Tasting notes from my 20th visit to the Schilling Cider House in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle WA.  Check out my past posts with tasting notes here.

<can’t beat 32 cider taps!>

I was there on Labor Day for a random visit, since I had the day off work.  I started with a flight.

<left to right: Steelhead Peargatory (Vanilla Pear), Greenwood Lavender Blackberry, Red Tank Tropical, Red Tank Pear Bear, Seattle Cider Gin Botanical, and Christian Drouin Pays d’Auge>

Steelhead (Manson WA) Peargatory (Vanilla Pear), 5.5%:  This is from a brand new cidery, and available in bottles as well.  Semi-sweet.  Medium bodied.  Pear-forward, with green apple, pineapple, and mineral notes.  I didn’t notice the vanilla, but I didn’t know about it until I looked it up later either.  Low to moderate tartness.  Moderate acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins.  High sessionability.  High pear flavor.  Low complexity.  Moderate flavor intensity.  Pretty good (I definitely preferred it over Red Tank’s as it was more flavorful).

Greenwood (Seattle WA) Lavender Blackberry, 7.4%:  This is a draft-only release.  Semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Low bitterness and tannins.  No sourness or funk.  Notes of lavender, blackberry, and a weird herbalness.  Low flavor intensity.  Low complexity.  Moderate sessionability.  No apple flavor.  I didn’t care for this one.

Red Tank (Bend OR) Tropical, 5.8%:  This appears to be a draft-only release.  Semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Low to moderate tartness.  Moderate acidity.  Hints of bitterness and tannins.  No sourness or funk.  Notes of pineapple and green apple.  Low flavor intensity.  Low complexity.  Low apple flavor.  Moderate sessionability.  I thought this was ok, but needed more flavor.

Red Tank (Bend OR) Pear Bear, 5.8%:  This appears to be a draft-only release.  Semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Hints of bitterness and tannins.  No sourness or funk.  Pear and pineapple notes.  Long boozy finish.  High sessionability.  Low to moderate pear flavor.  Moderate flavor intensity.  Low complexity.  The flavor was a bit weird on this one.

Seattle Cider (Seattle WA) Gin Botanical, 6.5%:  This seasonal release is also available in bottles.  Semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Light herbal flavor from the gin botanicals.  Low to moderate tartness and acidity.  Hints of bitterness and tannins.  No sourness or funk.  Low flavor intensity.  Moderate complexity.  Low apple flavor.  Moderate sessionability.  Not bad; I can see why its popular.

Christian Drouin (Rouen Normandy France) Pays d’Auge, 4.5%:  This is also available in bottles, made from cider apples, and wild yeast fermented.  Smells rich and a bit funky.  Semi-dry to semi-sweet.  Light to medium bodied, frothy and foamy.  Low tartness and acidity.  Low sourness, funk, tannins, and bitterness.  Notes of bittersweet apples, brown sugar, and orange.  Moderate to high apple flavor.  Moderate sessionability, flavor intensity, and complexity.  Great!  I was expecting more sourness and funk, but it was quite tolerable.

Reverend Nat’s Revival Dry:  Although this shares the name with their popular sweeter Revival variety, its quite different…2/3 English & French bittersweet and 1/3 American heirloom varieties, partial wild fermentation, multiple yeast strains, and no piloncillo.  Only in 750ml bottles.  A friend shared some with me.  Smells fruity.  Dry.  Light bodied.  Mild sharp tropical flavor.  Mild sourness, tannins, and funk.  Moderate tartness, acidity, and bitterness.  Low apple flavor.  Low sessionability.  Moderate complexity.  Moderate flavor intensity.  I prefer the regular version.  This would probably appeal well to wine lovers.

The Christian Drouin Pays d’Auge was my favorite, which isn’t a surprise as it is the only one made from cider apple varieties.

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