Schilling Cider House Visit 5 Tasting Notes

November 3, 2015October 24, 2015 cidersays Avid (prev. Atlas), Bull Run, Carlton, Cider Riot, Cragie's, D's Wicked, Elemental, Eric Bordelet, Finnriver, Fox Tail, Millstone, review, Schilling cider, cider flight, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Schilling, Schilling Cider House, seattle, tasting notes

This time an event brought me to the Schilling Cider House in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle WA, a great excuse to drink cider on a weeknight if you ask me. It was their monthly potluck, which this month had a “sweet” theme, for both cider and food. There were still plenty of drier cider options on tap too (and with 32 tap selections and hundreds of bottles, there is something for everyone). I even found out there is one hush-hush bottled beer selection at Schilling.

I started with a flight of six. However, I ended up staying there for over 4 hours, so it definitely wasn’t the only thing I drank! I picked up a nice weird dinner at PCC of some coleslaw, cheese, and pretzel bread (which is one of my favorite things to have with cider, unsalted though).

Fox Tail Sweet Tooth, 5.0% ABV: This is the second cider I’ve had from this Hood River OR cidery (the first was Fuzzy Haven, tasting notes here). This was an interesting selection as they called it sweet, but it was more semi-dry? Probably more that it was sweet for their cidery. Straw yellow hue, no haziness. Rather plain and on the mild & boring side, but I don’t have any complaints. Mild tartness and acidity. Nicely balanced.

Carlton Black Currant Scrumpy, 4.4% ABV: This is the first cider I’ve had from this McMinnville OR cidery, although I have a bottle of their Slake at home to try. Rich black currant scent and a lovely deep berry hue. Semi-dry. Sour! Definitely wasn’t expecting that. Unfortunately I’m not a fan of sour cider so I didn’t have more than a couple sips.

Cragie’s Ballyhook Flier, 5.8% ABV: This is an Irish cider which I’ve seen in bottles and have wanted to try, so here was my chance. Hazy yellow-orange hue. Dry cider apple and yeast scent. Dry. Moderate bitterness. Mild sourness, funkiness, tartness, and astringency. Moderate tannins. Complex and unique. However, it was too bitter for my liking. I think some additional sweetness to balance it would have been nice. I’ve had some ciders made from higher tannin cider apples which weren’t bitter, but it appears to be difficult to pull off.

Bull Run Strawberry Fields, 6.5% ABV: This is the first cider I’ve had from this Forest Grove OR cidery, although I’ve been meaning to try their ciders for awhile (way too much good stuff available around here). Light cherry color. Lovely real sweet strawberry scent. On the drier side of semi-sweet. Moderate strawberry flavor. I imagine it was difficult to develop this cider, to get a true strawberry flavor without seeming fake or being too sweet. I have found very few fruity ciders that were full flavored without being very sweet or overpowering the apple (Snowdrift Red and Eaglemount Quince are two I love, but they are on the more spendy side). I’m a fan!

Finnriver Pear, 6.5% ABV: I’ve had a number of Finnriver selections, but hadn’t had this one before (Chimacum WA). This is a cider (apple juice) with pear juice added (ie. its not perry, which are made only using pear juice). Straw yellow, no haze. Light clean pear scent. On the drier side of semi-sweet. Plain, but it had a nice real pear flavor. Quite good, but not my favorite from them (I’d recommend Lavender Black Currant, Honey Meadow, and Fire Barrel).

Elemental Atomic Root Beer, 6.5% ABV: I’ve tried a couple of their ciders, but I was curious about this new one (Woodinville WA). Its a hard root beer, but in contrast to other products (such as Not Your Father’s Root Beer), it is cider instead of malt based! Nice caramely root beer hue. Smells of root beer with a hint of baked apple. Tastes like a nice mild root beer with a hint of baked apple at the core. Only semi-sweet, which I appreciated. It could have used some additional carbonation, but I say that about most ciders. Tasty! I can see why this one has been a huge hit for them.

I then realized I had finished my first flight and the actual event hadn’t started yet, as I got there so early (due to my work schedule). So, I ordered a half flight. Without realizing it I got three berry ciders (they were about the only ones left on the board I hadn’t tried, besides ginger & hops & such that I don’t care for).

Atlas Pom-Cherry, 5.8% ABV: I’ve had the Apple and Blackberry selections (reviews here and here) from this Bend OR cidery. I also have their Apricot variety at home to try. Tart cherry scent. Semi-sweet to sweet. Lots of pomegranate flavor. Only mild tartness and the slightest hint of sour. Thin bodied. Bold flavored. It was my favorite of these three, but I still think I like their plain apple best of the three varieties I’ve tried from them so far, and overall its not a favorite of mine or anything.

Cider Riot Never Give An Inch Oregon Blackberry, 6.9% ABV: This is the first cider I’ve had from this Portland OR cidery, although I have a bottle of their 1763 at home to try. Dry. Very tart. Only mild berry flavor. I found it kinda unremarkable, and my least favorite of these three. It was too tart for my liking and I don’t think I finished it. Tart fans who like berry ciders but find them all too sweet may want to give this one a try though.

Elemental Oxygen (Pomegranate), 6.5% ABV: I’ve had a number of ciders from this Woodinville WA cidery. Poured very foamy. On the drier side of semi-sweet. Tart. Thin bodied. Rather mild flavor, which appears typical for them. Their Atomic Root Beer is definitely my favorite from them so far.

During this time the actual potluck started (5pm), and it got busy (for awhile I was the only customer!). I got to see Mick from Click Distributing again, meet two guys from D’s Wicked Cider (Kennewick WA), meet Sarah’s mom, and see Merce from Cider Log again. Plus I nimbled on some tasty treats.

