Cider vs Beer: Everything You Need to Know

There are always two types of people in the world. Marmite lovers vs haters. Cat people vs dog people. The banana milkshake vs strawberry milkshake people. And then there’s cider people and beer people. Now, don’t get us wrong, there’s a time and a place for cider. But at the end of the day, we’re beer people. But what’s even the difference between the two? 

Cider vs Beer: What’s the Difference?

Beer and cider are the two most popular alcoholic beverages on planet Earth. We get it. They’re both crisp. Refreshing. And ideal for a warm summer afternoon in the pub garden. They both bring that first sip “ahhhhh” factor. But there are some differences between them. Big differences. We know the big-brained beer buffs among you probably already know them. But this is for the newbies – go read something else. 

How they’re made

The biggest difference between beer and cider is the ingredients. Cider is made from pressed fruit juice. Beer is made with hops and malt. 

Cider uses the extra sugars in the fruit juice (usually apple or pear) to ferment. Beer on the other hand uses the sugars from the malt (usually barley but other malts like oat or rice can be used) to ferment while hops add all that iconic beer flavour. 

Flavour and taste

Cider purists will tell you that their beverage is more versatile in taste than beer because you can add all kinds of flavours to it. And it’s true that you can find all sorts of flavours of cider beyond just plain apple or pear. 

But actually, beer can also have loads of different tastes. What does beer taste like? Good question. It’s got a crisp and bitter taste with a bunch of juicy fruity flavours too (depending on the beer). 

Not only are there literally hundreds of varieties of hops, which give a beer different flavour combos, but you can also add flavour in other ways. Take our Sun God Tropical Beer, for example. It has a special blend of hops to give it a really juicy, tropical vibe. And Bloody ‘Ell Beer is made with blood orange juice, so it’s got this really juicy orange taste we can’t get enough of. And our Cosmic Drop fruit punch beers get their super juicy flavours from other fruit like berries and watermelon. So what we’re trying to say is that beer is just as varied in flavour as cider. 

Colour

Some famous chef somewhere said that we eat with our eyes before our mouths. In this case, we’re drinking (responsibly). But either way, it basically means that we look at whatever we’re consuming before we taste it. And colour is actually an important indicator of taste when it comes to beer. 

Beer ranges in colour from a dark black (stout) to a pale yellow shade (hazy ale or lager) and everything in between – including pink and red if you add fruit. It tells you all about how the beer is (probably) gonna taste. The darker the brew, the more roasted the malt so you know that something really dark is going to have more tasted and caramelised flavours than something lighter which will have a brighter taste. 

When it comes to cider, the colour tends to be less varied unless it has some other fruit added which can make it more colourful. Berry ciders will often be more pink or purple in colour while the typical apple and pear ciders tend to have a golden hue to them. 

Nutrition

“Nutrition” is a bit of a misleading term – we don’t recommend beer or cider as part of a new fad diet. But when it comes to sugar and carbohydrate content, cider tends to have higher levels of both because of the extra sugars. Unless you’re drinking the super dry stuff which means most of the sugars have been fermented off. Overall, beer tends to have way less sugar and carb content because there’s no added sugar and it’s fermented enough to reduce the sugar amount from the malt. 

Calories

Speaking of sugars and carbs, how many calories are in beer? Both beer and cider have about the same amount of calories per pint. Cider has about 210. Beer has about 208. On average. Shock, horror, and all that. A 330ml can of beer will have about 150 calories.

But if you’re the kind of human who prefers to count their calories, you can totally get lighter beers with fewer calories in. Take Satellite Super Session IPA for example, it's only got 88 calories per can. 

Alcohol Content

Just like sugar content, cider tends to have a higher ABV (alcohol by volume), with about 4.5-7%. Beer on the other hand tends to have about 4-6% ABV. Although both options have low or no alcohol options. And actually, alcohol free beer is just as tasty as its full-booze counterparts.

Imagine this: It’s a rare sunny day. The BBQ has been lit. Your mates bring out the bucket full of ice. Are you choosing beer or cider? If you were to ask us, we would say beer. But that’s because we really love beer (responsibly, of course). 

Next you need to decide if beer cans vs beer bottles are better (spoiler alert: we vote cans).