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Ashton gates cider


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People rave about Thatchers Gold (we DO have a good song).  Me?  Its barely palatable and then, only at football and preferably when it's hot such as during the World Cup.  On nearby North St you can get the delicious (Stowford Press) and the very good (Orchard Pig, Aspalls, North St Cider) so it is a little disappointing that we don't have a better choice.  

At least it isn't the soap in a glass taste of Strongbow.

 

p.s.  There is a bloody loving pint of fizzy apple juice to be found in Brewdog right now...can't remember the name.

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17 hours ago, charliered said:

Thatchers Gold NO, far to sweet and Haze is just as bad.  

BRING BACK THATCHERS DRY 

 

1 hour ago, NorfolkInChance said:

Thatchers Dry is the way forward

I've had a Thatchers dry this season, in the sports bar I think. 

Agree it's far superior to Gold or Haze. I've emailed Thatchers asking why don't they do it in bottles or cans and where it's available near me. TBF they did email back with pubs that had stocked it.....but most dont seem to any more. 

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Heritage is great too but pretty hard to find.Much better than Gold and Haze as is Dry.Cheddar Valley is great when its good but not so good when its bad if that makes sense.Seems better out of a box than on draught for some reason.

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14 hours ago, Yozzarian said:

People rave about Thatchers Gold (we DO have a good song).  Me?  Its barely palatable and then, only at football and preferably when it's hot such as during the World Cup.  On nearby North St you can get the delicious (Stowford Press) and the very good (Orchard Pig, Aspalls, North St Cider) so it is a little disappointing that we don't have a better choice.  

At least it isn't the soap in a glass taste of Strongbow.

 

p.s.  There is a bloody loving pint of fizzy apple juice to be found in Brewdog right now...can't remember the name.

Not keen on Aspalls one bit 

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Hipster or not, Thatchers Gold and Haze are inferior ciders, heavily sugared, carbonated and preserved for mass production. 

Best cider I’ve had is Wilkins dry, straight out the barrel, 100% apple juice, no added yeast, naturally carbonated, unpasteurised. As cider was, and how it should be.

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2 hours ago, Redcliffe1990 said:

Hipster or not, Thatchers Gold and Haze are inferior ciders, heavily sugared, carbonated and preserved for mass production. 

Best cider I’ve had is Wilkins dry, straight out the barrel, 100% apple juice, no added yeast, naturally carbonated, unpasteurised. As cider was, and how it should be.

It's fine if you actually like said cider. Just find it annoying how people love to slag off the most available choice of cider by virtue of the fact that it is the most available. 

Thatchers started out as farm produced scrumpy by the jar. Pretty sure Blackthorn would have been the most common cider in that era, and there would have been people who loved to hate it then simply because it was mass produced. No different to now with Thatchers - people hating on it just because it is mass produced/mass available. Just because something is made in a micro-brewery/farm doesn't make it a superior product. 

I would advocate getting Cornish Rattler down the gate - cracking pint and generally after about 2-3 pints your set for an afternoon of football/rugby. But sure there will be plenty on here who want to criticise Rattler too! You just can't win. 

10 hours ago, forbespm said:

I had no such problems with the bovril Sunday.proper man's drink!

Bovril is the devil's ejaculate. 

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8 hours ago, OddBallJim said:

Just find it annoying how people love to slag off the most available choice of cider by virtue of the fact that it is the most available. Just because something is made in a micro-brewery/farm doesn't make it a superior product.  

Pop music is not inferior due to its wide listenership much the same as Thatchers or Magners are not inferior due their popularity. They are however inferior due to their ingredients / additives and processes. The use of sweeteners, colourants and preservatives are not for our benefit but aid increases in profit margins through decreased production costs while maintaining sweetness and increased transportability and shelf life. the nature of being mass produced. We take a hit on its quality, for its nationwide availability. the use of sugar, syrups, added carbonation and a reduction in the apple juice content (around 35% minimum) mimic the true flavour but it is not ‘what cider’s supposed to taste like’. Strong marketing and distribution means its widely available and accepted. On the other hand artisanal cider is deemed the same as beer and other goods, as a middle class preserve but when the price straight out the farm and in the pubs is compared Thatchers is around the same price (£1 a pint for farm cider and around £4 for Thatchers at the gate and ‘craft cider’ around town) the bottles of small batch cider are however more expensive than your 4 pack of Thatchers. As cider is part of our identity we should be more discerning in my opinion, no doubt Thatchers did produce proper traditional cider back in the day but they like many others things have succumbed to a hollowing of quality to facilitate mass production and availability. It shouldn’t be laced with snobbery but I am less willing to accept anything less than proper cider. Investigate online, visit local farms and support our local indie producers. coyr.

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35 minutes ago, Redcliffe1990 said:

Pop music is not inferior due to its wide listenership much the same as Thatchers or Magners are not inferior due their popularity. They are however inferior due to their ingredients / additives and processes. The use of sweeteners, colourants and preservatives are not for our benefit but aid increases in profit margins through decreased production costs while maintaining sweetness and increased transportability and shelf life. the nature of being mass produced. We take a hit on its quality, for its nationwide availability. the use of sugar, syrups, added carbonation and a reduction in the apple juice content (around 35% minimum) mimic the true flavour but it is not ‘what cider’s supposed to taste like’. Strong marketing and distribution means its widely available and accepted. On the other hand artisanal cider is deemed the same as beer and other goods, as a middle class preserve but when the price straight out the farm and in the pubs is compared Thatchers is around the same price (£1 a pint for farm cider and around £4 for Thatchers at the gate and ‘craft cider’ around town) the bottles of small batch cider are however more expensive than your 4 pack of Thatchers. As cider is part of our identity we should be more discerning in my opinion, no doubt Thatchers did produce proper traditional cider back in the day but they like many others things have succumbed to a hollowing of quality to facilitate mass production and availability. It shouldn’t be laced with snobbery but I am less willing to accept anything less than proper cider. Investigate online, visit local farms and support our local indie producers. coyr.