I sampled D’s Wicked Baked Apple, their new 6.9% instead of 8.5% ABV variety. Apparently most folks won’t be able to taste the difference. One of the reasons they did this was because there is an apparent WA state rule against doing growler fills above 7% ABV. This is the first cider I’ve tried from them. I had avoided buying a bottle of this one as I assumed it would be too spiced for my liking (not a spiced cider fan, or any spices in general…not even pepper on food). However, the cinnamon was quite mild (at least when the keg wasn’t fully cold yet), and it had more baked apple flavor. Quite tasty actually. They said the cinnamon showed up more when it was fully cold though. Nice and frothy and on the unfiltered side. Semi-sweet. Medium to heavy bodied. Its not something I’d buy, but I was pleasantly surprised, and definitely see why they are so popular.

Also, Sarah remembered about a bottle of Eric Bordelet Poire Authentique in the cool room (I think this was a sample or something, as its not one of the Bordelet varieties they carry). It was definitely flat after being open about a week (apparently its typically quite sparkling), but we all found it tasty (there was enough for a couple sips each). At only 3.5% ABV, this French perry is easy drinking at its finest. I have only heard rave reviews about Bordelet and they’ve been on my want to try list. Bold flavor, but clean, unlike some perries. On the drier side of semi-sweet. Rich flavor and very balanced. I really enjoyed this one, but I’m not sure I could bring myself to pay $15-20 for a 750ml bottle of a sub 4% ABV cider. This reminded me of the bottle pour of another Poire I had here, Domaine Pacory Poire Domfront (tasting notes here).

They also had a Randall going that night where they infused Schilling Gold cider with oranges, coconut, and Chai tea. An interesting combination, as always! It was pretty tasty, although I would have preferred no tea and lots more coconut. The tea seemed to make the cider seem drier than I remembered Gold tasting (which is one of Schilling’s sweeter varieties, and their only plain cider I believe). Sarah said this was her favorite Randall so far.

Mick also decided to pick up a bottle of Millstone Farmgate Dry and share it with us. I had this one at Cider Summit Seattle 2015 (tasting notes here), in an attempt to see if there was any variety from Millstone I’d enjoy (as I definitely didn’t like their Cobbler). This variety is definitely sour & funky, but less harsh than Cobbler by a few times probably. I’m always surprised to see Cobbler make cider lists without any notes of its sour flavor, but apparently a lot of folks like that sort of thing (like sour beer I guess). Its a good thing they make so many ciders, so there is something for everyone.

I definitely tried a lot of cider and had a blast, as always. Stay tuned for more Schilling Cider House tasting notes here at Cider Says! Have you had any good draft cider / cider flights recently?

Schilling Cider House Visit 4 Tasting Notes

October 19, 2015October 13, 2015 cidersays Aspall, Blue Mountain, Cockrell, Doc's, Jester & Judge, Le Brun, local, review, Schilling, Wandering Aengus, Waupoos cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Schilling Cider House, seattle

Another trip to the Schilling Cider House! I always have a blast (especially now that Sarah from Cider Log works there), and its kinda on my way home, and pretty affordable for a cider flight, so I make time for it when I can.

I had barely sat down this time when Sarah asked my opinion on the sweetness level of Cockrell’s Valley Red (raspberry) they had just tapped (as they color code the tap list by sweetness level). My vote was semi-sweet. I actually tried that one at the Seattle Cider tasting room (The Woods) awhile back. Bright cherry-pink hue. Semi-sweet. Nicely balanced tart-sweet, The raspberry comes across with a nice bite, and is easily noticeable, but not overpowering.

Then, I ordered a flight. It actually wasn’t too difficult to find 6 I hadn’t tried before, as they have 32 cider taps.

Wandering Aengus Byrd, 8.5% ABV:
Made from Wickson Crabapples and Nehou English Bittersweets, wild fermented. Semi-dry to Dry. Orangeish hue. Lots of crabbapple flavor and heavy tannins. Richer but light bodied. Slight funk. Not too much bitterness. Nice tang. Quite tasty, my favorite Wandering Aengus so far by far (usually not a big fan of them or their subsidiary Anthem). Reminds me of English cider. Apparently the name was because a bird made a nest on top of the tank, so they decided to name whatever cider they made a variation on bird.

Jester & Judge Sharp Cherry, 5.8% ABV:
First time I’ve tried Jester & Judge, although I have a bottle of their cider in the fridge to try. They are a newish cidery out of Stevenson WA. Semi-dry. Orange/pink hue. Very very mild cherry. Some tartness. Overall kinda blah. I’d call it Hint of Cherry, not Sharp Cherry lol. I guess I’m just a fan of bolder flavor. By the way, my favorite cherry cider so far is made by Washington Gold, and has a lovely bold real tart cherry flavor.

Blue Mountain Semi-Sweet, 6.3% ABV:
Second time I’ve tried Blue Mountain (only tried their Peach before). Semi-dry. Floral scent. Kinda watered down tasting / mildly flavored. Some tartness and some bitterness. Very mild tannins. Floral and citrus notes. Easy drinking and I think this would be widely appealing. Overall kinda average.

Le Brun Organic Cidre, 4% ABV:
French cidre! Semi-sweet. Nice richer flavor with mild tannins. I pick up some apple skin type flavor with this one, and its a bit larger bodied than some other French ciders I’ve had. Overall quite good, but as far as French ciders go, I prefer Dan Armor, which I found to be more flavorful. They carry this in bottles at the Schilling Cider House by the way.

Waupoos Premium, 6.5% ABV:
I’ve heard of this cidery from Ontario Canada, but hadn’t had a chance to try their cider. On the sweeter side of semi-dry. Plain yeasty apple scent. Some tartness, bitterness, and acidity, but rather mild. A rather basic cider without much flavor, but I don’t really have any complaints about it either. Well-hidden ABV.

