Friday night is Caconti's pool night, the one day of the week when he leaves the well-manicured campus of Wake Forest University to experience some of the "real" world of North Carolina. Playing billiards with tobacco workers and bikers is a great experience, and somehow they always manage to surprise me. Just imagine how disoriented I was on my last trip to the pool hall, when I saw 4 of them drinking Hornsby's Pub Draft Cider. Bikers drinking hard cider? There's something special about this brew...
Why Cider?
In my estimation, hard cider has two virtues going for it. The first is the sheer quality of its flavor, when well done the product tastes like Fall in a bottle, definitely a drafted beverage that can hold its own against a bottle of beer.
The second, and perhaps more significant, advantage of hard cider is the exact fact that it is not beer. Currently in the United States there is a large and expanding market for alternative beverages, alcoholic drinks with low content(5-6%) that do not have a flavor reminiscent to beer. If you're looking for a change of pace(without the problems of other options like the poisonous Zima), then cider is the perfect choice for you...
Tasting Notes
As with any good draft cider, the predominant flavor of Hornsby's is of course cider. The aroma of crisp fermented apples waft up from the bottle, with a sharp sweetness that barrels over the drinker with every sip. There is no artificial sweetness here, this is the non-cloying natural fructose sweet that makes fruit so pleasant and refreshing without making your teeth hurt. Cider, for my money, is the most rejuvenating of the brewed beverages, and Hornsby's is the paragon of cider perfection.
In my opinion, one of the secrets to the superiority of Hornsby's Pub Draft Cider is the expert usage of carbonation. A noticeable presence, it's not strong and overwhelming like many beers or alternative drinks(Zima comes to mind), which means that you're safes from the burps when you're drinking cider.
Serving Notes
The beauty of a good hard cider is that you can eat it with practically anything and it will be delicious. The best food, in fact, is anything that will complement the fruit notes of the cider and vice versa. I recommend chicken(especially grilled), white fish and shellfish. They all have a lighter taste that won't overwhelm the cider and a bit of saltiness that will fully develop the natural sweetness of the fermented apple.
As for the perfect serving temperature, I highly recommend that you keep the beer at British room temperature. That means about 5-10 degrees cooler than our room temperature. A dark and cool location, the back of a cabinet or a closet for example, will only provide you with the optimal coolness.
Where Can I Find It
Since it is produced and distributed by Gallo, a company much more famous for its wine selection, Hornsby's has the advantage of a strong national market. Wherever Gallo goes, Hornsby's goes, and that includes some of the country's largest grocery chains. I personally purchased my six-pack at a Food Lion(low-end grocery store), but have also seen it at Harris Teeter, Stop & Shop and Super Kmart.
Looking for a draft cider with a deeper flavor? Check out my review of the new Hornsby's Amber Draft Cider at http://theseus.epinions.com/fddk-review-20A9-5F82352-38F76FDE-prod1
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