Cider and beer are two of the most common alcoholic beverages that almost every brewer has an idea about. Yet, the question is are these two the same? If not, what is the difference between them?
The basic difference between brewing cider and beer is that in cider, apple juice is fermented whereas, in beer, malted barley is used. There are also many other differences between brewing cider and beer.
In this guide, I will be talking about all the differences that I have found out between brewing cider and beer! So, without any further ado, let’s get into it.
What Is Brewing Cider?
First, let’s talk about what cider is. Cider, also known as hard cider, is a type of alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. We call it ‘hard cider’ instead of just cider to distinguish it from its non-alcoholic type, that is apple cider.
The Process of Brewing Cider:
Hard cider is made from the fermentation of apple juice. Moreover, there are certain steps that are involved in the brewing process of cider. These include:
- First, you need to choose the right kind of apple juice and yeast.
- Then, in a container, add apple juice and yeast.
- After two weeks, the fermentation process gets completed entirely.
- You need to let the yeast sit for around one more week before you check the container.
- Now, after around three weeks, you need to check the container. The apple juice and yeast mixture needs to fill your entire container. There shouldn’t be any additional space for oxygen.
- Then, you can wait for as much time as you want to ensure that your cider has achieved the flavor you desire.
- Then, simply bottle the cider. You can add sulfite inside the mixture to ensure that the yeast isn’t alive again.
Hence, this is the whole process involved in brewing cider.
Alcoholic Content Found:
After the whole brewing process, the alcoholic content found in brewing cider is near about 4.5% to 7% by volume. However, it can also go up to 10% to 12%.
Now, let’s learn more about brewing beer.
What Is Brewing Beer?
Beer is somewhat like cider. It is also an alcoholic drink made with the help of fermentation using yeast. The only major difference here is that malted barley is used instead of apple juice.
Also, the brewing process of beer may slightly be more complicated than seen in cider.
The Process of Brewing Cider:
Beer is made by fermenting malted barley. Moreover, there are some proper steps involved in the brewing process here. These include:
- Malting: In malting, the barley grains are cleaned. Then, they are soaked in water for around 2 days. After that, the barley is allowed to dry and germinate for 5 days.
- Kilning: Kilning involves killing the germinated barley seed with the help of high temperatures.
- Mailing: In this step, the dried-up barley grains are simply crushed into a powder-like substance called grist.
- Mashing: The grist is then added to warm water. Then, this mixture is maintained under certain temperature and pH conditions. The final mixture that you get in this step is known as wort.
- Wort Boiling: In this step, the wort is boiled and continuously stirred for near about two to three hours. The hop flowers are also added to the wort in this step.
- Fermentation: Now, after the above steps, two kinds of yeast are added to the mixture. These yeasts carry out fermentation on the wort of malted barley and turn it into beer.
- Final Steps: In the last steps, the beer is stored for a number of weeks and months to enhance the flavor. Then, carbonation is done. Lastly, the beer is bottled accordingly.
Hence, this is the whole process involved in brewing beer. Keep in mind that I have just covered the gist of it! There are many small details involved in brewing beer too, be it commercially or at home.
Alcoholic Content Found:
After the whole brewing process, the alcoholic content found in brewing beer is near about 5% by volume. However, it can also go up to 7% in volume in certain cases.
Now, let’s understand the differences between brewing cider and brewing beer.
What’s the Difference Between Brewing Cider and Brewing Beer?
Even though a lot of people consider cider as another type of beer, I’m telling you it’s not. There are a lot of differences in the entire brewing process that set them apart. Given below are some of the differences between brewing cider and brewing beer.
1. The Ingredients Used
The biggest difference between brewing cider and beer lies in the types of ingredients used.
If I talk about cider, then the main ingredient the yeast ferments is apple juice. However, apart from apple juice too, cider can have other fruit juices.
On the other hand, beer makes use of malted grains. Some beers may have fruit juices too but that’s very rare. Moreover, no cider drink contains any type of malted grain.
Apart from the main ingredient, the types of yeasts may differ too at times depending on the brewer.
2. The Steps Involved In The Brewing Process
There are many differences in the brewing and fermentation process of both cider and beer.
First, let’s talk about cider. In the brewing or fermentation process of cider, you simply need to add yeast to the apple juice. Then, store it for a few days for the fermentation to take place. That’s all!
Conversely, if we talk about beer, there are various steps involved in both the brewing and fermentation process.
You need to clean the malted barley and make a powder out of then. Then, you need to make a wort with the help of barley powder and water. You need to boil this mixture and then, add yeasts. After the whole process, the fermentation takes place.
So, as you can probably see, the steps involved in the brewing process of beer are way more than those involved in cider.