Doc’s Raspberry on Nitro, 5.5% ABV:
I’ve been wanting to try Doc’s. Sarah recommends their Sour Cherry, but I haven’t seen it yet. This one was weird…I picked up some saltiness. Maybe from the tap line? It also unfortunately didn’t take well to the Nitro (there wasn’t any noticeable Nitro influence; typically the ciders get really foamy & smooth). Semi-sweet. Nicely balanced tart-sweet raspberry. Smelled better than it tasted though. I’ll have to give them another try.

Overall: The only ciders I truly enjoyed from my flight were the Wandering Aengus (oddly enough) and Le Brun. I kinda wished I had got a flight of the ciders I knew I liked that they had on tap, but I’m a sucker for trying new things, especially ciders, and especially when I haven’t tried anything from that cidery.

While I was there they also put together a very unique Randall using Schilling Oak Aged cider, mushrooms, walnuts, and black olives! The olives cam through most in the scent. The taste was quite earthy with some funk, and a bit chunky honestly (I got the first pour I think). It wasn’t as bad as it sounds though, although a couple sips was plenty. Looks like Friday afternoons are their typical Randall time, as the same thing happened during my previous visit.

Sarah also shared some of a bottle of Aspall Dry with me! This was the very first Aspall variety I had (at the Seattle International Beerfest; see my post here), and is quite excellent. Its an awesomely crisp apple-forward semi-dry cider. I haven’t been disappointed by any Aspall variety yet, and am looking forward to trying the bottle of Imperial I have at home.

So, all in all, obviously I highly recommend the Schilling Cider House! By the way, the Schilling Cider House has a monthly potluck. The next one is on Thursday October 22 from 5-9pm, and being called Dude…Sweet, with a theme of sweeter ciders, and asking folks to bring in sweet treats to share. There will even be a new Schilling release!

Schilling Cider House Visit 3 and Portland Cider Tasting at Total Wine

October 9, 2015October 9, 2015 cidersays Greenwood, Moonlight Meadery, One Tree, Portland Cider, review, Rootwood, Schilling cider, cider review, cider tasting, Fremont, hard cider, Portland Cider, Schilling Cider House, Total Wine

I enjoyed my last visits (one and two) to the Schilling Cider House so much that I was looking for another opportunity to visit. I got my chance the following week when my husband had Friday night plans that didn’t interest me, so I went my own way. I arrived at the Schilling Cider House around 3:30pm, and it was already pretty busy.

I had tried a number of their tap selections (especially since I was there only the week before), but found six of interest that I hadn’t tried yet.

Schilling Mischief Maker Cran-Pom, 5.8% ABV: This is a newish cranberry-pomegranate cider by Schilling (available in bottles too). A bit foamy of a pour. On the drier side of sweet. Nice balanced sweet & tart. However, it was a bit too heavy on the cranberry for my liking, and quite juice-like.

Schilling Barrel #1, 21% ABV: This is similar to their Barrel #2 I had the previous week, some sort of spirit (not sure if it was distilled or fortified with brandy). I was able to find out that this one is whiskey barrel aged However, this was much drier than Barrel #2, on the sweeter side of dry. It was very very boozy in comparison to Barrel #2. I really didn’t like it much at all. It didn’t have nearly as much flavor as Barrel #2.

Moonlight Meadery Boys ‘nd Berries, 6%: Cherry color. Boysenberry scent. On the drier side of semi-sweet. Moderate tartness. Kinda boring, but it is one of the better berry ciders I’ve had. I’ve found I’m just not a fan of berry ciders, as they are often really juice-like. This cider oddly enough though came across as a bit boozy, tasting higher than 6% ABV, which is unusual for a berry cider.

Rootwood Cider Company Lot 17, 7.2% or 7.5% ABV: This is the first cider I’ve tried from Rootwood, which hails from the Lake Chelan WA area. They are newish to cider (launched about a month ago and had a launch party at the Schilling Cider House during Washington Cider Week), but have been growing apples for over 100 years. They have their own tasting room in Manson WA, which offers growler fills. They are working on getting their ciders bottled and out to stores, but for now, can be found on tap in the greater Seattle area (such as the Schilling Cider House and 192 Brewing Company in Kenmore). “Lot 17” refers to the name of one of the family’s original orchard plots in the hills outside of Manson, and it is primarily made using Fuji apples (but also includes Jonagold, Elstar, Foxwelp, Browns, and Kingston Black). Semi-dry. Fairly simple. Mild tartness. Moderate acidity & bitterness. Light bodied. It had hints of a rich flavor, and some mild fruity notes, but left me wanting more. Overall I found this rather boring.

Greenwood Cider Company Huckleberry Wedding Cider, 6.5% ABV: This is the first cider I’ve tried from Greenwood, which hails from the Seattle WA area. I hadn’t even heard of them, despite them being local and my interest in cider. I really couldn’t find any info on them online oddly enough, just a Facebook page, so I e-mailed them. They are about a year old and currently only sell kegs of their small batch ciders. In the Seattle area, their customers include Capitol Cider, the Schilling Cider House, and Chuck’s Hop Shop. I found out this cider was primarily huckleberry, but also included blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries (the “wedding” part), and made from piñata, golden delicious, fuji, braeburn, granny smith, and golden russet apples. It had an orange-pink hue, which was interesting for what I thought was only a huckleberry cider, especially compared to the very dark colored One Tree Huckleberry cider. I picked up much more citrus (grapefruit?) than berry in it. Ryan from Greenwood thought I may have been picking up some of the tartness of the raspberries or acidity of the heirloom golden russet apples in detecting citrus notes. Still, this one was a bit too unique for me, and my least favorite of the seven ciders I ended up trying. I’m definitely game to try other ciders from them though!

