Easily available dry cider

[Hassouni]

In the UK, it's very easy for me to find quality dry cider, such as Aspall, or even the Waitrose house brand. Back here in the US, most of the cider I've had has been fairly sweet, unless it's imported, in which case it gets to be quite expensive. Is there any domestically produced dry cider that can be fairly easily obtained? I've recently noticed a brand called Crispin, which looks nice, but all the varieties mention some sweet element such as honey or whatever else.

[Florida]

Crispin is definitely on the sweeter side. Uncle John’s makes some quality cider as does Vander Mill, both of which are out of Michigan. Both make some ciders which tend towards the drier side, though they also have some sweeter ciders as well. As for availability, I can't attest that either is available nationwide, but I know Uncle John’s is readily available here in the Chicago market. However, I believe Vander Mill may be limited to Michigan.

[kaszeta]

Heh, I didn't know that Uncle John's had that kind of distribution. I used to live near there.

I'm lucky enough to have Farnum Hill cider here, which has a really stellar dry cider. Alas, a look at their locator shows that distribution only makes it down as far as NJ.

It's hard finding dry cider if you don't have a local producer.

[tanstaafl2]

The most recent issue of Imbibe has a brief article about dry ciders if you happen to have access to it. It notes 6 ciders they consider to be dry to include the Farnum Hill Extra Dry mentioned above.

I don't know for sure but I suspect none of them have wide distribution. I enjoy an occasional cider although perhaps not a really dry one like you might be looking for (I have a small supply of Savanna Dry Cider that I like but I wouldn't call it a strongly dry cider) so I was going to see what I could find this weekend in my area.

One in this article that might be close to you in DC might be Foggy Ridge Serious Cider from Dugspur, VA.

Other listed in addition to the Farnum Hill were:

Eve's Cidery Northern Spy from New York

Snowdrift Cider Co. Dry and Tieton Cider Works Tieton Blend from Washington State

Wandering Aengus Dry Oak-Aged Cider from Oregon - Sounded interesting and described as "bone-dry and alluringly funky". But I would be surprised if it was found on the East Coast. The website didn't seem all that helpful. They will ship but not to my state or anywhere near me.

Edited October 14, 2011 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[tanstaafl2]

Forgot to mention that Aspall is readily available in Atlanta so it might be one you can find locally as well unless you are specifically looking for a US based cider. It is rather pricey as you note but I suspect that smallish US cider brands won't necessarily be a bargain either presuming you can locate them.

Edited October 14, 2011 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[Smitty]

Crispin makes an Extra Dry that is readily available around here. It is in a black can with gold type. I am also lucky enough to live about 20 miles from Uncle John's. Many bars even have it on draft, especially in the summer.