Scene is booming over here in west MI.

Several local cideries doing well Virtue, Vander Mill and The People's Cider Co.

I'm intrigued, but don't want to drop my weekly beer budget on one only to have it be too sweet like zima or something.

I know Dos Equis has a cider, too, which I have had a hard time locating round these parts, actually. And then there's woodchuck, of course.

Any of you drinking cider?

Starts and ends with magners and strongbow. Haven't had one for a few years though,

Maybe PM Zekyl?

Too much sweet. Don't HATE ciders, but 'druther have beer

I'm not expert on cider and my tastes are limited to the obvious (in my case anyways). I'm not that big a fan of any of the bubbly sweet stuff. Some brands are all right but when it's alcohol I just don't like sweet.

However not all cider is the sweet bubbly kind. I love real Spanish cider (I know, hard to believe coming from me). It's made in the north of Spain in the Basque country and especially Asturias. I've enjoyed cider much more in Asturias and it's a little more prevalent there. The normal, good stuff you get in bars there isn't the sweet bubbly stuff. It's unfiltered and turbid, acidic and almost sour. They either pour it right from large barrels or from bottles that they put on your tables or in front of you at the bar. It's about airing it out so they're really good at pouring it form very high up. Most bars have sawdust on the floor for drops and spillage. You don't normally get a full glass, usually just the bottom of the glass or just enough for one gulp.

I found this video which shows how it's all done:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpVY78xn19E

I don't know how prevalent it is but I have found it. There's this amazing beer place in Brooklyn that serves right from the barrels and they had real-deal Spanish cider the last time I was there. For you beer fans, love the thread btw, if you're ever in Willaimsburg you should check them out: http://www.beerstreetnyc.com/. They let you try everything before you buy.

I would think you could find it somewhere in Chicago, but I don't know. I did Google Spanish Cider and Michigan and found this interesting link: http://www.greatlakescider.com/glintresults2013.html. They have an entire section just for Spanish cider.

Starts and ends with magners and strongbow. Haven't had one for a few years though,

I like Angry Orchard, too, but yeah... Bulmers is the bomb.