Wrangletown

Wrangletown Cider Co. Fieldbrook Nursery Orchard

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Review of Wrangletown Cider Company’s Fieldbrook Nursery Orchard cider.  I’ve previously tried their “Original“, Oak Barrel Aged, and Monument Apples Orchard ciders.

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>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Wrangletown.  Although I will take care to treat it the same as any other review, there is always the potential for bias as I received it for free.  The only consideration I knowingly made was pushing this up in my cider review cue.  I love free stuff, especially cider!  Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here?  Contact me.<<

Cider:  Fieldbrok Nursery Orchard
Cidery:  Wrangletown Cider Co.
Cidery Location:  Arcata CA
ABV:  8.3%
How Supplied:  750ml bottles
Style:  American craft dry farmhouse-style cider from heirloom & culinary apples

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Availability:  Only in Northern California.  They self distribute, and have a tasting room in Arcata (open Friday thru Sunday and by appointment) in Humboldt county.  The owner also said she may also be able to ship through a third party to some states if there was interest.

Cider Description: Wrangletown Cider’s Fieldbrook Nursery Orchard is a dry Farmhouse style Cider.  It is sourced from a blend of Heirloom and Culinary apples grown in Fieldbrook, California.  This cider from Fieldbrook Nursery Orchard is bold, refreshing and full of fresh apple flavor.  It has strong apple aromas and a fruity and full mouthfeel.   This cider was fermented in stainless steel barrels.  Varieties include Spartan, Glowing Coal, Pink Pearl, King and Cortland. 

Cidery Description:  Wrangletown Cider Company produces small batch, dry, bottle conditioned ciders featuring family-owned orchards from Humboldt County, California.

The cidery is owned and operated by Pat Knittel, since 2015 (a one-woman show).  The cidery is named after the “wrangle” town the cidermaker grew up in, which was infamous for two women brawling in the streets.  The cidery had a Kickstarter campaign, successfully raising funds for equipment.  Ciderpress wrote an article after touring the cidery.  Here is another article on the cidery.

Price:  n/a (retails for $18)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  The owner/cidermaker contacted me.

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First Impression:  Hazy lemonade hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells dry, slightly sour, funky, and musty, and of citrus.

Tasting Notes:  Dry.  Very light bodied.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Low bitterness and tannins.  Hints of sourness and funk.  Notes of heirloom apples, lemon, must, mineral, yeast, and honey.  Long finish.  Hidden ABV.  Moderate complexity and sessionability.  Low flavor intensity and apple flavor.

My Opinion:  This isn’t my favorite style of cider; I usually go for a more intensely flavored cider, and I found this a bit nuanced.  However, I certainly couldn’t find any faults, and didn’t dislike it.  This will likely appeal to folks who enjoy wine and milder food-friendly ciders.  I always think of my personal opinion as more of an afterthought to my reviews (which is why I don’t rate ciders here).  Everyone has a different taste in ciders, and every cider won’t appeal to every person.

Most Similar to: Runcible Cider Light of the Moon, Alpenfire Pirate’s Plank, Brooklyn Cider House Half Sour, Number 12 Sparkling Dry, Angry Orchard Walden Hollow, and Sietsema Traditional Dry

Closing Notes:  All in all, Wrangletown’s lineup is on the entry level end of the farmhouse-style spectrum, with only a touch of sourness & funk, so they remain rather easy to drink / consumer-friendly.  However, the flavor intensity was lower than I prefer, very nuanced, and all four ciders were quite similar (and the other four folks I shared the ciders with also agreed on all those points).

I think their ciders would especially appeal to wine drinkers, and are food-friendly.  My favorite of the four was the Oak Barrel Aged, as I found it to be the most flavorful and unique.  Also, although the labels look really cool, I think they could be a detriment in the long term, as it is very difficult to tell the varieties apart (as only the name varies, on the bottom left), so a consumer could assume they only make one variety.

Have you tried Wrangletown Cider?  What did you think?

Wrangletown Cider Co. Monument Apples Orchard

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Review of Wrangletown Cider Company’s Monument Apples Orchard cider.  I’ve previously tried their “Original” and Oak Barrel Aged ciders.

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>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Wrangletown.  Although I will take care to treat it the same as any other review, there is always the potential for bias as I received it for free.  The only consideration I knowingly made was pushing this up in my cider review cue.  I love free stuff, especially cider!  Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here?  Contact me.<<

Cider:  Monument Apples Orchard
Cidery:  Wrangletown Cider Co.
Cidery Location:  Arcata CA
ABV:  8.4%
How Supplied:  750ml bottles
Style:  American craft dry farmhouse-style cider from heirloom & culinary apples

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Availability:  Only in Northern California.  They self distribute, and have a tasting room in Arcata (open Friday thru Sunday and by appointment) in Humboldt county.  The owner also said she may also be able to ship through a third party to some states if there was interest.

