of the above terms
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  Yes, schnapps. "Apfelkorn" isn't actually schnapps, by my lexicon. I thought schnapps was basically synonymous with "obstler" - a clear, white spirit distilled from fermented fruit. I think of Himbeergeist, or Poire Willem. In Germany, it is legal to set-up a garden still, and make your own fruit spirits, without a licence; and that stuff can be very strong - much stronger than say a whisky at the bar. I've had this stuff served to me from a plastic watering can. I believe apfelkorn is basically apple juice fortified with grain spirit (vodka, essentially). I think in some parts of Germany, it's customary to drop a shot-glass of apfelkorn into a litre-glass of pilsner (people do this with Jagermeister, for reasons I don't understand at all - why mix nice pilsner with nasty cough-mixture?) There are sweet alcoholic products that are labelled "schnapps" that are more like fortified wine than spirits.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    > apfelkorn is basically apple juice fortified with grain spirit Here in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc), there is a similar beverage called Apple Pie that's made with sweet apple cider, high-proof alcohol like Everclear and other flavorings. It's dangerously delicious: the apple flavor masks the alcohol, leading people to drink far more than they realize. Since the area has a high number of people descended from German immigrants, your post has me wondering if that's where it originated.
denton-scratch 5y ago
Q: What's worse than finding a worm in the apple you are eating? A: Finding half a worm.
horsawlarway 5y ago
> I have no idea what term USAians would use for spirits distilled from apple liquor, e.g. Calvados; or fortified cider, such as apfelkorn. I would be interested to learn. Where I'm from (southeast USA) it's just referred to as apple brandy if the ABV is ~40%. If you've got something like a very sweet and low alcohol liqueur (15 to 30% abv) then it'll generally be called Apple schnapps. Generally - I take Apple brandy to mean "Apple was fermented to make this liquor" and Apple Schnapps to mean "This is some fermented sugar with apple flavoring added"
- mcdonje 5y ago
  There is also applejack, which is apple brandy, but named differently because it used to be made differently. Instead of using a still, they'd leave it out in the winter. Ice would form on the top, which would get tossed away, and the brandy would be what's left at the bottom. Now, even if it's called applejack, they use stills for healthcode reasons.
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
    Thanks, I forgot about "applejack". I didn't know it was a kind of brandy (Calvados is basically brandy). And I certainly didn't know it was traditionally made by freezing out the water. I thought it was just another name for fermented apple-juice. So I am now better-informed (HN is a good place to get better-informed!)
HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
> it will ferment all on it's own Yes. I live on a small farm with lots of wild (I assume) apple trees. We used to have a horse that would only eat the apples on the ground, after they had fermented. You could watch her drunk ass standing there, swaying slightly! Apparently animals getting drunk on fermented apples is a fairly common thing. Who knew?
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  Apple orchards and pig farms go together. Apple sauce is considered to go well with roast pork. In some parts, it is customary [citation needed] to run pigs in apple-orchards to scrump the windfall, and to feed younger pigs on the pulp left over from apple-pressing. I know pigs like to scrump fallen apples; I don't know if they get falling-over drunk. I'm not a country-boy.

JimiofEden 5y ago

In my experience, cider is a bit contextual. I've heard and used it to mean both alcoholic and non alcoholic cider. But usually people default to mean a non filtered apple juice like you said. (Since we also have apple juice, but it's hard to think of it as anything other than super processed sugary drink) Apple liquor/cordials are usually called just that, or more specific depending on the type of liquor (i.e., my family keeps a bottle of Apple flavored whiskey) Things like apfelkorn probably just get wrapped up in the catch-all term schnapps, if not one of the above terms

denton-scratch 5y ago
Yes, schnapps. "Apfelkorn" isn't actually schnapps, by my lexicon. I thought schnapps was basically synonymous with "obstler" - a clear, white spirit distilled from fermented fruit. I think of Himbeergeist, or Poire Willem. In Germany, it is legal to set-up a garden still, and make your own fruit spirits, without a licence; and that stuff can be very strong - much stronger than say a whisky at the bar. I've had this stuff served to me from a plastic watering can. I believe apfelkorn is basically apple juice fortified with grain spirit (vodka, essentially). I think in some parts of Germany, it's customary to drop a shot-glass of apfelkorn into a litre-glass of pilsner (people do this with Jagermeister, for reasons I don't understand at all - why mix nice pilsner with nasty cough-mixture?) There are sweet alcoholic products that are labelled "schnapps" that are more like fortified wine than spirits.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  > apfelkorn is basically apple juice fortified with grain spirit Here in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc), there is a similar beverage called Apple Pie that's made with sweet apple cider, high-proof alcohol like Everclear and other flavorings. It's dangerously delicious: the apple flavor masks the alcohol, leading people to drink far more than they realize. Since the area has a high number of people descended from German immigrants, your post has me wondering if that's where it originated.

denton-scratch 5y ago

Q: What's worse than finding a worm in the apple you are eating? A: Finding half a worm.

horsawlarway 5y ago

> I have no idea what term USAians would use for spirits distilled from apple liquor, e.g. Calvados; or fortified cider, such as apfelkorn. I would be interested to learn. Where I'm from (southeast USA) it's just referred to as apple brandy if the ABV is ~40%. If you've got something like a very sweet and low alcohol liqueur (15 to 30% abv) then it'll generally be called Apple schnapps. Generally - I take Apple brandy to mean "Apple was fermented to make this liquor" and Apple Schnapps to mean "This is some fermented sugar with apple flavoring added"

mcdonje 5y ago
There is also applejack, which is apple brandy, but named differently because it used to be made differently. Instead of using a still, they'd leave it out in the winter. Ice would form on the top, which would get tossed away, and the brandy would be what's left at the bottom. Now, even if it's called applejack, they use stills for healthcode reasons.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  Thanks, I forgot about "applejack". I didn't know it was a kind of brandy (Calvados is basically brandy). And I certainly didn't know it was traditionally made by freezing out the water. I thought it was just another name for fermented apple-juice. So I am now better-informed (HN is a good place to get better-informed!)

HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago

> it will ferment all on it's own Yes. I live on a small farm with lots of wild (I assume) apple trees. We used to have a horse that would only eat the apples on the ground, after they had fermented. You could watch her drunk ass standing there, swaying slightly! Apparently animals getting drunk on fermented apples is a fairly common thing. Who knew?

denton-scratch 5y ago
Apple orchards and pig farms go together. Apple sauce is considered to go well with roast pork. In some parts, it is customary [citation needed] to run pigs in apple-orchards to scrump the windfall, and to feed younger pigs on the pulp left over from apple-pressing. I know pigs like to scrump fallen apples; I don't know if they get falling-over drunk. I'm not a country-boy.