I mean, this a kids' show, and they clearly weren't fermenting it. Maybe the producers deliberately made it ambiguous for fun.

1753566 i like to this so, makes it far more amusing

1753566 It's a new world with tons of cider

1753566 Nah.....

1753566 Sure, wynaut.

1753566
I'm just going to go with yes because that makes the reactions and behavior of the ponies in that episode much easier to explain.

1753566 Apple cider is not alcoholic. If you added alcohol to it, then it'd obviously be alcoholic. Think about it. Do apples have alcohol in them?
No.

1753566 I believe that they left it open so that the kids can think of it as unfermented cider, while us adults can sit back, and grin, knowingly

1753611

Neither do grapes, and yet...

1753566 The cider with bubbles in the show—Yes, for only alchoholic cider bubbles up.

Come to The Headcanon vs. Headcanon Debate group to fight over headcanons. It is a group in its infancy, so please be gentle on it.

1753566
I make the kids' batch non-alcoholic.
The rest packs a punch.

1753566 well there is hard cider and regular cider. Hard cider is alcoholic but regular cider is for everyone.

1753566 The ponies get drunk with salt not alcohol so it wouldn't be 'alcoholic' per say

1753627 Last I checked, grapes weren't apples. But what do I know?

1753566

In France and Belgium, Cider or "Cidre" is alcoholic. But you will have two types of cider:

- the so-called "doux" (sweet) with 2 to 3% of Alcohol.
- and the "brut" (bitter) with 4 to 5% of Alcohol.

And in my opinion, the best cider is:

Enjoy!

1753611

You do know how fermentation works, right? The natural monosacharides and disacharides in fruit (the sugars) are chemically changed to ethyl alcohol by a process of decomposition. You can do it with any fruit in theory.

1753703 Doesn't always mean that it's going to be alcoholic. They could NOT do that little process. You know. Just for shits and giggles.
They can make it either way but do you truly think that they're going to add alcohol to a children's cartoon?

1753720
I wasn't saying that proves it's alcoholic. That was in reference to this:

Think about it. Do apples have alcohol in them?

No natural fruit has alcohol in it. That's not how any alcoholic beverage is created. It's through fermentation. The apples themselves not possessing alcohol doesn't mean anything.

1753566
Didn't see any kids in the line, so yeah, I think so.

You try getting a crowd that excited over a non-alcoholic drink. It was basically pony Oktoberfest.

Maybe there's some enchantment on that millstone Big Mac was using to grind them that causes them to instantly ferment in addition to taking out all the seeds and skin and crap, or, y'know, they just add it later. Or fruit works differently there - Wood obviously does in some way, because you can make wolves out of it.

1753566
They show the entire process of making it, in intricate detail.

Never once did we see the cider be fermented, or any alcoholic product be added to it.

It's not even technically "cider". It's actually just apple juice.

1753737 I'm not trying be seen as a dick here. I'm just debating. I didn't know that. And now I'm actually interested in all of this. But, I'm weird like that, so...

1753758
Not trying to be... Well, I'm naturally a bit of a dick, so...
But yeah. Didn't mean to offend. Just pointing out that scientifically speaking an apple doesn't need alcohol to be made into an alcoholic drink. Hell, vodka is made from potatoes.

1753764 I feel like an idiot. I didn't even know that vodka was made out of potatos. Drinking and not knowing is good enough for me.

1753778
Lol That's what they said about eating Soylent Green. Look how that turned out.

1753751 That's true, actually... now that I look at it...

1753566 It's not like there are a thousand other threads in this group about this same subject or anything...

I thought fermentation takes time. They made fresh batches instantly in the show, so how it was alcoholic in an instant is beyond me. Yes, alcoholic cider is foamy and the cider on the show did have foam, but then again I think the writers didn't care about that fact and having alcohol consumption on a kid's show would not sit well with hasbro, or the censors. Unless otherwise proven, I'm going to assume it's an oversight and that it was not alcoholic. The debate continues....

