I have enjoyed reading peoples reaction to the new commercial ‘cider’ on the market – Stella Cidre, made from Belgian Apple Syrup.
The company that owns Stella Artois, Anheuser-Busch InBev, is the world’s largest brewer and also produces the likes of Beck’s, Budweiser and Brahma as well Staropramen, Leffe and Hoegaarden.
Stella Artois Cidre will be 4.5% abv.
OK, clever marketing over the years from the manufacturers like Magners would make you believe that they are all collecting apples by hand from family run orchards. Without going into too much detail on this post -> here’s why these ciders are not recognised as real cider.
Anyway, what’s the cider like?
Here’s some reviews from my cider colleagues:
Nick Morris reviews the cider and concludes:
In taste, it was sweet, sickly and very artificial. I will say it is very smooth and easy to drink, but it just isn’t cider. The odd thing about it was that it still had that Stella taste to it.
Pete Brown says:
If you’re a craft cider purist, look away now – you’re going to say it’s not cider because it’s not 100% apple juice, and that at least three of these four brands are tasteless abominations. I’m not about to say anything that will convince you otherwise.
Bill Bradshaw over at his blog has some photography taken at a few of the larger cidermaking companies here in UK to show you just how different a different kettle of fish they are from artisan producers.
He is more sympathetic on his review of the product:
Although Stella Cidre is not my cuppa tea, I will give thousands of people satisfaction and if you were to compare it to many of the other industrial ciders readily available all over the country (many of which are also made in the UK- oh the irony) it is actually better than a good proportion of them.
From my experience of the cider, it is acceptable as a commercial cider that will appeal to the mass markets who like cider with ice cubes.
After all this cider and other fruit ciders are attracting a new type of cider drinker, mainly women aged between 18 and 24.
It may be refreshing, but it ain’t real
Have you tried it?
Leave your comments below to share your thoughts..
Very sorry to disappoint, NO I have not tried it and possibly never will, this fabricated Jackal and Hide Syrup Poison, should not be allowed to be called Cider as it insults the Profession of Real Cider making, so thumbs down!
The Belgians making Cider! got a better chance of Barack Obama turning out to be a Irish Cider Drinking Lepricorn! (Rasssssssssssssp)
Very sorry to disappoint, NO I have not tried it and possibly never will, this fabricated Jackal and Hide Syrup Poison, should not be allowed to be called Cider as it insults the Profession of Real Cider making, so thumbs down!
The Belgians making Cider! got a better chance of Barack Obama turning out to be a Irish Cider Drinking Lepricorn! (Rasssssssssssssp)
I don’t like Stella’s ad campaign. ‘It’s cidre, not cider’. ‘Use a chalice, not a glass’. All very dictatorial.
couldn’t agree with you more.. but didn’t magners do this with the ice..
I tried it. It tasted of nothing. I’ll happily drink a mass-market cider like Koppaberg or Magners – they’ve got some flavour. But the cidre just didn’t taste of anything at all.
A very weird experience – and not one I’m keen to replicate.
True, but somehow in a less finger-wagging way. And it was something new, for most people anyway. Stella seems to be aiming for the same thing – creating a new market – but with less compelling reasons. I can imagine people asking for ice in their Magners, but not insisting on a chalice instead of a glass. Not without sounding like morons.
I tried it; first my nose was assaulted by fumes reminiscent of the purifying tablets used for sterilising brewing gear. An unfortunate alternative to a bouquet.
Taste; light, sherberty, syrupy, with sticky cloying aftertaste. Faint apple presence there, but Cydona tastes better and cleaner than this, for goodness sake.
i like it :-)
but im not a Cider conasseur :p
stella cidre. not cider, most definately not cider – more like cows wee scrumpy. money down the toilet – why dont those plonkers stick to lager ? give me a bulmers anyday.
Hey Chris, sorry Bulmers is not 100% or even 85% real cider either – http://www.real-cider.co.uk/ciders-not-recognised-as-being-real/
totally bland with no discernable taste, tried it once and won’t buy it again
have tried the stella cider and at first it was very smooth and quite nice but as i drank more there seemed to be an underlying taste of lager that got stronger and stronger i dont like lager so ended up throwing it away
Very apt: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2011/07/31/stella-artois-launche-new-upmarket-lager-wifebeatre/
not a lover of stella lager but a big cider drinker this is a nice easy drinking cider 5 stars
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Dorset where I tried various Sheppey ciders; frankly I prefer Cidre – much more pleasant aftertaste in my opinion. It may not be ‘real’ but it’s a smashing drink! I reckon it’s time to admit that, for many people, the ‘real’ stuff is too often a disappointment. Hopefully this competition will encourage traditional producers to up their game, instead of relying on their heritage.
Dear Gulping … I am a traditional cider producer … I would like to point out to you its not just about the modern sweet artificial drink .. its about the variety of the endangered species of apples and the adversity of wildlife in a naturally maintained chemical free orchard.
We also do not use any additives or chemical sprays in the entire operation .. in fact we are the only ones completely chemical free!
Also the strength is far to high for the artificial cider drinker .. unfortunately we are governed by nature and hence our last season cider started at 10.5% abv ending after Xmas at 9.5% abv with just pure apple juice!!
Both Naishs Cider and Chant Cider use old pipe barrels that are about 100 years old and we are piratically the only ones left who leave the cider on the yeast. (we don’t rack)
My Dry Lady “J” Perry from “Bell De Jersey” pears took three years to produce by the traditional method! and yes you would probably not like it!
Oz Clarks indorsed it saying its very fine Perry and would be welcome on any diner table in any London restaurant!
It would be impossible to commercialise this product, but then there is only one tree left in the whole of the south west! to replicate and sweeten this would be a insult to our true traditional cider industry and become a further health risk?
You are more than welcome to come and try our ciders for free, we only produce dry traditional cider, you can find my telephone number at Chant Cider or (Paul Chant Cider)
(=^_^=)
well put Paul, very nice points made there. this is what makes cider real, the lifestyle, people and traditional beliefs.. Wassail!
It will probably have extra glucose and artificial flavourings added to make it taste like Christmas pudding, it is already ghastly enough, I took one sip and told the barman to throw it down the drain, it is nothing more than the end product of a chemistry lab.
Drink some Real Cider instead of the chemical rubbish and help keep us small producers in work.
hi everyone, my husband and I were doing some research on alcohol contents recently and we were both shocked to see that the Stella Cidre content has been reduced and we were both amazed by this, it has been dropped to 0.2 per cent from 5 per cent which I personally think is great! for more info on this if anyone is interetsed then have a look at http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2012/01/22/alcohol-content-of-top-beers-budweiser-stella-artois-and-beck-s-cut-to-save-cash-115875-23712345/
The advert totally puts me off trying it with the supposed superior french sophistication – no why bother when I have local real cider from Suffolk Aspall no that is worth buying
‘After all this cider and other fruit ciders are attracting a new type of cider drinker, mainly women aged between 18 and 24’ – where does this stat come from?
The actor in the advert deserves a crème anglaise pie in the face, he comes across as being patronising and I will never purchase any product from Stella Artois again!
You cannot call a drink a cider even if you spell it Cidre unless it contains 35% apple or pear juice. Stella will be in breach of HMRC if this 35% is not complied with.
Well I live near the cider mills at Shepton Mallet and it is believed that less than 6% apple is actually in most factory chemical bottled ciders! this is from a very reliable source within the industry and the cider mentioned was Magners?? :(
Bog off….If you give it him for free then the lovers of the stuff that actually tastes of apples will lose out, ie. ME ;-)
Keith
Is there a problem with pear cidre because asda and tesco say they are discontinuing selling the multi packs
Even as a Belgian, it is not for me to judge Stella Cidre. However for the craft cider purists, there is only one alternative available in Belgium: Cidre Ruwet – Belgian craft cider anno 1898