Hard cider makes a comeback in L.A.

Cider has been picked on as a sugary drink not meant for consumption by serious craft beer fans. But its modern reputation is unfair, says Paul Thomas, founder and president of Julian Hard Cider based in Julian, Calif.

In fact, this country was founded on hard cider. When the colonists came in the 1600s they brought apple seeds, and it wasn’t to make apple juice.

Now that craft brewers and micro-pressers are getting into the cider act (including Julian, Sacramento’s Two Rivers and Oregon’s Wandering Aengus), all kinds of quality L.A. bars are beginning to carry cider, August Brown writes in Friday’s Calendar section.

These include chains like the Yard House, but also places like 1642 in Historic Filipinotown; downtown L.A.’s Spring Street Bar; West Hollywood’s Surly Goat and Burbank’s Story Tavern.

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