Tasting notes from my seventeenth visit to the Schilling Cider House in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle WA.  Check out my past posts with tasting notes here.

I was there on a random Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed a flight of six ciders.  Even though I had just been there the week before, a good portion of the taps had turned over and there were plenty of ciders to choose from which were new to me.

<left to right: Schilling Rhubarb Pear, Finnriver Pear Wood, Greenwood Cedar, AEppelTreow Blackbird Berry, Cider Head Bourbon Barrel, and Cockrell Pub Cider>

Schilling (Auburn WA) Rhubarb Pear (6.0% ABV): I thought I hadn’t tried this one, but I actually had (its an apple cider with rhubarb & pear, also called Lumberjack and available in cans); see here.  I’ve tried many of their ciders previously (see here).  Pale peach hue.  Smells sweet, fruity, and mild.  Semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Mildly flavored–rhubarb, strawberry, pear, and peach.  Easy to drink.  I think I liked it better canned, as it was higher carbonation and more tart.

Finnriver (Port Townsend WA) Pear Wood (6.9% ABV): This is a Crew Selection keg-only release, a rendition of their Pear cider (which I reviewed here).  Its made from bittersweet apples with Malo-Lactic Fermentation and aged with oak staves, mixed with barrel aged cider, then backsweetened with pear juice.  I’ve tried many of their ciders previously (see here).  Semi-sweet to semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Hints of bitterness.  Notes of bittersweet apple, pear, and oak.  Fairly simple.

Greenwood (Seattle WA) Cedar Cider (6.5% ABV): This is a keg-only release.  I’ve tried a couple of their ciders previously (see here).  Mild scent.  Dry.  Light bodied.  Mild to moderate tartness, acidity, and bitterness.  Earthy wood flavor with some bite that reminds me of crabapples.  A hint of vinegar.  Citrus and vanilla.  Unique.

AEppelTreow (Burlington WI) Blackbird Berry-Apple (5.5% ABV): This cider is available in kegs and bottles, and is apple cider with black currant and elderberries.  I’ve tried a few of their ciders previously (see here).  Deep berry hue.  Smells of raspberries and blackberries.  Semi-sweet to semi-dry.  Light to medium bodied.  Moderate berry flavor, more raspberry than anything else.  I didn’t really detect black currant or elderberries.  Moderate tartness.  Low acidity.  Hints of tannins and bitterness.  Not overly juice-like which I notice often happens with sweeter berry ciders.  I found it to be very well-balanced and its one of my favorite berry ciders.

Honey Moon (Bellingham WA) CiderHead Bourbon Barrel (5.5% ABV): This is a keg-only release.  I’ve tried a couple of their ciders previously (see here).  Smells sour.  Dry to semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Mild sourness and bitterness.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Vinegar and citrus notes.  Mild barrel and bourbon influence.

Cockrell (Puyallup WA) Pub Cider (6.2% ABV): This is a keg-only release.  I’ve tried a couple of their ciders previously (see here).  Smells sweet and rich.  Semi-dry to semi-sweet.  Frothy.  Very mildly flavored and it kinda tasted watered down, although it was medium bodied.  Apple-forward.

The AEppelTreow Blackbird Berry-Apple was oddly enough my favorite, probably as it was the most flavorful.  I would have guessed that I’d prefer the Bourbon Barrel or Pub Cider based on my typical preferences, but I didn’t really like either (especially the Bourbon Barrel, as I don’t like sour ciders).

Stay tuned for more Schilling Cider House tasting notes here at Cider Says!  Have you had any good draft cider / cider flights recently?