One Tree Hard Cider Huckleberry on Nitro, 6.8% ABV: Deep deep berry hue. Excessive foam from the Nitro process and the scent I have come to associate with it. Very sweet. I found this to be just your standard juice-like berry cider. Medium bodied. There actually wasn’t any perceivable tartness, which was surprising, and would have been welcomed.

All in all I wasn’t impressed with any of my selections. The Moonlight Meadery Boys ‘nd Berries was probably my “favorite” of the six (actually seven; see below). They had ciders I really liked still on tap though, such as Moonlight Meadery Last Apple, Schilling Barrel #2, NV Cider Pear Essentials, and 2 Towns Bad Apple & Prickle Me Pink…I just wanted to get ciders I hadn’t tried before.

They also ended up putting a Randall together while I was there, which was a cool process to watch. Apparently they often will do this on the weekend. It doesn’t appear they charge any extra for a Randalled cider either. The process appeared to be a seat of the pants sort of thing, with ingredients they picked up from the PCC grocery store down the street. I had a front & center view of it all too! They started with Rootwood Lot 17, then added corn, cilantro, and hot peppers to the infuser chamber.

I got a sample of the resulting cider, and it was pretty good! It mostly had cilantro flavor, with a hint of heat (the peppers were placed at the top of the chamber so the cider didn’t get much of their influence). I really love Cilantro, so it was nice. This would have paired very well with Mexican food, which few ciders do (my choice would be Wyder’s Reposado Pear). I didn’t really pick up the corn in the flavor, but I think it added a bit of color & texture. You can really see a difference in hue between the pre-Randall Lot 17 (fourth cider from left in flight photo above) vs. the post-Randall Lot 17.

I didn’t have a good view of the cutting board of ingredients, but here is a photo from their Twitter feed:

After going to the Schilling Cider House, on my way home, I stopped at the Northgate Total Wine, where they were having a Portland Cider Company cider tasting (4-7pm). I had spotted it on Total Wine’s event calendar and taken note. I met their rep Ingrid (whose business card says “cider maven” lol) and tried three of their ciders. They were pouring Kinda Dry, Pearfect, and Hop’Rageous. I had tried a bottle of Kinda Dry (review here) and had Pearfect Perry on tap awhile back at my first visit to the Schilling Cider House (tasting notes here), but gave them another go.

Even though I don’t like hops, I thought I might as well try a sip of the Hop’Rageous. It was surprisingly good! There was very very little hop flavor, more of an aftertaste. Apparently they use Citra hops, which are mild, and apparently they didn’t use a huge amount of them. They also incorporated some orange peel. Most hopped ciders go quite overboard on the amount of hops. It had a lovely aroma & flavor of both floral (probably from the hops) and citrus (probably from the orange peel). I found it dry to semi-dry. Nice and refreshing, and very light in flavor overall. I’d actually consider getting a bottle of it, although I imagine I might not like the hops aftertaste when drinking a larger amount. This is a great example of a well-done hopped cider that even someone who doesn’t like hops/beer can probably enjoy!

As a side note, I’m quite proud of myself for not buying any bottles of cider at the Schilling Cider House or Total Wine, which is unheard of for me. I have so much cider at home that I can’t justify buying anything but a special release / rare find.

Schilling Cider House – Washington Cider Week – 2 Towns Tap Night

September 30, 2015August 10, 2017 cidersays 2 Towns, Aspall, Cider Summit, Dupont, E.Z. Orchards, Finnriver, local, Moonlight Meadery, review, Schilling, Washington Cider Week 2 Towns, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Schilling Cider House, Washington Cider Week

The last Washington Cider Week event I attended was the 2 Towns Tap Night at the Schilling Cider House in the Fremont neighborhood from Seattle (Thurs Sept 17, 2015). I honestly would have rather gone to the Barrel Aged event they had the night before, but that didn’t work for my schedule. I’m a fan of 2 Towns, and got to meet up with some great cider folks, so I was very happy nonetheless.

You can’t beat their 32 cider tap selection! Plus they have a huge bottle selection, all chilled, and you can see every bottle and look at the label and such. It was only my second time there, but I’ve already gone back for a third visit the following week. Sarah from Cider Log is the manager at the Schilling Cider House now, I finally got to meet Mick from Click Distributing (we’ve chatted on Facebook quite a bit), and I also met some folks from some other distributors as well.

I got there quite awhile before the event started. It was officially 6-9pm (when the 2 Towns guys were there), but they had the 2 Towns selections on tap much earlier. I picked up a tasty Caprese sandwich from across the street. I sat at the cider house bar for a few minutes to figure out what I wanted to start with. Then Mick found me and I went over to the cool kids table with the distributor dudes.

I started with a flight of 4 ciders. I should have just gone for the full 6, as I think it ends up being cheaper, but I was holding out to try some 2 Towns stuff later. Also, although I didn’t yet know it, I would also be trying some bottled cider!

Schilling Barrel #2: A 21% ABV concoction which was barrel aged. I’m a little unclear as to how it was made (I heard once it was fortified with brandy and another time it was distilled cider). However, its not really cider at this ABV, more like apple brandy, apple jack, Pommeau, apple spirits, whatever you want to call it. Definitely booze-forward, but I found it easily drinkable on its own when it was cold (and I usually don’t do straight alcohol). I loved the honey and almost floral notes. Semi-sweet to sweet. Highly recommended! They still had some of this on tap as of Sept 25 by the way.

Moonlight Meadery The Last Apple: A 16% ABV cyser (when apple juice is blended with honey, then fermented). It was then barrel aged in Jim Beam barrels for 6 months. I’ve had both meads and ciders from Moonlight, and now a cyser. On the sweet & syrupy side, but very flavorful. Well hidden ABV. I loved the honey flavor which was bold but not overdone. All around complex and tasty! This was also still on tap as of Sept 25.

