Lilley's Stargazer Medium Cider

Last cider of the night at Cider Tap for me. Sadly they haven't changed too many of the ciders around, so I am left with a selection of mediums. As I want to make my own mind up about them, I oped to have a half of Lilley's Stargazer. Broadoak or not, it has to be worth a try eh.

A lot of discussion on the interweb has taken place about whether Lilley's make their own cider - whether they are rebadged Broadoak - or even if Broadoak has shut and is now Lilley's. To be honest, I don't really care, although since the recent CAMRA AGM this issue must be at the top of the APPLE committee's agenda of things to talk about (being careful not to take a cheap swipe at them). Quite frankly, until CAMRA figure out a way of monitoring cider producers I feel this (as with many other 'decrees') will be hard for them to police. Oh, hang on, they do... just replicate the way they do it for brewers or does that require both sides of CAMRA working together with joined up thinking n'all.

OK, this wasn't going to get all CAMRA on you! 

So, Stargazer arrives as a medium, bright (seriously bright) and sparkling light golden cider. Again, it is far too cold even for a medium. Come on Cider Tap. It isn't lager and doesn't need to be this cold! At 4.5% it's another low alcohol cider. Please note that when I talk about a cider of 4.5% being 'low alcohol' I am not implying that it is low alcohol, just that for a full juice producer it would not be considered a safe level for storage. After all, most ciders that are 'full juice' will be 5.5% and above because it is pretty much self sterile at that strength.

There really isn't that much smell to it - even when it is warmed a little. I cannot really say that it reminds me or demonstrates any fruitiness or body in the nose.

To taste, it is watery. I kind of expected that to be honest. It is a medium (as in not a sweet), which is a positive... it isn't too sweet for it's category:-)  It also tastes of apples - although liberally applied (I don't want to fall into the general discussion about Lilley's/Broadoak). There is a little tannin, though it is very light and almost faint. There is, however, plenty of acid in there - so it could be mostly dessert fruit.

Saying all this there is something about it... I guess you could say it tastes a lot like Magners... OK, it does have more body than Magners, but on the whole it is safe and fairly acidic with a hint of tannin. The aftertaste is also, like Magners, short and pretty watery - although it is fruity.

In all, I am not going to be hunting this cider down. I kind of figured that fairly quickly on (and I do try to remain open and objective!) It is better than Firedancer though. 59/100

Lilley's Firedancer Medium Cider

Lilley's. They are a bit of a mystery - both to me and within the cider industry. Do they actually make cider or simply relabel it? Are they Broadoak by another name? Will their cider be full juice or just another cider concoction where the advertising doesn't quite match the practice?

I know some people have got a real bee in their bonnet's about Broadoak. It was rumoured earlier this year that they no longer exist. I am not sure of the truth in this, although I seem to recall it is all just a change of management and a renaming of product... it is all a bit unclear to me. And so, for my second cider at the Euston Cider Tap I figured now would be a good time to try a Lilley's for the first time.

Oh, and in answer to the questions above, I do not believe Lilley's actually make cider but relabel Broadoak ciders - although that is a bit of an educated guess (you could always call them and ask them... OK, I say that knowing that someone has and didn't get a straight answer).

Fortunately, I am writing this review up from the comfort of home, having already done the objective bit of actually trying the cider:-)

Firedancer comes from the 'Sparkling' cider list, so comes to me fizzy and actually quite hazy. This is their medium version, so I was expecting it to be filtered and pasteurised. It doesn't give off a whole load of smell in the glass - even for a sparkling cider. I am getting some low level cidery notes, although not so much bitter or tannic.

The taste is a little surprising. It lacks any real tannins and is rather sharp in the mouth... there really is quite a lot of acid going on. However, it is like a fizzy golden drink of flavoured water - rather bland and lacking any huge amount of character to it. OK, there is a tiny bit of tannin going on but you do have to hunt for it. Its just sweet and, well, sweet.

The aftertaste is pretty short too.

To some degree, I kind of expected this from a Broadoak cider. However, I am glad I have tried it - perhaps I should seek out a named Broadoak cider to try against it and compare. It scores 55/100, which is no apple and a disappointing 0/2 for my latest visit to Euston Cider Tap.