1753566

Following American lexicon
Cider alone denotes the soft kind, just unfiltered apple juice.
Hard Cider denotes the alcoholic kind, which has a foam top, aka head.

The show seems to be iffy, showing cider with a head. Though, adding cinnamon to soft cider and agitating it adds a bit of foam on top.

Do you wanna know their secret.....…Magic

1753566
If you struck a match near Applejack she'd explode in a fireball so massive it would level the Everfree. From Canterlot.

So "yes".

Also, in the Sisterhooves Social episode, weren't the Apples working with a wine press? The had to explicitly say it was grape juice, because otherwise there's no question they were making wine.

1753566 Ponies lining up to day drink. Fun times were had by all.

According to Hasbro's lawyers: No.

: We keep the good stuff in the back. Come on by later when all the young-ins are gone.

1753691

My point is, neither is naturally alcoholic, and I'm pretty sure apples can ferment...

1754223

Unless applejuice (and Sisterhooves Social grape juice) can ferment in 5 minutes or less, nope.
Im sure they have a few special barrels set aside in the apple cellar though...

1753566 Considering there is a specific and limited cider 'season' and soft cider could be made from apples at any time they are ripe, I'd say they let them ferment on the trees somehow. Just past ripe, to have alcohol in them, but not ready to fall off the tree.

1753566
In one case, the apple cider in my fridge fermented and became alcoholic after a long period of staying in there. It's possible, but it takes time.

with how those little moments are placed it's hard not imagine that not be considered "inappropriate for little children" if not how professorially and cleverly disguised those moments were, such as spike sleeping in the fruit punch bowl and pinkie saying "i guess the punch has been Spiked!" no little kid should know what a spiked drink is and the majority don't so why not add it in for the adults that are forced to watch it with their children

with that said, the conclusion is
(there is no way to prove whether it was or was not indeed "hard" cider)
they merely Suggested that it was Fermented due to little things such as... having it in mugs, the beverage having a foam head on top, and the pones behavior towards it

my opinion towards it? yes i would like to believe that it was "Fermented" with no logical explanation, that would makes the pones more relatable to real life and adds a more comedic atmosphere.
because normal humans like that right?

this reminded me why i cant and don't like write papers... not saying this is anywhere comparable to an actual collage grade paper...

1753566 It was frothing, it was alcoholic.

FLAWLESS LOGIC IS FLAWLESS

1753691
Anything can make an alcoholic beverage. Its just a matter of taste. I mean really whiskey is made of corn and I have had alcoholic cider before. The foam and bubbling only comes from sparkling cider and alcoholic cider. Because the same process creates carbon dioxide gas. Its actually simpler to make alcohol than to make a soda.

1753566 Thought I am sure that the cider they use is not alcoholic it can be made in to an alcoholic beverage quite easy. Ironically Apple Jack is the name of cider that has been turned into alcohol.
In fact all the Apple in Ponyville have Apple related spirits connected to their name.

It was. Apple cider only foams when there is alcohol present in the mixture.

1755389>>1755681

Perhaps the equipment has a low-grade age spell on it?

Considering how much trouble Twilight had with aging a single flower I kinda doubt it, but perhaps there's a specialized and easier enchantment for things like wine and cider presses?

Heck, its the kinda day to day stuff I'd do if I had phenomenal cosmic power...

I don't get it. If the apples aren't fermented, how can it be cider?

1756513 I've figured all this out now. I didn't know that before because I never needed to know. So I chose not to know. Now I know.

1756578 Hmmm, interesting thought there, Yeast is only a few microns across, certainly small enough for a spell like that to overpower and age into overdrive.
Either that,. or its Earth Pony magic doing to the yeast what it does to the trees on a daily basis...
(Otherwise, I'd suspect they are pouring a cup of last year's "Special Cider" into each barrel...)