Woodchuck Out on a Limb Hot Cha Cha Cha

November 30, 2015November 26, 2015 cidersays review, Woodchuck chili, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Hot Cha Cha Cha, Vermont, Woodchuck

Review of Woodchuck’s newest Out on a Limb release, Hot Cha Cha Cha. The ciders rotate every couple months in the same six pack. They were nice enough to send me a sample bottle.

hot cha cha cha

>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Woodchuck. 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: Hot Cha Cha Cha (Out on a Limb)
Cidery: Woodchuck
Cidery Location: Middlebury VT
ABV: 5.5%
How Supplied: six pack of 12oz bottles

Availability: Wide release, but only for the next 60-90 days or so (as Out on a Limb rotates varieties).

Cider Description: Hard cider made with bittersweet apples and infused with Bird’s Eye Chile Peppers. The peppers compliment the bittersweet cider apples and bring out a sweet taste up front with a hot and spicy bite at the finish. Lookin’ for some extra heat? Grab a bottle, take a sip, and let’s do the HOT CHA CHA CHA!

Cidery Description: Here at the Woodchuck Cidery in Vermont, we handcraft every batch of Woodchuck Hard Cider. Our Cider Makers utilize the highest quality ingredients and meticulously oversee each small batch from start to finish. We reinvigorated American cider in 1991 and continue to lead the category through our commitment to craft innovative and refreshing hard ciders.

Price: n/a (but it runs $9-11 a six pack)
Where Bought: n/a
Where Drank: home
How Found: n/a

First Impression: Orange-amber hue (which appears to be natural as coloring isn’t listed). Very little carbonation. Smells sweet and of bittersweet apples with a hint of spiciness.

Opinion: Sweet (but it didn’t perceive as sweet as I was expecting with the listed 25g sugar content). It starts off with a rich & flavorful bittersweet apple cider flavor (similar to their Gumption), then finished with a kick of spice, mostly at the back of the throat (instead of the tongue). Low acidity and tartness. No bitterness, sourness, or funk. No to low carbonation. Medium bodied. Longer finish with the spice presentation I described.

Most Similar to: Other spicy ciders I’ve had, such as Schilling Sriracha Lime, Finnriver Habanero, and Sonoma Crowbar (Habanero Lime), except significantly sweeter and less spicy. I also notice that the base cider has a lot of similarities to Woodchuck Gumption, both made using bittersweet apples (a flavor profile I really love).

Closing Notes: Spicy ciders just aren’t my thing, and I think of them as more of a novelty. A few sips was plenty for me, and the others I shared this with. However, due to the additional residual sugar and less perceived spice of this one, this is probably a more manageable spicy cider for the average person. Also, with the amount of calories (270) & sugar (25g), I’m not sure I’d want an entire bottle let alone more than one in a sitting. I think it will be a tough sell to get folks to buy a six pack of this unless they really like spicy ciders, buy every Woodchuck variety, find it very intriguing, or are getting it as a gag gift or to bring to a party. Thankfully a number of stores such as Total Wine sell singles of six pack ciders such as this, so you may be able to find a single bottle for around $2. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, you better hurry, as each Out on a Limb variety doesn’t stay on the shelves long.

Have you tried Woodchuck Hot Cha Cha Cha? What did you think?

Downeast Cider House Original Blend

November 27, 2015November 27, 2015 cidersays Downeast, review Boston, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Downeast, hard cider

Review of Original Blend from the Downeast Cider House. They sent me a great sample case of their Original, Winter, and Cranberry Blend ciders, which is especially awesome as they aren’t yet available here in the Seattle area (or anywhere outside of the Northeast). Lucky me!

>>This is a review of a sample can provided to Cider Says by the Downeast Cider House. 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 Blend
Cidery: Downeast Cider House
Cidery Location: Boston MA
ABV: 5.1%
How Supplied: four pack or nine pack of 12oz cans (and draft)

Availability: Year round, in the Northeast portion of the U.S. See their locator map.

Cider Description: Inspired by the classic farm-fresh cider New Englanders know and love. Original Blend is the Auerbach to our Celtics, the Satisfaction to our Stones, the Agent K to our Men In Black: our foundation. From its humble beginnings in the basement of a Bates College dormitory, Original Blend is the result of hundreds of test batches aimed at crafting the best damn hard cider you’ve ever tasted. Original Blend is made from freshly pressed local apples – Red Delicious, McIntosh, Cortland, Gala – NEVER with concentrate or artificial flavors/sweeteners. Original Blend is the way cider should be.

