By Daniel Lee
Alexandria, VA – Do you know what chaptalization is? Or what Alexandria’s sister city, Caen, France, has to do with hard cider? Why did beer replace cider as the alcoholic drink of choice in the United States? Alexandria will celebrate Virginia Cider Week November 16-23, but you can find out the answer to these questions and more in this article.
A long-time favorite for those who crossed the Atlantic from England to Virginia and their descendants, hard cider was perceived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the fermented drink of the lower classes. Despite that reputation, cideries have operated in the Commonwealth throughout Virginia’s history. The 2012 designation of Virginia Cider Week highlighted not only hard cider’s renaissance as a drink of choice but also a long tradition of cider-making. Similarly, the region of Normandy, which includes Alexandria’s sister city of Caen, also has a historic cider tradition.
Apple cider made locally was inexpensive, popular, and enjoyed by all ages and economic levels. Fermented or “hard” cider was both consumed as a beverage and distilled into apple brandy or applejack. Although not an Alexandrian, John Adams was a renowned fan and advocate of cider. In a letter sent the year before his marriage to Abigail, Adams wrote, “Give me Bacon, and Cyder, and Books and Girl and Friend, and I will frisk it.” After his term as president more than 40 years later, he wrote to a physician friend that he had met a Virginia doctor who told him:
Those who drank cyder, for their ordinary Beveredge were the most healthy and longest Livers, that those who drank Wine or ardent Spirits…were not so healthy and ended their
Days earlier.
Advertisements in newspapers, such as the Alexandria Gazette, show the prevalence of cider consumption in previous centuries. For example, on December 5, 1863, during the middle of the Civil War, R.H. Gemeny posted an ad, announcing that he had just received 20 barrels of pure apple cider. Others, such as George H. Robinson, advertised a crab apple cider that probably combined methods and materials from the New and Old Worlds.
What caused cider’s decline? According to experts, the Industrial Revolution and changing tastes influenced by a growing immigrant population that preferred beer to cider were the first blows to cider production and consumption. Prohibition forced many orchards and cideries to close in the 20th century.
In this century, after decades of being overlooked in favor of other fermented drinks, cider returned in popularity in the United States. To highlight its renaissance, and to draw attention to Virginia’s long history with the drink, the Virginia General Assembly established Virginia Cider Week on September 5, 2012. Joint Resolution 105 designated the full week before Thanksgiving as Virginia Cider Week not just in 2012, but in each succeeding year. The bill recognized cider’s role in early Virginia, its favor in the eyes of Thomas Jefferson, its decline due to industrialization and Prohibition, and its rebirth in this century. According to Virginia Cider Week:
Virginia hard apple cider can be up to 10% alcohol by volume, without chaptalizing (adding sugar to the juice). Any fermented apple juice above 10% alcohol must be labeled “apple wine.” According to current law, a cider cannot have more than 7% alcohol when chaptalized according to current law.
Alexandria’s sister city of Caen, France, also has a vibrant cider tradition. Caen is the capital of Normandy, the region that includes the only “Route du Cidre,” a 40-kilometer loop marked by signs with an apple. Cider producers in Normandy often also make calvados, an apple brandy produced by distilling cider for two years in oak casks.
This year’s Alexandria Cider Festival will be held on November 21. Advance-priced tickets can be purchased online at alexandriava.gov/shop for $55 or at the door for $65 per person. This year, for the nation’s 250th anniversary, the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience (“Out of Many, One”) will be open on Queen Street during the event. Tickets include cider tastings, a souvenir glass, live music, and a little history! While enjoying a selection of Virginia ciders, learn more about the growing Virginia cider industry and its connection to Alexandria’s history. Cideries featured include Albemarle Ciderworks, Henway Hard Cider, and more. Stay up to date on the festival here: https://apps.alexandriava.gov/Calendar/Detail.aspx?si=63350.
