Should we discuss Hard Ciders? There is some similarity to beer in the brewing, distributing and vending of ciders. Or are they "too" different?
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1I think we should include them. Gluten intolerance is becoming more and more common (so are gluten free diets). Therefore people that could once enjoy a refreshing beer now only have gluten free beers and ciders to choose from. I think we should allow it. Having conversations about ciders can only help our grasp of beer.– BryceHCommented Jan 22, 2014 at 15:22
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5Technically, cider production processes are more similar to wine than to beer. Just sayin'.– Brian Nickel StaffCommented Jan 22, 2014 at 18:12
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1Voicing my support for the "gluten-free" point of view.– Ryan KinalCommented Feb 4, 2014 at 19:20
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4 Answers
I don't think they are too different, and I think there is sufficient overlap in the concerns and audiences that they will do well here.
Hard Cider should be on topic.
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If so, could the title (not the url) of the site be Beer & Cider? Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 12:55
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5@TomMedley - While I agree ciders should be on topic, I think beer would overwhelmingly dominate discussions on this site, such that it may seem out-of-place to add cider to the title. Commented Jan 31, 2014 at 22:40
If hard cider were sold alongside the wines in the store, rather than in the beer section, would that change anyone's answer? Cider is the result of fermenting the pressed juice of a fruit. Wine is the result of fermenting the pressed juice of a fruit.
The Charmat process that produces sparkling wines in France is also used to produce cider.
They are two different types of drinks, produced in dissimilar ways.
That being said, as wax says, they are marketed to the same audience, kept in the same areas of the store, and are regarded as being of a beer family. I think they could be on topic, we would just have to take care as a group to make sure the answers reflect the spirit (hah! See what I did there?) of the site.
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Right, this site isn't about brewing per say, but tasting, (presumably) culture, marketing. Which means how a product is marketed and sold (ie it's audience) has more to do with topicality than the process by which it's produced. Commented Jan 27, 2014 at 10:53
I think that they should be; it's a fairly similar beverage in terms of consumption and enjoyment, and I know quite a few beer bars which also cater to the cider enthusiast.
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Sorry to ping you on an unrelated post, but you were mentioned in this meta post and I want to make sure you see it. (Nothing bad; don't worry. :-) ) Commented May 19, 2016 at 20:57
Seems like there are two basic, possibly conflicting, approaches to answer this:
1) Consider the process used to make the product. As noted, cider is closer to wine in production. As such, the questions and discussions of brewing techniques/technology will be less relevant to the those looking for cider information. There could also be less chance that people could usefully contributed to beer discussions if they are primarily interested in cider. It seems like cider would be too off-topic in this case since the motivation is the underlying production.
2) Consider the user base. Cider and beer are, right or wrong, frequently grouped together for sales, at parties, at bars, etc. One reason for this might be the placement of cider on taps. The real issue, however, is that since these two products are seen as very similar by consumers, this site could include cider as on-topic, drawing a greater audience, even if some of the discussion would be technically different from the beer discussions.
I'm not sure I've got a great argument for one against the other. I will admit that I tend to side with 2) since I'm usually of the mind that more people makes a more vibrant community, even if that increases the noise-to-signal ratio.