Aspall John Barrington: A 8.4% cider from Aspall in the UK. I didn’t know anything about this cider going into it, but put it on my flight card as I’ve been impressed by Aspall so far. The scent was quite dry, but it came across as semi-sweet to me in taste (although Schilling had it listed as dry per their taste test). Almost still (very low carbonation). Very smooth and rich flavor. Acidic and slightly tart. Lovely tropical notes. I liked this one.

Finnriver Barrel Berry Sour: A 6.5% sour blueberry-apple cider which was barrel aged. Although I’m not a fan of sour cider (about the only sour thing I like is candy), I decided to give it a try as it was barrel aged, and I’m a sucker for barrel aged! Definitely sour, and I thought more so than their Country Peach I tried at Cider Summit which was described as a sour (but didn’t have sour in the name). Semi-dry. For me the sour overwhelmed the flavor so much I couldn’t pick up the barrel influence or any other flavors I’m not a fan, but glad I tried it. Apparently lots of folks like sour ciders, beer, etc…I’m just not one of them.

Next, I got to partake in samples of two bottled ciders that some of the guys bought, Poire Domfront from Domaine Pacory and Roman Beauty from E.Z. Orchards. The Schilling Cider House doesn’t charge an extra fee beyond the bottle price to drink any of their bottled ciders on the premises, but I don’t see why you would want to with 32 ciders on tap?

Domaine Pacory Poire Domfront: A 5% ABV French perry made primarily with “plant de blanc” pears. Rich sweet scent. Fizzy / high carbonation. Mick thought it was hilarious the first comment out of my mouth upon tasting it was “that’s fizzy!”. I really do love a highly carbonated cider though, and we don’t get it too often here. Semi-sweet. Very light bodied. I wouldn’t have guessed this was perry at all, as it really tasted similar to French ciders I’ve enjoyed. Easy drinking and very tasty. There was the slightest bit of funk when it warmed up a bit.

E.Z. Orchards Roman Beauty: A 4% ABV cider from Oregon. Made primarily from Roman Beauty apples, bottle conditioned, and cold spontaneous fermentation. Clean & crisp scent. This one was also easy drinking and very tasty. I didn’t mind at all that there was still cider left in the bottle after the guys left, and I continued to sample it.

Next, since it was 2 Towns time, I got a small pour of their Made Marion on Nitro. I had tried or wasn’t interested in their other selections on tap:
Bad Apple, high ABV imperial style cider – awesome
Hop & Stalk, Sitra hops & rhubarb – didn’t care to try as I’m not a fan of either of its namesakes
Prickle Me Pink, pink from cactus fruit – quite good
Outcider, their unfiltered variety – average

2 Towns Made Marion: A 6% ABV marionberry cider. I’m pretty sure I had this one awhile back, but 2 Towns makes a number of berry ciders, so I’m not 100%. This one had lots of foam due to the Nitro tap. Deep berry color and a tart berry scent. Very smooth. Semi-sweet. I also picked up some boysenberry flavor in addition to the marionberry for whatever reason. Mild tartness. I found this a bit predictable, although I haven’t ever been too amazed by a berry cider; often they are quite juice-like.

They came around with samples of some 2 Towns ciders, which was quite nice. Aaron Sarnoff, a co-founder and cider guru at 2 Towns whom I met at Cider Summit, was there with another co-worker. It wasn’t very crowded (probably due to the rain), so Aaron chat with us all at the cool kids table for awhile. I got a sweet 2 Towns pint glass! My husband has been enjoying drinking his beer from it lol. I’m not a huge fan of cider in a pint glass (its a bit too large for starters), but its a great collectible.

On my way out I picked up a bottle of Cider Riot! 1763 (made from cider apples). Earlier in the afternoon I had stopped at Full Throttle Bottles and got Traditions Ciderworks Bourbon Barrel 2012 (my favorite from Cider Summit…I’m very happy Erika from Full Throttle got some for me) and Carlton Cyderworks Slake (whiskey barrel aged). I haven’t tried any ciders from Cider Riot or Carlton Cyderworks, and these seemed like good starting points as I love barrel aged cider! Three bottles of cider added to my collection that I definitely didn’t need. Its very tough to not buy cider that sounds amazing though.

This concludes the Washington Cider Week festivities. However, stay tuned for more trip reports. I have posts in work for another trip I made to the Schilling Cider House, and to mix it up a bit, Aesir Meadery in Everett WA.

Schilling Oak Aged

August 12, 2015August 12, 2015 cidersays review, Schilling can, cider, cider house, cider review, Finnriver, hard cider, hard cider review, Oak & Apple, Oak Aged, Schilling

Review of Schilling Oak Aged. This is my favorite Schilling Cider out of the seven I’ve tried. Interestingly enough this cider is not oak barrel aged, but instead uses American oak chips in the fermentation and racking process to impart the oak flavor. I’ve seen this done with other alcoholic beverages (such as whiskey) to be able to more quickly release a product, as barrel aging can be time consuming. Chips can also cost significantly less. Some traditionalists may call this “cheating” though. Here is a cool barrels vs. chips blog post from ALEHEADS from the beer world.

(and yes of course the can I chose to drink/photograph out of the four has the dent…)

Cider: Oak Aged
Cidery: Schilling Cider Co.
Cidery Location: Auburn WA (with Cider House in Fremont area of Seattle WA, and a brand new tasting room which opened July 31 2015 at the cidery in Auburn WA)
ABV: 6.5%
How Supplied: 12oz can
Availability: Year round, semi-wide release (probably more so in the PNW)

Cider Description: Pours a hazy straw gold color with aromas of apples, cinnamon, vanilla, and oak with some smokiness. Flavors of apple, cinnamon, vanilla and oak with a nice spice finish. Fermented and finished on 100% NW oak this cider has a scotch taste complemented by a very smooth and lingering finish.

