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Things often said about cider and perry, each with a verdict and the page where the evidence is set out.
Most of these are not simply wrong. They usually start from something true — cider apples really are different from eating apples, some cloudy ciders really have spoiled — and stretch it further than the evidence goes. So each one gets one of four verdicts rather than a yes or no, and where there is a true observation underneath, it is stated.
The short answers here are summaries. The argument, and the sources behind it, are on the page each entry links to.
The evidence contradicts the claim as it is usually made.
Not true
Eating apples ferment perfectly well. What they usually lack is tannin, so the result tends to be lighter and sharper, and a blend with even a little bittersweet fruit changes it.
The evidence: Cider apple vs dessert apple · Cider apples and eating apples
Not true
Apple tannins give two different sensations, and which one dominates depends on the size of the molecules: smaller procyanidins read as bitter, larger ones as astringent, the drying grip.
The evidence: Tannin, bitterness and astringency · Bittersweet vs bittersharp
Not true
An airlock bubbles whenever gas leaves the vessel, which includes dissolved carbon dioxide coming out as the vessel warms. Only a falling gravity reading shows fermentation.
The evidence: Stuck fermentation · Fermentation progress reader
Not true
A slow ferment, a leaking seal or a liquid still absorbing its own carbon dioxide can all show nothing at the airlock while sugar is still being used. A hydrometer reading that holds steady over several days is the test.
The evidence: Fermentation progress reader · Stuck fermentation
Not true
Yeast produce some sulphite during fermentation, usually a small amount, so a cider made with no addition can still contain it. “No added sulphites” and “sulphite-free” are different claims.
The evidence: Sulphites in cider · Sulphited vs unsulphited
Not true
Sometimes, and sometimes the opposite. Clarity says nothing about live yeast or fermentable sugar; only sterile filtration or pasteurisation makes a cider biologically stable.
The evidence: Filtered vs unfiltered · Unwanted refermentation
Not true
Perry pears contain sorbitol, a sugar alcohol yeast does not ferment, so a perry that has finished can still read above 1.000. A reading that is steady, not a target number, says it is done.
The evidence: Sorbitol and why perry is different · Stuck fermentation
Not true
There are three routes to bubbles: fermentation in the bottle, fermentation in a sealed tank, and carbon dioxide added directly. They are not equivalent in the glass, and a label rarely says which was used.
The evidence: What makes cider fizzy · Bottle-conditioned vs force-carbonated
Not true
Many ciders are cloudy by design: unfiltered, unfined, or carrying yeast from bottle conditioning. Haze is a concern when a cider that was clear becomes cloudy, or comes with an off smell.
The evidence: Is cloudy cider a fault? · Haze vs sediment
Not true
French cider is labelled in sweetness categories from doux to brut, and the brut and extra-brut ciders of Normandy and Brittany are dry by any standard.
The evidence: English vs French cider · Cidre brut
Not true
Traditional Asturian and Basque cider is still or nearly so, and is aerated by the pour. Sparkling Spanish cider is also made and protected, and the newer styles are often filtered and carbonated.
The evidence: English vs Spanish cider · Sidra espumosa
Not true
No jurisdiction CiderHQ covers defines “craft” for cider; it says nothing checkable about fruit, juice content or method. The nearest regulated word is the French artisanal mention, in force since 1 January 2026 under the 2025 cider décret — a different word with its own conditions.
The evidence: “Craft” and “traditional” on a label · Real cider vs craft cider · The French national cider rules
Not true
The word has no defined meaning on a label. It is used for rough farmhouse cider, for commercial products sold on that image, and for nothing in particular.
The evidence: The word “scrumpy” · Scrumpy vs farmhouse cider
A true observation, stretched beyond what it supports.
Oversimplified
They are the same species as dessert apples and are not harmful. Many are unpleasant raw because they are astringent and low in acid; some are perfectly edible, just not worth eating.
The evidence: Why cider apples taste unpleasant raw · Cider apple vs dessert apple
Oversimplified
“Wild” describes where the yeast came from, not anything else. A wild-fermented cider may still have been sulphited, sweetened, filtered or carbonated.
The evidence: Wild vs cultured fermentation · What wild fermentation is
Oversimplified
Vinegar is a second fermentation by acetic acid bacteria, which need oxygen. A cider kept from air does not become vinegar with time; one exposed to it can, and vinegar makers do this on purpose.
What is true underneath: Acetification is also a real cider fault, and the same bacteria cause both.
The evidence: Cider vs cider vinegar · Acetification
Oversimplified
“Dry” means different things in different countries, and in France brut is defined by a density threshold rather than by zero sugar. Perry can taste and measure sweeter than its sugar content because of sorbitol.
The evidence: What dry means on a cider label · Cidre brut
Oversimplified
A juice percentage says how much of the drink is juice, not what state the juice was in: concentrate reconstituted with water is juice too. Whether it was pressed fresh is a separate claim, and only some labels and designations make it.
The evidence: Juice content on a cider label · Whole juice vs concentrate
Oversimplified
The Conquest did not introduce cider. It plausibly intensified exchange of fruit and practice with Normandy, which is a smaller and better-supported claim.
The evidence: The Norman Conquest and cider · The arrival of cider apples in Britain
True under some rules or in some places, and not others.
Depends
As a matter of chemistry, no: cider is made from dessert and culinary apples in many places, notably the Pacific Northwest. Some protected designations do require cider-apple fruit, and inside those rules the claim is true.
What is true underneath: Cider apples carry tannin and, in many varieties, low acid that dessert fruit lacks, which is why traditions built on them taste different.
The evidence: Cider apples and eating apples · Cider apple vs dessert apple · Protected designations
Depends
In UK duty law the two names carry no separate status. In use they often mean different things — perry traditionally from perry pears, “pear cider” often a commercial product — and some designations define perry on its own terms.
The evidence: Perry vs pear cider · What perry is
Depends
A fully fermented dry cider usually does. Keeved and arrested ciders are finished sweeter by design, and the French doux category is defined by a density at or above 1.024.
The evidence: Keeved vs fully fermented · Cidre doux
It may be true; nothing CiderHQ holds shows that it is.
Not established
Nothing CiderHQ holds links strength to quality. Strength follows the fruit’s sugar and the maker’s choices, and one of the most tightly defined categories, French doux, may by definition carry no more than 3% acquired alcohol.
The evidence: Why cider strength varies · How strong cider is
Not established
The Romans grew apples and the claim is endlessly repeated, but no evidence CiderHQ holds shows them making cider in Britain. It is best treated as unsupported.
The evidence: The Romans and cider in Britain · How cider writing repeats itself