Overview: Unfiltered. Lightly carbonated. Gluten Free.

Ingredients: Freshly pressed cider. Ale yeast.

Cidery Description: Downeast Cider House was founded by Ross Brockman and Tyler Mosher during their senior year of college. After a considerable amount of time spent on the family orchard, an affinity for farm-fresh apple products was born. Meanwhile, at school, the guys could always be found studying. Whether it was deep into a weekend night, Wed/Thurs specials at the local library, or perhaps a casual “Sunday fun-day study-day,” the fellas were relentlessly toiling away, focused primarily on the classic works of Professor Busch and his famous theories on the smooth-cold continuum, copper-top revision.

Although neither was a math major, through some additional “studying” they put two and two together and the result was hard cider. Sometime later, Ross’ older brother Matt approached the two and the following conversation took place:

Matt: I want to join you guys.
Ross/Tyler: Why would we do that?
Matt: I’m going to succeed with or without you, it’d be your loss.
Ross/Tyler: You’re in.

And so it was set. Where others have used juice from concentrate, “natural flavorings,” “essences,” artificial sweeteners, and an endless list of excuses, Downeast Cider House has a firmly established policy of NO SHORTCUTS. No matter the cost to us, we are fully committed to using only fresh-pressed juices and pure, natural ingredients in our cider. When it comes to flavor, there’s no substitute for the best, and that’s what we stand by: simple, honest, authentic.

They were founded in 2012 and have a tasting room in the Boston area. Here is a nice interview, although old.

Price: n/a (but runs about $9 a four pack)
Where Bought: n/a
Where Drank: home
How Found: online (they have a huge following on Facebook for example)

First Impression: Hazy bright straw yellow. Smells of unfiltered cider, yeast, and citrus.

Opinion: Semi-sweet. Full-flavored and apple-forward. Lovely flavor influence from the lack of filtering, although it remained medium bodied. I pick up some mild citrus and honey notes. Mild acidity. Mild tartness. No bitterness, sourness, or funk. Unfiltered. No to low carbonation. Medium length finish.

Most Similar to: J.K.’s Scrumpy, except not nearly as sweet. Besides that, this cider is pretty original.

Closing Notes: Awesome! I found this cider very difficult to describe. My review comes across a bit simple, yet for a relatively simple cider I found this quite complex. Especially for the retail price, I was quite impressed. This is hands down my favorite canned cider so far. I usually find canned cider to be a letdown for whatever reason. I opened all three Downeast varieties at a cider tasting and this got two thumbs up from everyone. Its definitely an easily likable cider. The Original was everyone’s favorite of the three varieties, although only by the slightest bit. Hopefully Downeast makes it out to the Seattle area someday, where I’ll save it a place in my fridge.

Have you tried any ciders from Downeast? What did you think?

WildCraft Cider Works Wild Rose

November 26, 2015November 26, 2015 cidersays review, Wildcraft botanical, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Eugene, hard cider, oregon, rose, Wild Rose, Wildcraft

Review of Wild Rose from WildCraft Cider Works. WildCraft was nice enough to send me a box full of their cider (which is especially awesome as they aren’t yet available in WA), so I have a number of varieties from them to review in the coming weeks. This was the second bottle of seven I tried.

>>This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by WildCraft Cider Works. 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: Wild Rose
Cidery: WildCraft Cider Works
Cidery Location: Eugene OR
ABV: 7.5%
How Supplied: 500ml bottle

Availability: Year round, but currently only in Eugene, Portland, and Medford Oregon.

Cider Description: A WildCraft exclusive! Whole wild roses undergo a lengthy cold conditioning and secondary fermentation on a unique blend of our wild fermented cider. Fresh, crisp and aromatic notes of rose petals lead to a complex cider mid-palate, finishing dry and very smooth.

They use wild foraged botanicals in this line of their ciders. This one is made from Honeycrisp apples and sweet Briar roses.

Cidery Description: At WildCraft Cider Works, we pride ourselves on developing innovative, artisanal dry ciders inspired by traditional and wild methodology. Insisting on whole fruit and botanicals grown in Oregon to create pure ciders without artificial flavorings, sulfites or added sweeteners. WildCraft cider is uniquely dry cider unpasteurized & bottle conditioned. We consider ourselves stewards of the outdoors; always acting consciously to ensure that our ingredients are regional.

WildCraft sets themselves apart from most other cideries by using mostly fruit from old homesteads that would otherwise go unused, plus unwanted fruit from community drives. All their fruit is Oregon-grown and pressed at the cidery. In addition to ciders, they also have a line of perries (made from pears). They avoid the use of sulfites in their ciders, which is quite rare and can be difficult to pull off.

WildCraft has a tap house at their Eugene OR cidery with 10 of their ciders & perries on tap at a time, plus they have a full bar (including cider cocktails), and a full farm to table restaurant! This article from Feb 2015 has a nice writeup on them.

Price: n/a (but retails for $6.99)
Where Bought: n/a
Where Drank: home
How Found: Facebook and word of mouth

First Impression: Slightly hazy light straw yellow with the slightest pink tint. Light carbonation. Smells like a dry acidic cider, wild fermented, with some floral & herbal qualities.

Opinion: Completely dry. It has some sweet floral qualities, yet it is lacking in residual sugar. Moderate acidity and astringency. Mild bitterness, sourness, tartness, and funk. Light bodied. Moderate length finish. Same as Snake River Rye, I found it a bit alcohol-forward (although it is 7.5% ABV, which is higher than average), but slightly less so.

Most Similar to: Two of the floral ciders I’ve had before have been commercial and on the sweeter side, Angry Orchard Elderflower and Woodchuck Out on a Limb Oopsy Daisy (chamomile), plus one that was craft but still on the sweeter side, Finnriver Honey Meadow (lemon balm & chamomile). This one was on the other side of the sweetness spectrum, and the floral flavor was even lighter.

Closing Notes: Wild Rose was quite an interesting cider, but it wasn’t really to my liking. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I wasn’t a huge fan, but I imagine a bit less sour, funk, & wild fermentation flavor and/or a bit more residual sugar would have helped. I don’t mind dry, but it has to be a certain type of cider for it to work for me. I did however enjoy the light floral flavor. I opened this (and four other WildCraft ciders) at a cider tasting I had, and two folks really loved it. I think people looking for a unique floral cider on the dry end of the spectrum who aren’t opposed to some sourness and funk should give this a try. Just because I wasn’t a huge fan doesn’t mean you won’t be. I think WildCraft is really on to something with making a unique local product. I look forward to trying the rest of the ciders that came in my sample box!

Have you tried any WildCraft cider? What did you think?

Schilling Cider House Visit 6 Tasting Notes

November 23, 2015November 21, 2015 cidersays Ace, Apple Outlaw, Carlton, Cider Riot, Doc's, Finnriver, Liberty, Rev Nat's, review, Snowdrift, Tieton, Whitewood cider, cider flight, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Schilling, Schilling Cider House, seattle

Yes, I made yet another trip to the Schilling Cider House! Check out my past posts here. This time it was for a Sidra event, but that is one type of cider I’m just not into, so I sampled some non-Sidra selections from of the tap list (and some bottles). The Cider Log crew was there, and brought an awesome spread of Spanish treats–thanks for sharing!

I started with a flight of six, as usual.

Tieton Cider Works Cranberry, 6.9% ABV: Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Very tart! Lots of cranberry flavor. More tart than the Finnriver cranberry cider I tried at the same time (see below). A bit astringent. I’m a bit over cranberry (I used to like it more), so I prefer most of Tieton’s other ciders to this one. This is a new release for them, and its also available bottled.

Doc’s Draft Pumpkin, 5.0% ABV: Sweet. Lots of pumpkin pie spices with a bit of earthiness & pumpkin flavor. Full bodied. Unlike many pumpkin ciders & beers, this one uses actual pumpkin. I’m not a pumpkin or spice fan, so needless to say I didn’t really enjoy this cider (I tried it more out of curiosity). The folks who blind tasted it for this article were much bigger fans though, giving it the highest score of 23 pumpkin ciders & beers! This is a yearly seasonal release for Doc’s, and also available bottled. This was my second time trying Doc’s, but neither were flavors I’m a fan of…hopefully I get a chance to try something I have a better shot of actually enjoying soon (I’ve been eyeing their Sour Cherry, but alas it isn’t sold in the Seattle area, so I may need to make a trip down to Portland OR or order online).