Cidery Description: Craft cider company founded in 2012 in Seattle WA. They use only local apples. Their current line up includes Hopped, Ginger, & Oak Aged in four packs of 12oz cans, Gold & Dry in four packs of 16 oz cans, and Spiced, Chai, Chaider, & Grapefruit special releases in 22oz bottles (Grapefruit is also now in four packs of 16 oz cans). Their Cider House also has a large number of cider offerings only available there, such as Berry & Sriracha Lime. Note that they cite product protection, convenience, and environmental reasons for using cans for their regular lineup.

Price: $6.50 / 4 cans
Where Bought: Total Wine (I’ve also seen it at Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, Full Throttle Bottles, Special Brews, Schilling Cider House, etc)
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing awhile back. I’ve had this cider a few times.

First Impression: Pale champagne hue. Very light carbonation. Mild apple, oak, smoke, & vanilla scents.

Opinion: Semi dry. This is a nice mild oaked cider. I can’t really tell that it is with wood chips and not barrel aged, but I don’t have too refined of a palate. Oddly enough I pick up very little spice in this (which is good as its not something I enjoy), in contrast to most folks who notice cinnamon & cloves. I do however pick up the vanilla and some mild smokiness. Like most ciders, it starts sweeter and finishes a bit drier. It is a quick finishing cider, and I pick up a bit of acidity at the end. The flavor really reminds me of champagne / sparkling cider, but less bubbly of course. I think more carbonation and oakiness would be nice in this cider, as its on the mellow side. However, it makes for easy drinking.

Most Similar to: Finnriver Oak & Apple, which I tried at the Schilling Cider House after being surprised they didn’t have their own Shilling Oak Aged on tap. I give a slight edge to Finnriver over Schilling after tasting Schilling again (in my Schilling Cider House tasting notes I had thought the opposite). There is however quite a cost difference between the two cider brands, with the Finnriver typically costing much more (although it appears Finnriver Oak & Apple isn’t currently available in bottles?). Interestingly enough the Finnriver Oak & Apple is barrel aged. I can’t however pinpoint why I have this preference without tasting them side by side.

Interesting Fact: Founder Colin Schilling is the great-great grandson of August Schilling, founder of Schilling Spice Company (now McCormick). (Source)

Closing Notes: This is a solid and enjoyable cider. The affordability is a nice bonus.

Have you tried Schilling Oak Aged? What did you think?

Schilling Cider House – Cider Tasting Notes

July 22, 2015August 22, 2015 cidersays 101 Ciderhouse, Elemental, Finnriver, local, Locust, Moonlight Meadery, Portland Cider, Rev Nat's, review, Schilling, Viuda de Angelon Sidra, Wandering Aengus, Whitewood cider, cider house, cider review, cider tasting, Fremont, hard cider, review, Schilling, Schilling Cider House, seattle

This is Part 2 of a trip report on the Schilling Cider House, covering the 18 ciders I tasted (of the 32 on tap). Pretty impressive, right? See Part 1 here, which covered the Cider House itself. I tried to take a photo of each cider, but some of them didn’t turn out, so I’ve only included photos of some of the ciders with interesting hues. Thankfully though, I took notes! I had two flights of six ciders (3oz) each, and six tastes from our bartender.

Schilling’s Ciders

Chaider, 6.5% ABV, Semi-Sweet:
This is one of their most popular ciders, and is available bottled (22oz) in the winter. It smelled of cinnamon and definitely had a Chai tea-like taste. Definitely not my thing, but it was my husband’s favorite taste of the day.

Chaider (Nitro), 6.5% ABV, Semi-Sweet:
This is the same cider as above except on Nitro, which added some additional smoothness. It was quite foamy from the tap from the nitrogenation, and needed a couple minutes to calm down.

Ginger, 6.5% ABV, Semi-Dry (noted Semi-Sweet):
I’m not a ginger fan, but this was handed to me, so I tried it! It had a much milder initial ginger taste than smell, but had more of a ginger aftertaste. I think Ginger fans would really like this one. Its not too overwhelming with Ginger.

Hopped, 6.5% ABV, Semi-Dry:
Hopped ciders aren’t my thing, but my husband wanted this, and thought it was pretty decent. I had one sip and it is definitely hoppy, but way less than Reverend Nat’s Envy / Hopland #5. Otherwise I can’t really comment on it.

Sriracha Lime, 6.7% ABV, Semi-Dry (noted Dry):
This cider seemed intriguing, I like Sriracha & Lime, and there was some chatter online of folks liking it, so why not? It definitely smelled of Sriracha & Lime, but all I picked up in the taste was the Sriracha (no Lime). Definitely spicy! I don’t think I like spicy ciders. I can tolerate spicy food, but the spiciness seemed to overwhelm the cider here. I think this would have been better to do with a sweet citrus/lime cider with only a hint of Sriracha.

(I’ve also previously tried Schilling Oak Aged, Gold, & Grapefruit)

Other Ciders

101 Ciderhouse Cactus Red, 6.5% ABV, Los Angeles CA, Dry:
I tried this on a whim as it sounded unique/odd. I picked up a citrus scent and it had a lovely pink color, similar to grapefruit juice. It was definitely dry, and very very tart! I unfortunately couldn’t take more than two sips of this one.

Elemental Cherry, 6.5% ABV, Woodinville WA, Semi-Dry:
Pretty rosé color. Smelled like cherries. However, I barely picked up any cherry flavor when tasting it. Folks who like drier ciders but want a fruity cider may like this, as many fruit infused ciders tend to be sweeter.

