Review of Stella Artois Cidre.  I tried this quite awhile ago, and thought I’d give it another go as I’ve seen a lot of talk lately.  It was first released in the U.S. in May 2013.  Note that although this is touted as a Belgian brand, per the bottle, the version sold in the U.S. is made in New York.

Cider:  Cidre
Cidery:  Stella Artois (Anheuser-Busch)
Cidery Location:  Baldwinsville NY
ABV:  4.5%
How Supplied:  four pack of 12oz bottles
Style:  commercial American hard cider, Belgian-style

 

Availability:  wide release

Description from their website:  Let me first tell you a little something about Stella Artois Cidre. Of course, I don’t want to blow my own trumpette, but this is an elixir so superb, so splendid, it is quite simply magnifique.  Cidre is quite well known for its balanced, dry blend; the result of hand-picking our apples – of which only the finest will do. It’s the perfect accoutrement to any afternoon of sophisticated leisure. Simply open, pour and enjoy.

Price:  ~$2.50 for a single bottle (runs $8-10 a four pack)
Where Bought:  Total Wine
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  Browsing.  This cider can be found most everywhere.

First Impression:  Light amber hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells like sweet apple juice and sugar, without much complexity.

Tasting Notes:  Semi-sweet.  Low tartness and acidity.  No sourness, bitterness, or funk.  Apple-forward.  Like the scent, I really didn’t pick up any other flavor notes to it.  Light to medium bodied.  Quick finish.  Very high sessionability.

My Opinion:  From the ingredient list its definitely apparent this is commercial cider (apple juice concentrate, sucrose, flavor, color, etc), but I found it more drinkable than many commercial ciders, which can tend towards sweet & syrupy.  It also tastes a bit drier than its 17 grams of sugar per 12oz bottle and its scent would suggest.  However, when the best thing they can find to say about their cider is that they hand pick the apples, its pretty sad.  Apparently almost all apples are hand picked in the U.S. as machinery can’t detect the ripeness of an apple, although in the UK and such they will use tree shakers for cider apples.

Most Similar to:  Other commercial ciders which aren’t overly sweet

Closing Notes:   Overall Stella Cidre is not something I’d seek out, but if its all that is available, I’ll drink it.

Have you tried Stella Cidre?  What did you think?