Weapons Grave VIM - Revisited

Weapons Grade VIM

It's been 2 and bit months since I last sampled this brew, and as it is now 6 months since I bottled it, I felt it was as good a time as any to revisit the brew and see if my opinions have changed since my last review, and after an additional 8 or so weeks of ageing.

ABV: 6.6%

Date Bottled: 19/03/13

Recipe: 19ltrs Tesco Value Apple Juice, 2ltrs Red Grape Juice, 5 Bramley cooking apples, tannin, pectolase, yeast nutrient, Malic Acid, 1kg demerera sugar

Yeast: Nottingham Ale Yeast

Presentation (Colour): The slight murkyness hasn't really dissipated in 2 months It's still a light golden colour that one would expect from brewing a scrumpy type cider. 

Original Score: [8/10] Revised Score: [8/10]

Aroma: The brew has a crisp and sharp appley aroma that is not unpleasant at all. You can really smell the REAL apples in there. With the addition ageing time, it has improved a little.

Original Score: [6/10] Revised Score: [6.5/10]

Taste: Unsurprisingly, this is where the improvement is a little more noticeable. you can really taste the Bramleys in it, It goes down very smoothly with an immediate appley aftertaste that isn't unpleasant at all. It's quite dry though, and would benefit a little from back-sweetening I think 

Original Score: [7/10] Revised Score: [7.5/10]

Fizz: Still has a very low fizz - which works quite well with it's scrumpy-like taste. I think I was perhaps a little mean scoring as low as I did initially with this one, but as this brew is quite close to what one would expect from a traditional "Scrumpy", It really is all that is required.

Original Score: [4/10] Revised Score: [5/10]

Overall Score (Original): 6.5/10, Revised Score: 7/10

Verdict: The flavour has certainly improved since my initial taste test in June, but not significantly. It's not a bad experimental brew really, but can easily see it dividing tastes in cider-drinkers. The real flavour of the apples has given what may have been a slightly dull brew a bit more of a "kick" which is not unplesant, but the ageing hasn't worked wonders to make an average brew anything other than a JUST above average brew. Would I make it again? Probably not, but it was certainly worth trying the addition of REAL apples into the juice.

Weapons Grade "VIM" Brew - 6.6%