Finnriver Habenero, 6.9% ABV, Chimacum WA, Semi-Sweet:
Another cider handed to me from the bartender, who was trying it for the first time as they just tapped it. It didn’t smell spicy, but it was! The bite hit my sinuses about 10 seconds after drinking it. Again, the spice was overwhelming. I wasn’t a fan, but my husband didn’t mind it.

Finnriver Lavender Black Currant (Nitro), 6.5% ABV, Chimacum WA, Sweet:
Very dark & vibrant hue. Extra smooth taste (from the nitrogenation). I’ve tried their Black Currant flavor, and I honestly couldn’t pick up the added Lavender in this one. However, my husband did. In addition to the black current, I picked up some cherry notes. This was much better than the bottled Black Currant I had of their’s (which was also quite good). I imagine tap + Nitro did it. Excellent!

Finnriver Oak & Apple, 6.5% ABV, Chimacum WA, Semi-Dry:
The bartender said this was very similar to Schilling’s Oak Aged (which was surprisingly absent from the tap list). I’m a huge fan of barrel aged ciders, so I was anxious to try it. This is a milder barrel aged cider, and quite tasty. I think I give the slight edge to Schilling’s Oak Aged though. And, overall, my favorite barrel aged ciders so far are Woodchuck Winter Chill (which also has some vanilla flavor) and Thistly Cross Whisky Cask (very smooth), both of which are significantly sweeter than Schilling’s & Finnriver’s oak aged selections, but I do enjoy Schilling Oak Aged. Yum!

Locust Sweet & Dark Cherry, 6.5% ABV, Woodinville WA, Semi-Sweet:
For a cherry cider, I was expecting more flavor, but it was quite mild, and there was little cherry scent or flavor. This has a sweeter start and more tart finish. This was pretty similar to the Elemental Cherry (which also had a mild cherry flavor), except a bit sweeter.

Moonlight Meadery How do you Like them Little Apples?, 6.0% ABV, Londonderry NH, Sweet:
Hard cider blended with honey & brown sugar, fermented, then barrel aged (draft only release). Honey smell (duh). Quite sweet. Very smooth. Tastes like it would be a higher ABV than it is (but I wouldn’t call the taste boozy). I wouldn’t have guessed it was barrel aged. Awesome!

Portland Cider Passion Fruit, 6.5% ABV, Portland OR, Semi-Sweet:
I was excited to try this one. The passion fruit smell was amazing! However, the passion fruit taste was quite mild, and it had a bit of a tart & bitter finish, which I wasn’t expecting. It is however a refreshing and easy-drinking cider.

Portland Cider Pearfect Perry, 6.5% ABV, Portland OR, Semi-Dry (noted Semi-Sweet):
This was a very mild Perry; I could barely pick up any pear flavor. It was however pretty tasty and smooth.

Reverend Nat’s Newtown Pippin, 6.9% ABV, Portland OR, Semi-Dry:
One of Rev Nat’s regular release ciders. This was a mild & crisp cider which I found to have a fairly bitter finish. Pretty boring for my tastes.

Viuda de Angelon Sidra Brut, 6.5% ABV, Spain, Dry:
A refreshing & smooth Spanish cider. I can’t really put the flavor into words, but it is one of those ciders which has a flavor profile which seems sweeter than it really is. It was Schilling’s most expensive offering by the way, at $11/pint, but only $2 for a 3oz taste. This makes me want to try more Spanish ciders!

Wandering Aengus Wanderlust, 6.5%, Salem OR, Dry (noted Semi-Dry):
Fairly plain, and I found it tart & bitter. Taste profile was in-line with the two Wandering Aengus and two Anthem (also made by them) ciders I’ve tried. Also fairly boring for my tastes.

Whitewood Summer Switchel, 4.6% ABV, Olympia WA, Semi-Sweet:
This is a mild & refreshing cider with a hint of ginger. The bartender said he picks up almost a salty flavor, which after hearing that, I agreed somewhat.

Photos

101 Ciderhouse Cactus Red

Elemental Cherry

Finnriver Lavender Black Currant

Locust Cherry

Moonlight Meadery How do you like them Little Apples

Closing Notes

My favorites from this tasting were the Moonlight Meadery “How do you Like them Little Apples?”, Finnriver Oak & Apple, Finnriver Lavender Black Currant, and Viuda de Angelon Sidra Brut. Quite an interesting combination, right?

I also learned that in addition to hopped, ginger, and overly dry ciders, I definitely don’t like spicy ciders!

I look forward to returning to the Schilling Cider House to try more ciders, as their selections change all the time. Stay tuned for reviews of the five ciders I picked up from their bottle shop (shown in Part 1).

Schilling Cider House Trip Report

July 21, 2015July 22, 2015 cidersays local, Schilling cider, cider house, cider tasting, ciderhouse, Fremont, hard apple cider, hard cider, Schilling, seattle

The Schilling Cider House in Fremont (Seattle). In one word, awesome! A cider enthusiast’s paradise. 32 ciders on tap and a huge unique selection of bottled ciders. Only craft cider to be found here, no commercial stuff. They opened September 2014. Two of the taps are Nitro (nitrogenated, which adds some additional smoothness) and they also have a Randall setup (although it didn’t appear they were infusing anything that day, as no offerings were mentioned when we asked to have our suspicions confirmed). This will be a two part review, with this part covering the cider house, and a second part with tasting notes on the 18! ciders I tried. Considering I had either already tried or wasn’t interested in the remaining ciders, I think that is mildly impressive.

Thankfully I didn’t have to get too inebriated when trying the 18 ciders, as I had 12 3oz+ samplers and 6 small tastes over a couple hours, and my husband helped sip on them a bit too (although he was gracious enough to be my DD).

