Sunday Night Suds - Smith & Forge Hard Cider

This week's Sunday Night Suds takes a brief step away from beer to review Smith & Forge's Hard Cider.

One frequent question that I receive via e-mail does not involve beer, but instead is an inquiry as to whether there are any kosher hard apple ciders. After Samuel Adams divested itself of the Angry Orchard brand (and the new company ceased maintaining kosher supervision for its product) there was a paucity of kosher certified hard ciders. But more recently there have been a few entries into the market for kosher hard apple cider including Henry Hotspur's Hard Apple Cider (available exclusively at Trader Joe's); JK Scrumpy's Hard Cider; Yankee Folly Hard Cider (never seen it for sale anywhere) and Smith & Forge Hard Cider.

Unlike some other hard ciders, the Smith & Forge Hard Cider has very little bitter to it and any bite is largely masked by the sweet and slightly tart apple flavor. Although the can indicates that the hard cider is 6% abv, there is little kick to the brew and no noticeable alcohol flavor.

I would not recommend having this with a main course as it would be akin to drinking apple juice with a steak (something no one over the age of four would consider). I served this at our daf yomi siyum on Yevamos and then again at a tish last Friday Night and everyone enjoyed it, but again this was more of a dessert type setting.

I don't know if the Smith & Forge Hard Cider is available in the New York market and I purchased my six pack while away with my family on yeshiva week break.

Although the Smith & Forge Hard Cider indicates that it is brewed by the Uncharted Cider Company, it is a subsidiary of MillerCoors and as such it is certified kosher by the OU (there is even an OU on the can).

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!