Cider Description:  Wrangletown’s Monument Apples Orchard is dry cider produced from a special orchard in Rio Dell, California.  The apples in this orchard are Heirloom and Cider varieties.  Varieties from this orchard include Cox’s Orange Pippin, Roxbury Russet, Wickson, Hudson’s Golden Gem,  Smith Cider and Golden Russet.  The juice was fermented and aged in Stainless Steel.  This dry cider shows stone fruit, fruit blossom and beeswax aromas .  It has wonderfully bright acidity and is proof that true cider and heirloom apples produce the best ciders.

Cidery Description:  Wrangletown Cider Company produces small batch, dry, bottle conditioned ciders featuring family-owned orchards from Humboldt County, California.

The cidery is owned and operated by Pat Knittel, since 2015 (a one-woman show).  The cidery is named after the “wrangle” town the cidermaker grew up in, which was infamous for two women brawling in the streets.  The cidery had a Kickstarter campaign, successfully raising funds for equipment.  Ciderpress wrote an article after touring the cidery.  Here is another article on the cidery.

Price:  n/a (retails for $18)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  The owner/cidermaker contacted me.

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First Impression:  Hazy lemonade hue.  Low carbonation.  Smells dry, slightly sour, funky, and musty, and of citrus.

Tasting Notes:  Dry.  Very light bodied.  Moderate tartness.  High acidity.  Low bitterness and tannins.  Hints of sourness and funk.  Notes of heirloom apples, lemon, stone fruit, must, mineral, yeast, and honey.  Long finish.  Hidden ABV.  Moderate complexity and sessionability.  Low flavor intensity and apple flavor.

My Opinion:  This isn’t my favorite style of cider; I usually go for a more intensely flavored cider, and I found this a bit nuanced.  However, I certainly couldn’t find any faults, and didn’t dislike it.  This is a more introductory farmhouse-style cider, with only hints of sourness & funk.  This will likely appeal to folks who enjoy wine and milder food-friendly ciders.  I always think of my personal opinion as more of an afterthought to my reviews (which is why I don’t rate ciders here).  Everyone has a different taste in ciders, and every cider won’t appeal to every person.

Most Similar to: Runcible Cider Light of the Moon, Alpenfire Pirate’s Plank, Brooklyn Cider House Half Sour, Number 12 Sparkling Dry, Angry Orchard Walden Hollow, and Sietsema Traditional Dry

Closing Notes:  Three down, one to go!

Have you tried Wrangletown Cider?  What did you think?

Wrangletown Cider Co. Oak Barrel Aged

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Review of Wrangletown Cider Company’s Oak Barrel Aged Cider.  This is my first time trying this cider, but I previously tried their “Original“.

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>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Wrangletown.  Although I will take care to treat it the same as any other review, there is always the potential for bias as I received it for free.  The only consideration I knowingly made was pushing this up in my cider review cue.  I love free stuff, especially cider!  Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here?  Contact me.<<

Cider:  Barrel Aged
Cidery:  Wrangletown Cider Co.
Cidery Location:  Arcata CA
ABV:  7.8%
How Supplied:  750ml bottles
Style:  American craft dry farmhouse-style cider from heirloom & culinary apples, oak barrel aged

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Availability:  Only in Northern California.  They self distribute, and have a tasting room in Arcata (open Friday thru Sunday and by appointment) in Humboldt county.  The owner also said she may also be able to ship through a third party to some states if there was interest.

Cider Description:  Wrangletown’s “Oak Barrel-Aged” Dry Farmhouse style cider is a combination of several Northern California Orchards.  It is a dry cider,  aged for 8 months in lightly used French Oak that formerly held Russian River Chardonnay.   The palate is rich with fine tannins and  a  round wine-like mouthfeel.  This cider would appeal to both oak barrel-aged beer fans as well as wine drinkers.  It pairs wonderfully lively flavored foods.  Wrangletown’s Oak Barrel-Aged Cider is made from Heirloom and Culinary apples.

Cidery Description:  Wrangletown Cider Company produces small batch, dry, bottle conditioned ciders featuring family-owned orchards from Humboldt County, California.

The cidery is owned and operated by Pat Knittel, since 2015 (a one-woman show).  The cidery is named after the “wrangle” town the cidermaker grew up in, which was infamous for two women brawling in the streets.  The cidery had a Kickstarter campaign, successfully raising funds for equipment.  Ciderpress wrote an article after touring the cidery.  Here is another article on the cidery.

Price:  n/a (retails for $18)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  The owner/cidermaker contacted me.

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First Impression:  Hazy lemonade hue.  Moderate carbonation).  Smells dry, slightly sour, funky, and musty, and of citrus.

Tasting Notes:  Dry.  Light bodied with a nice fizz.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Low bitterness and tannins.  Hints of sourness and funk.  Notes of heirloom apples, lemon, must, mineral, and yeast.  Long finish.  Hidden ABV.  Moderate complexity and sessionability.  Low flavor intensity, apple flavor, and barrel influence.

My Opinion:  This was a bit smoother than the “Original”, with a hint of oak and a bit more earthiness.  I liked this a bit more than “Original”.  However, this isn’t my favorite style of cider; I usually go for a more intensely flavored cider, and I found this a bit nuanced.  However, I certainly couldn’t find any faults, and didn’t dislike it.  This is a more introductory farmhouse-style cider, with only hints of sourness & funk.  This will likely appeal to folks who enjoy wine and milder food-friendly ciders.  I always think of my personal opinion as more of an afterthought to my reviews (which is why I don’t rate ciders here).  Everyone has a different taste in ciders, and every cider won’t appeal to every person.

Most Similar to: Alpenfire Pirate’s Plank, Brooklyn Cider House Half Sour, Number 12 Sparkling Dry, Runcible Cider Light of the Moon, Angry Orchard Walden Hollow, and Sietsema Traditional Dry

Closing Notes:  Two down, two to go!

Have you tried Wrangletown Cider?  What did you think?

Wrangletown Cider Co. Original

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Review of Wrangletown Cider Company’s “Original” cider.  This is my first time trying their cider, and the first of four reviews of their cider lineup.

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>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Wrangletown.  Although I will take care to treat it the same as any other review, there is always the potential for bias as I received it for free.  The only consideration I knowingly made was pushing this up in my cider review cue.  I love free stuff, especially cider!  Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here?  Contact me.<<

Cider:  Original
Cidery:  Wrangletown Cider Co.
Cidery Location:  Arcata CA
ABV:  8.4%
How Supplied:  750ml bottles
Style:  American craft dry farmhouse-style cider from heirloom & culinary apples

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Availability:  Only in Northern California.  They self distribute, and have a tasting room in Arcata (open Friday thru Sunday and by appointment) in Humboldt county.  The owner also said she may also be able to ship through a third party to some states if there was interest.

Cider Description:  Wrangletown’s “Original” Dry Farmhouse style cider is a combination of several Northern California Orchards.  It is a dry cider, lightly carbonated with fruit forward aroma and bright acidity.  Made from Heirloom and Culinary apples.  This cider was fermented in 74% Stainless steel and 23% used French Oak barrels. 

Cidery Description:  Wrangletown Cider Company produces small batch, dry, bottle conditioned ciders featuring family-owned orchards from Humboldt County, California.

The cidery is owned and operated by Pat Knittel, since 2015 (a one-woman show).  The cidery is named after the “wrangle” town the cidermaker grew up in, which was infamous for two women brawling in the streets.  The cidery had a Kickstarter campaign, successfully raising funds for equipment.  Ciderpress wrote an article after touring the cidery.  Here is another article on the cidery.

Price:  n/a (retails for $16)
Where Bought:  n/a
Where Drank:  home
How Found:  The owner/cidermaker contacted me.

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First Impression:  Hazy lemonade hue.  Nearly still (very low carbonation).  Smells dry, slightly sour, funky, and musty, and of citrus.

Tasting Notes:  Dry.  Very light bodied.  Moderate tartness and acidity.  Low bitterness and tannins.  Hints of sourness and funk.  Notes of heirloom apples, lemon, must, mineral, yeast, and herbs.  Long finish.  Hidden ABV.  Moderate complexity and sessionability.  Low flavor intensity and apple flavor.

My Opinion:  This isn’t my favorite style of cider; I usually go for a more intensely flavored cider, and I found this a bit nuanced.  However, I certainly couldn’t find any faults, and didn’t dislike it.  This is a more introductory farmhouse-style cider, with only hints of sourness & funk.  This will likely appeal to folks who enjoy wine and milder food-friendly ciders.  I always think of my personal opinion as more of an afterthought to my reviews (which is why I don’t rate ciders here).  Everyone has a different taste in ciders, and every cider won’t appeal to every person.

Most Similar to: Alpenfire Pirate’s Plank, Brooklyn Cider House Half Sour, Number 12 Sparkling Dry, Runcible Cider Light of the Moon, Angry Orchard Walden Hollow, and Sietsema Traditional Dry

Closing Notes:  (1) I look forward to trying the other three ciders that Wrangletown sent.  (2) One thing I’m a big fan of so far is that they clearly describe their cider as dry and farmhouse-style on the label.  I’ve had a number of ciders that were on the extreme end of the farmhouse-style & sour spectrum, and even they weren’t labeled as such (and sometimes I couldn’t find info online saying that either).  It is much appreciated as I enjoy being an informed consumer. (3) Cideries which focus on rustic farmhouse-style ciders seem to be on the rise (I’ve seen it first hand in Portland at Cider Rite of Spring), so there must be a demand.

Have you tried Wrangletown Cider?  What did you think?