There’s only fermentation in cider whereas there in beer, there’s brewing/boiling along with fermentation involved.
3. The Brewing and Fermentation Requirements
You may already know that it is necessary to take care of the temperature and pH conditions during any brewing or fermentation process. Hence, these conditions also differ in the brewing process of cider and beer.
For instance, for the fermentation process, the ideal temperature for beer is between 60F and 70F. But, for ciders, the recommended and ideal temperature should be between 68F to 72F.
There are slight differences in the pH requirements of beer and cider too. Beer needs a pH of around 4.1 to 4.5. On the other hand, cider needs a pH of at least around 3.2 to 3.8. If the pH of cider is more than 4, it can ruin the overall flavor.
4. The Time Required
Lastly, there are some differences in the time taken for the beer and cider to ferment fully.
Now, both of them require 2 weeks at least to undergo proper fermentation. However, cider can get fermented within five days as well whereas beer needs at least two weeks to ferment and become flavorful.
Owing to these differences, it is clear that there are many differences between the brewing process of both cider and beer.
Apart from the brewing process, there are some other overall variations between cider and beer beverages too such as:
Color
There are color variations present in cider and beer. Cider usually has a yellow, brown, or orange color whereas beer has slightly pale, dark, or very dark colors.
Sugar Content
Due to the presence of fruit juices, cider is known to have more sugar content compared to beer. Contrarily, beer contains less or almost no sugar at all.
Flavor
There are many differences in the flavor of cider and beer. For instance, cider has a more sugary and fruity taste compared to beer due to the presence of fruit juice.
On the other hand, beer has a very bitter flavor due to the presence of alcohol, along with hops. It also doesn’t contain enough sugar to balance out the bitterness.
Is Cider Easier to Brew Than Beer?
Yes, cider is definitely easier to brew and ferment when compared with beer. Here are all the reasons why:
- No Complex Stages Involved
As you probably saw above, I have mentioned a lot of stages in brewing beer whereas only a handful of those for brewing cider.
Well, it is because beer is actually ‘brewed’ whereas cider is just fermented. By brewing, I mean that you need to boil the wort mixture before you let it ferment. But, the same isn’t observed in brewing cider. You just need to ferment it by adding yeast to the apple juice.
Hence, there are complex stages involved in brewing cider as seen in a beer.
- No Specific Temperature and pH requirements
It is necessary to let both beer and cider ferment at proper temperatures. But, let me tell you that you need to have a specific temperature and pH in the beer formation in various stages. For instance, you need to look after the temperature while boiling wort in beer.
But, while brewing cider, this isn’t an issue as there’s no boiling or heating involved as such! You just need to have a temperature of around 70F while fermenting the cider.
What’s More Fattening Beer or Cider?
Cider may be slightly more fattening compared to beer. However, both of them somewhat have the same amount of calories (about 200).
It is because cider contains more carbohydrates compared to beer due to increased amounts of sugar. Moreover, beer brewers rarely add any sugar to beer during the entire brewing process.
Yet, there are some alternatives available in the market that offer light cider having fewer calories. But still, beer is less fattening than cider in nature.
Related Questions
1. Is Angry Orchard a Beer or Cider?
Angry Orchard is known to be a ‘hard cider’ company. Hence, it sells hard cider or cider instead of beer. But, keep in mind that the parent company that is the Boston Beer Company sells all types of alcoholic beverages including beer and cider as well.
2. Is Strongbow a Beer or Cider?
Strongbow is a leading beverage company in the UK that is known to produce dry cider. This company is also one of the main companies contributing to the overall cider sales. It contributes around 15% of the total global cider share.
3. Is There More Sugar in Cider Than Beer?
Yes, cider has more sugar content compared to beer. It is because cider consists of fruits, like apples, that already have very high sugar content. On the other hand, beer is made up of grains like barley and hops that have significantly less amount of sugar.
Moreover, during the brewing process too, almost little to no sugar is added to beer.
4. Is Cider a Female Drink?
No, cider isn’t a female drink unlike what most people say. A lot of drinkers consider cider as a female drink due to its sweet and fruity taste. However, a lot of men today do eat and drink sweet, sugary, and fruity items.
Also, there are hard ciders available today that definitely aren’t very sweet or fruity in nature. So, even if cider is considered a female drink by some people, it can certainly be enjoyed by all!
Final Thoughts
Cider and beer are two sides of the same coin. They may seem similar due to the brewing and fermentation processes but truth be told, there are so many differences between them!
The whole brewing process involved in beer is different than that of cider. The ingredients, temperature, and pH requirements for the brewing process are also very different.
Then, if you notice the end product, there are many differences in the flavor, color, and nutritional values of both cider and beer.
So, I hope you’re now clear about the differences between brewing cider and beer!