How would you rate Wilkins cider?

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10 hours ago, OddBallJim said:

I would advocate getting Cornish Rattler down the gate - cracking pint and generally after about 2-3 pints your set for an afternoon of football/rugby. But sure there will be plenty on here who want to criticise Rattler too! You just can't win. 

Love the Rattler. Great little place is Healy’s- they do some great 75cl bottles of strong bourbon-barrel matured cyders (plus others) down there you won’t find up here. Pretty sure they do Rattler in Sainsbury’s- their Cornish Gold is also good too mind. 

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Reality is, the club (rightly) jumped in to bed with Heineken who distribute a wide variety of drinks.

Ever been to a festival where the options are Fosters, Strongbow and Worthingtons at a fiver a go and you wish you had driven?

Yes. Would be lovely to be independent, but imagine how much it would cost and how many time 'this is off' threads we would get.

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We struggle for 'decent' supplies here in Lorca, although local (Spanish) ciders are reasonably easy to source in some supermercados.  Generally called Ladron de Manzanas (translation: Apple Thief) they seem to be knocked together in quite a lot of regions………… having tried quite a few for research purposes, I have found each and every sample to be rather "too nice".  By that I mean that they are smooth, apple-ey and reasonably refreshing.  Just "too nice".  None of them have an edge, a bite or a sudden surprise harshness.  Nor are they likely to leave a calling card like many small producer ciders in the West Country do.  All in all, pretty bland IMO.  Shame really.  Enjoy what you've got at the Gate, I'll join you all for one at the 18th birthday celebration of a certain GAP!

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6 minutes ago, JackofromSanJavier said:

We struggle for 'decent' supplies here in Lorca, although local (Spanish) ciders are reasonably easy to source in some supermercados.  Generally called Ladron de Manzanas (translation: Apple Thief) they seem to be knocked together in quite a lot of regions………… having tried quite a few for research purposes, I have found each and every sample to be rather "too nice".  By that I mean that they are smooth, apple-ey and reasonably refreshing.  Just "too nice".  None of them have an edge, a bite or a sudden surprise harshness.  Nor are they likely to leave a calling card like many small producer ciders in the West Country do.  All in all, pretty bland IMO.  Shame really.  Enjoy what you've got at the Gate, I'll join you all for one at the 18th birthday celebration of a certain GAP!

Can’t you sign an exclusive export deal with Roger Wilkins!?

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16 hours ago, Yozzarian said:

It's my least favourite of those.  Forgot to mention Ashton Press, that's also a nice drop.

I love Ashton Press & Gold. Haven't had Ashton Press in a couple of years though. It's made by Thatchers isn't it? Tastes very similar to Gold. 

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20 hours ago, Redcliffe1990 said:

Pop music is not inferior due to its wide listenership much the same as Thatchers or Magners are not inferior due their popularity. They are however inferior due to their ingredients / additives and processes. The use of sweeteners, colourants and preservatives are not for our benefit but aid increases in profit margins through decreased production costs while maintaining sweetness and increased transportability and shelf life. the nature of being mass produced. We take a hit on its quality, for its nationwide availability. the use of sugar, syrups, added carbonation and a reduction in the apple juice content (around 35% minimum) mimic the true flavour but it is not ‘what cider’s supposed to taste like’. Strong marketing and distribution means its widely available and accepted. On the other hand artisanal cider is deemed the same as beer and other goods, as a middle class preserve but when the price straight out the farm and in the pubs is compared Thatchers is around the same price (£1 a pint for farm cider and around £4 for Thatchers at the gate and ‘craft cider’ around town) the bottles of small batch cider are however more expensive than your 4 pack of Thatchers. As cider is part of our identity we should be more discerning in my opinion, no doubt Thatchers did produce proper traditional cider back in the day but they like many others things have succumbed to a hollowing of quality to facilitate mass production and availability. It shouldn’t be laced with snobbery but I am less willing to accept anything less than proper cider. Investigate online, visit local farms and support our local indie producers. coyr.

I'm not saying I disagree with any of your points, but I do think we will have to agree to disagree on this one my friend :) 

I will stick with Thatchers - hey, at least it isn't Strongbow! You can stick with your local cider for local people. 

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2 hours ago, OddBallJim said:

I'm not saying I disagree with any of your points, but I do think we will have to agree to disagree on this one my friend :) 

I will stick with Thatchers - hey, at least it isn't Strongbow! You can stick with your local cider for local people. 

 No worries at all brother!

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9 hours ago, Carey 6 said:

I love Ashton Press & Gold. Haven't had Ashton Press in a couple of years though. It's made by Thatchers isn't it? Tastes very similar to Gold. 

Not sure on who makes it. I feel as though it was slightly more prevalent until recently but it's still available here and there.

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