I apologize in advance on the quality of the photos; I am a horrible photographer and clearly need to work on that for cider blog purposes! Click to biggify the photos by the way.

They have cider available in:
– 3oz sampler for $2 each (which most folks get in a flight/tray of six)
– pint (priced individually by the cider, $5-$11 when I was there)
– growler (also priced individually by cider, and they can only do this for ciders under 7% by law, which is the vast majority of them)

Therefore the sampler size can be a good deal for some of their more expensive ciders which cost double the price of something else.

My husband and I checked out the Schilling Cider House on a Saturday, early afternoon. My husband was even nice enough to grab us some take out from a Thai place down the street (Zap Verr) during our visit. It wasn’t anything special, but highly convenient, as Schilling does not offer any food (but do allow folks to bring food in or have it delivered). I think they would do well to sell some snacks, even some chips or something easy to stock, as its hard to stay too long at a place that has alcohol but no food, even with their open food policy.

The Schilling Cider House is a great hang out spot. They even have a stack of games available. There are about six stools at the bar and the remainder are at four long tables. The decor is all cider and all Schilling. The empty kegs they keep around add a nice touch. Empty kegs were even to be found in the restroom! I was the cider geek who had to come right back to the restroom after I grabbed my phone, so I could take photos…

I was bummed to see that I missed Reverend Nat’s The Passion, as I’ve been wanting to try that.

I also missed Schilling’s own Berry cider, only available at their cider house. Although I’ll get more into the actual ciders in the second installment, I can say that I was surprised Schilling didn’t offer all their ciders on tap at their own cider house! There were eight Schilling ciders though, and a handful were ciderhouse-only (or out of season). They were at least missing their Berry, Spiced, and Oak Aged (a cider I really like and my favorite cider of their’s). Serving ciders other than their own is quite unique for a ciderhouse, but a really great idea.

However, there were definitely many cider options, from dry to sweet, for any taste. Their chalk board menu is color-coded by sweetness (dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, and sweet), and for the most part I agreed with their classifications. The taps are numbered, and you can take a business card size card and write down your selections. They definitely change often, as they switched out two taps during our visit! Their Facebook page can give you an idea of what is available, but I found it wasn’t quite up to date.

Their bottle shop is extensive (250+ selections), chock full of both local craft ciders and interesting imports. They also allow folks to buy & open a bottle there to drink, no corkage fee, although I’m not sure why you would with 32 ciders on tap! I’m surprised they didn’t have some bottled beer & soda selections, but maybe I missed them (I did however see a cold canned coffee selection). All bottles are chilled, in three triple door glass-front fridges (a very smart move on their part). There were many selections I hadn’t seen anywhere else.

I picked up five varieties (reviews forthcoming of course!). Left to right in photo below: MillStone Cellars Cobbler (Monkton MD), Aspall English Imperial Cider (Suffolk England), Attila Scourge of God (Ellensburg WA), Freyeisen Apfelwein (Frankfurt Germany), and Dragon’s Head Wild Fermented Cider (Vashon Island WA).

I could have spent an hour just reading all the bottle labels and Googling them and such, but my husband was patient enough, so I made some semi-quick (for me) selections of ciders I hadn’t seen before. They also offer some merchandise, such as t-shirts, and of course, growlers ($5 + cider fill cost).

However, of course, the main attraction is the cider itself. From what I overheard there seemed to be a mix of new & old cider lovers. We sat next to a young woman who was a tourist from New York who found them just walking by. And there was an older lady buying growlers of cider for a get together. I was surprised how busy it got as the afternoon went on (we were there about 1:30 to 3:30 pm), as I had expected it to be rather dead until the evening, but it was a weekend. Luckily we got there not too long after they opened (at noon) and were able to get two seats at the bar.

They have some great bartenders, and ours was very helpful! He kept passing us tastes of ciders, asking us what we thought. Some of them were things I wouldn’t have otherwise even ordered a taster of. I never turn down cider! I did unfortunately pushed some away we found weren’t to our taste though. They have several of what could be referred to as “novelty” ciders. Fun for a taste but I’d be shocked if someone ordered a pint.

[Yes, this is almost the entire place! And yes, this is a horrible photo. But I guess I don’t have to worry about people’s privacy since I’m showing their faces lol.]

Due to the time of our visit, I can’t comment on the nighttime scene here, how busy they get in the evening, etc. I imagine the place fills up though, as it is pretty small tasting room (it seats around 50 people). The bartender commented they are plenty busy on weekdays too. If you want to chat up the bartender, secure a seat at the bar, and increase your chances of getting passed tasters of stuff the bartender likes, I’d recommend getting here when they open (I imagine mentioning I’m a blogger could have helped too). If you want a more vibrant atmosphere, then later in the day may be a better idea.

In case you are curious, I much preferred Schilling to Capitol Cider, which just wasn’t my scene. Capitol Cider does however get a nod to having a full (gluten free) kitchen.

We spotted some cool swag (coasters & stickers) below the bar as we were being rung up, and ask and thou shall receive!

[Maybe they had a Thistly Cross tasting at some point? It also looks like Thistly Cross has three varieties I haven’t found here: Elderflower, Strawberry, & Original. I’ve had the Whisky Cask (one of my favorites) and Traditional (very similar to Whisky Cask), and am not a fan of ginger so I haven’t tried that one.]

The Schilling Cider House is open noon-11pm seven days a week. 21+ only, but they do appear to be dog friendly (a patron next to us had a cute & well behaved pitt bull). I highly recommend it and look forward to returning!

Stay tuned for Schilling Cider House review Part 2, with tasting notes on all 18 ciders I tried!
Update: Part 2 covering the 18 ciders I tasted is now available!

Have you been to the Schilling Cider House, or any other cider bar? What did you think?

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