Bag In Box Ciders

[Martinsh]

Categorize your topic: Question

I’ve recently started reviewing / rating ciders and I was wondering how to categorise the “Served In” category for BIB (bag in box) ciders. The options are Cask / Tap / Can / Bottle - none of which is exactly appropriate. Is there an accepted option for this, or should I just leave the field blank ?

[jercraigs]

I’d mark them as cask and note it in my rating personally.

[SHIG]

@jercraigs response is what 99% of cider raters do in there rates currently. If you don’t agree I would leave blank because there is a 99.9% chance that it will never be added as a “served in” option.

[Marko]

Yeah, same with Oud Beersel bag in box lambics really. I’d just leave that empty and note it in my rating.

[Martinsh]

Thanks. Will do that in future. [ in my own records I’m marking them down as G (for gravity) ]

[hawthorne00]

In the case of the Oud Beersel bag in box lambics I said of one “Cask in the Chateau Cardboard sense” and another “Serving type: 'kn goonsack ay.”

[martjoobolut]

I just want to note that Oud Beersel BiB lambics are in rb sense the same as cask/hand pump/non refermented, so they are different ticks than bottled versions (most of them exist only in the BiB format anyway).

[danlo]

Looking back I’d put tap for BIAB ciders from most recent rates (I must have figured at the time that it has a tap to pour out from the BIAB), although I can see the reason for using cask (i.e. gravity cask rather than hand-pull cask) vs tap which is used for keg dispense.

[minutemat]

It’s incorrect to select ‘cask’, as its a completely different serving method. Notable reason being that a cask beer has been conditioned in the cask. 24hrs before serving the cellarman vents the beer with a soft peg and, after 24hrs, replaces with a hard peg for dispense. The beer is now being exposed to oxygen and needs to be served ideally within 3 - 5 days.

Bag in a box cider is not vented or exposed to oxygen, and as such lasts for a couple of months after opening.

It has more in common with a keykeg, but selecting ‘tap’ would also be incorrect as there clearly is a difference between cold, carbonated keykeg cider and boxed.

Only option is to leave it blank.

[MicroGrog]

I haven’t actually ran across any cideries here that do a typical bag in box format, just the bag. I don’t believe they last more than a day. I would love a cheap box in my fridge next to the Pinot.