Hogans Cider

Golden, slightly hazy, still. Ooh la la.

A Breton style keeved cider and you can almost smell the Brie on this one. Creamy, slightly sweet but with a nice deep flavour. Grabs the throat nicely and is very refreshing. Long lingering aftertaste. Lovely on a summer’s afternoon or with a desert even though it’s only medium sweet . It says tannic on the bottle, but I didn’t get that at all to be honest.

Would get again. Only slight issue I have is that the ingredients list water, which a keeved cider should not have (well no cider should really).

Not yet reviewed, watch this space

Brewed in the Gose style which is a sour beer from Germany (apparently it's not related to Gueuze, It's beer that historically was made with salty water).

Golden yellow, clear and sparkling.

Yup nice big sour nose but with quite a bit of apple in there and a bit of leather.

Taste wise, it's nowhere near as sour as I expected and not as sour as many dry ciders that get described as 'funky'. It's good sour for me; sour but not sharp, which works really well. Lots of mellow bitersweet apple flavour which balances well with that slight sour tint. You also get that saltiness in there as well, think sea spray as well as a very small amount of maltiness. Very little tannin and a nice long gentle aftertaste

I really rate this one, there's a lot going on in there, and the sourness you get at the start of the bottle mellows out quickly, and in the second half the saltiness is more pronounced. I think this is one you could drink several pints of easily.

There's a very good review of this one at https://cider-review.com/2022/08/13/beer-brett-and-burum-founders-a-trio-from-hogans/ which goes a lot more into the Gose style and Brett - wild yeast. Learnt a lot from it.

A blend of their award winning cider with Cascade, Chinook & Bramling Cross hops.

Not overly hoppy initially but certainly citrus flavour slightly of tangerine/satsuma or even possibly grapefruit possibly. The Hops kick in as an aftertaste. and come out more when rolled around the mouth.
Reminds me a bit of a Gueuze but not so tart and sour

Very nice and I'm not a big hop fan. Would go well with a meal and even possibly a not too sweet desert.

Deep amber, clear and sparkling

Big sharp slightly sour fruity nose. Not unpleasant.

Sour cider as promised, not as sour as a Kriek nor many other ciders but it's there. Lots of fresh apple flavour with a touch of leather alongside with a decent amount of tannin. Tingles nicely on the tannin and the sourness stays during the long aftertaste which only eventually mellows to leave a mouth watering feel.

I'm not a huge fan of sour ciders I admit. I still associate sour ciders with off ciders, but I think Hogan's has got the balance just right here. It's actually very nice but unless you're really into sour ciders probably only one bottle in a sitting. The strong would stands up to strong flavour foods and that's how I'd drink it.

Dark Copper (they say Umber) colour, clear and sparkling.

Big rich apple smell with a slight burnt caramel nose.

Lovely rich bittersweet apple flavour. Red apple skins with some caramel tones. Sweet initially but dries out and the tannins kick in. A fair amount of tannin but not overpowering. Little bit of wood in the background. Nice long refreshing aftertaste.

This is a nice little cider. Easy to drink, well balanced. Medium sweet but not too sweet as far as I'm concerned.

This cider has quite a few gold awards from various places and they're well deserved.

'Thirst quenching Golden and Earthy'. Big claims :-)

Golden, clear and quite sparkling.

Big fruity nose with a slightly acidic/sharp edge, and yes a slight earthiness in there - very nice.

Lots of deep rich red apple flavour with a fair amount of skin and a slight caramel taste. Actually tastes stronger than it is. It is indeed refreshing with a good tingle on the tongue. Good lingering aftertaste. I'd call it medium sweet myself but not too much, it does have a very slight tartness. Despite what it promised on the bottle, I still did get that slight sugar on the teeth feeling, but perhaps I'm odd.

Very nice indeed, and could easily drink several of those. Some other reviews (and one I wrote 2 years ago) had this as quite tart, but the 2022 version is certainly not so.

Big cider nose, but no obvious peat in the aroma, Actually not a huge amount of peat on the taste as well.

Has a slight earthiness which is pleasant and easy drinking. It’s a fresh light smoke as you get from pine, not a deep mellow smoke. Swill the cider round the mouth and the peat comes out much more, and more of the dryness.

I’d call it dry medium with a decent tannic kick. It builds up slowly as you drink more .

Quite easy to drink, but one to savour, not a session cider.

Light golden, clear and sparkling

Dry Perry nose, slightly tart.

Yes, nice perry flavour. Not as deep as many I've tried but there's plenty there to enjoy. No tannin to speak of and a decent sweetness. You wouldn't guess it's Pear to be honest and there's a bit of a strange taste in there which is hard to describe, but reminds me of Nitrogen fertilizer (that won't help most of you). Some others taste it as wood, but I' don't. Not unpleasant per se, but a bit strange to find it there. Some have said it has a wine like consistency and taste and yes I can see that to an extent.

Quite nice to drink despite that, it's nice and refreshing and I'd give it a go but don't expect a huge pear or perry taste.

On draught it's more tart but refreshing. Little bit sour and nicely grabs the back of your throat. Leaves a nice mouth watering aftertaste but as noted before not strongly pear or Perry flavoured. Still quite drinkable though.

2014 Vintage

Orange colour, hazy, still

Plenty of fruity nose with a bit of smoke.

Not much smoke in the taste it has to be said, but it comes out a little bit in the aftertaste. Dry, but with gentle tannin so nice & smooth. Little bit of butterscotch on the aftertaste as well.

2020 Vintage

Light golden, hazy, flattish

Citrussy nose, with plenty of fresh apple skins and a bit of smoke

Dry, lots of tannin, smokyness yes, but not overpowering. Fair amount of very fresh green apple flavour, a little bit yeasty but not bad. Fair amount of tannin that extends into the aftertaste but it does mellow out.

A very rich cider that I would certainly drink with food, it’s not one for a hot summer’s day.

Golden, clear and sparkling (careful, mine fobbed up all over the place).

Rich Elderflower nose. no mistaking this one, no vague 'floral, this one is elderflower.

Elderflower in the flavour, but nowhere as sweet as I expected. The elderflower comes from cordial not from fresh elderflower which is probably why the flavour is so strong and clear. You get the bittersweet apple (but not much of it) that balances out the fresh floral and sweet nature of elderflower well. There's a little bit of citrus in there as well somewhere. Smooth with very little if any tannin. A nice long floral and sweetish aftertaste. Can't say it's hugely refreshing but it does the job.

When they said sweet on the bottle I was a bit worrying that it would be sweet and cloying, but that's not the case, it's nowhere as sweet as many I've tried. I'd stick it as medium sweet and it's very easy to drink. Not sure I'd want many as the strong elderflower would get boring, but it is very very nice.