If you’re heading off the Aintree racecourse today for the Grand National Festival you should be making your final preparations. But no: look at the second bullet point down: on the basis that ginger beer could be confused with actual beer, Crabbie’s claims to be not an alcopop at all, but a premium ale. That’s right: an alcoholic lemonade is classed as being the same kind of product as Fuller’s London Pride, Thornbridge Jaipur, and any other ale between 4.2% and 7% ABV. Jeremiah Weed has had a brilliant launch. Again, it looks and feels too posh to be called an alcopop, but as a ready-to-drink, flavoured alcoholic beverage, that’s exactly what it is. It reeks of authenticity and heritage. In fact it has none whatsoever – it’s entirely a creation of 21st century Big Marketing. That aside, at least it doesn’t claim to be a different kind of product from what it is.

Strongbow, the leading producer of cider, makes a dry British Dry Cidre, but a more traditional British-style cider you may likely find to be malty and very sweet. Many of these U.K. styles have parlayed over to the United States, which in turn has put its spin on cider in a plethora of apple varieties and brewing methods. It’s sad that we have such a lax regulatory environment that these alcopops are allowed to get away with calling themselves ciders. They do so, of course, because cider is so much more fashionable these days than any kind of flavoured alcoholic beverage.A cloudy alcoholic lemonade. Haven’t we had these before? Oh yes, they were the original alcopops weren’t they? Before the riot of different flavours came along. Surely there is no argument whatsoever that this is an alcopop. Certain cider apple varieties' spitters' are grown expressively to make hard cider. Regardless of the apples used, their juice is placed in fermentation tanks along with champagne yeast. As the temperature rises, it only takes three to seven days for the apple cider to ferment into alcohol. The brewer then carefully cools the batch and filters it, removing yeast and other solids. No one wants to drink the latter. The race meeting starts today with Liverpool Day, before the eagerly-anticipated Ladies Day on Friday. The Grand National itself takes place on Saturday afternoon. Prices are on the rise everywhere, and it's no different at Aintree Races this year for the eagerly-anticipated Grand National Meeting. The most famous racing event in the world starts this week, so we've taken a look at the prices you can expect to pay for a drink if you're heading along.

England, Wales, and Ireland all produce hard cider that is available in sweet, medium, and dry varieties. They tend to also differ in style regionally — and even the names may change. Bulmers Cider, as known by the Irish, is called Magners Cider outside of their country. How you define cider depends on which side of the Atlantic you're on. 'Apple cider' (also referred to as 'soft cider,''sweet cider,' or just 'cider') describes the unsweetened, unfiltered, non-alcoholic juice pressed from apples. But be forewarned: When traveling outside of the U.S. or Canada, 'cider' may likely mean the fermented kind.IN THEIR OWN WORDS, the ‘apple-flavoured’ variant of their ‘cider’ is made from water rather than apples. In making cider, apple presses extract the juice, which is then boiled to concentrate it. At this point, the cider appears opaque since it's unfiltered, so you're noticing all the pulp and other sediments. Prices will no doubt vary depending on what your go-to tipple is, but our colleagues at the Liverpool Echo have compiled a list to give an idea about how much you may need to budget for if you're heading down to the course this year. The list is by no means extensive and prices will no doubt vary depending on what your go-to tipple is, but it should give you an idea about what you'll be spending down at the course. Raw apple cider is highly perishable, but hard cider has less alcohol by volume than most wines and keeps much longer. Unlike beer, it requires no hops or malt. That being said, the shelf life on hard cider is not indefinite and should be consumed within a reasonable amount of time from the "bottled on" (or born on) date. Angry Orchard recommends drinking their cider within 12 months of bottling. How is cider made?

The distinction between 'apple cider' and 'hard cider' differs in a big way. Hard ciders are fermented and contain anywhere from 4-6% alcohol by volume. Unlike plain old 'apple cider,' any 'hard cider' is only meant for those ages 21 and up. Can cider go bad? No discussion of hard cider is complete without mention of the United Kingdom. The hard cider traditions are deeply rooted in England. As the major producer of cider (a.k.a. 'scrumpy' in West England) in the E.U., the U.K. and has relished in its most significant hard cider renaissance in the 21st century with more diversity of cideries, products, and consumers than ever. If curious, the word 'Scrumpy' refers to the unfiltered ciders traditionally made in the West Country, originated from 'scrump,' what its residents call a withered or small apple.One thing you might be thinking, is how much money you should be taking with you. If you’re wondering how much the drinks are going to be at Aintree this year, we’ve got you covered. Or that’s what I thought – until the second comment below from eatingisntcheating.blogspot.comalerted me to this news story from last month– it seems Jeremiah Weed is now a cider too! In the company’s own words, although this product: