Genuinely Curious: is alcoholic cider (the original form of cider) considered halal since there's no fermented grain or grape in it?
My knowledge is limited to the mead scene in The 13th Warrior...
Having been a practicing Sunni Muslim my whole life, it's my basic understanding that every form of alcoholic beverage is universally considered among Muslims to be unlawful. So, yes, alcoholic cider is off-limits too.
Side note: I've also watched The 13th Warrior! It was by no stretch of the imagination a great movie or anything, but I still found it rather entertaining and thought that it was an interesting role for Antonio Banderas.
I actually like The 13th Warrior quite a bit. The story behind the book was always pretty interesting (Michael "Jurassic Park" Crichton rewrote the Beowulf epic into prose to prove the story wasn't boring as one of his friends asserted). Yeah, it ain't perfect but how often do you get a big budget Vikings versus cannibals movie?
I'm gonna try to make some apple cider (non-alcoholic, obviously) at home to see how it turns out. There really aren't many places near me that sell it for some reason, so it will be fun to finally have some again.
Author Notes:
Don't worry, Chloe has saved plenty for everyone else. It