Reverend Nat’s (and Cider Riot!) Ciderkin, 3.2% ABV: Dry. Ginger! Moderate tartness, astringency, and acidity. Slightly funky. Ciderkin is a lower alcohol content cider traditionally made from the pommace (apple skin and pulp leftover after pressing apples into juice). This one however is quite different than the version of ciderkin I had awhile back from Argus (tasting notes here). The ginger (although admittedly mild) was overwhelming for my palate as I’m just not a fan of it. My favorite cider from Rev Nat’s so far is their Revival. They’ve released this Ciderkin cider a few times, but it doesn’t appear to be available bottled.

Liberty Ciderworks Gravenstein, 8.0% ABV: Dry. Moderate sourness, tartness, astringency, tannins, and acidity. Almost no carbonation. Very mild on the nose. Although this was a Gravenstein single varietal, I picked up a lot of crabapple notes…it reminds me of their Crabenstein, which used Gravenstein and Crabapples, although not quite as harsh. So far I prefer their Manchurian Crabapple, English Style, and Stonewall to this one. This cider is also available bottled.

Finnriver Cranberry Rosehip, 6.5% ABV: Semi-sweet. Moderate tartness. Lots of cranberry flavor. I didn’t really pick up any herbal (rosehip) flavor, but I imagine it mellowed the cranberry a bit, especially drinking it side by side to the Tieton variety. I liked this one better than the Tieton Cranberry, probably as it isn’t as tart. However, my favorite “cranberry” cider so far is probably a tie for this and Schilling’s Mischief Maker (cranberry-pomegranate). Cranberry Rosehip is part of Finnriver’s Elijah Swan Seasonal Botanical line, which is also available bottled, and includes some of my favorites such as Honey Meadow and Lavender Black Currant.

Apple Outlaw Blackberry Bounty, 5.5% ABV: Semi-dry. Very mild berry flavor. Mild tartness. This seems to be another one of the drier and milder flavored berry ciders coming out. This one was pretty average in my book. It is also available bottled. This was my first time trying their regular line of ciders (although I tried their Oaked Sweet Dark Cherry at Cider Summit Seattle 2015, which appeared to be a special draft release).

I also had a sip of Whitewood Red Cap. It was a bit weird…dry and almost Sidra-ish with some sourness and quite mild flavored. They describe it as a Session cider, which usually indicates a low ABV and easy to drink cider, but its 6.2% ABV. Also available bottled. It reminded me some of their Summer Switchel, but without the salty & ginger notes. Both are quite different from their Kingston Black Whiskey Barrel Aged cider, which is amazing!

I mostly wanted to sample what Schilling had on tap that I hadn’t tried, despite not being too excited about the varieties. Therefore there were a few I didn’t really enjoy, so I ended up not finishing a lot of the flight. Thankfully that freed up some ability to try more ciders! Next up we sampled a couple bottles (which I don’t believe they sell at the Cider House).

Ace Space (blood orange) was another weird one. Odd hazy orange hue. Semi-dry. The nose and some of the flavor was almost medicinal/artificial (like Tang or a Vitamin C supplement), but there is definitely some blood orange flavor too. Mild tartness and sourness. I wasn’t really a fan…not sure what they were thinking with this one? This is Ace’s newest cider, a special release. I kinda had the same opinion on their last special release, Blackjack 21, which tasted like Chardonnay to me (although admittedly it was aged in Chardonnay barrels, so maybe they were going for that). Apparently I’m in the minority though as it sold well so they are releasing it again this year.

Carlton Cyderworks Sugar and Spice. Semi-sweet. I was surprised I liked this, as I usually don’t tend towards spiced cider. However, the spice was quite mild and balanced. It also wasn’t overly sweet. This is a seasonal bottled release for them, new for this year.

I also had a pint of Snowdrift Red–yum! One of my favorites. However, this batch seemed a bit more tart than previous, and with a bit less fruitiness. There can definitely be variability from batch to batch in a craft product. I like when cideries such as Snowdrift batch label their ciders, so you know whether what you buying may be slightly different. Anthem is another example of a cidery which does this, but they actually go so far as to use different apple varieties in different batches of their flagship cider (and you can look up what was used by the batch number on the bottle).

Oddly enough the Carlton Sugar and Spice was the winner of the afternoon as far as a new cider I enjoyed the most! I think it would taste really good warm (which is how I like mead, but I haven’t tried that for cider as I usually avoid spiced cider).

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?

Dublin’s Pub Irish Cider

November 19, 2015November 8, 2015 cidersays Dublin's Pub, review Canada, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Dublin, Dublin's Pub, hard cider, Irish, pub, Quebec

Review of Dublin’s Pub Irish Cider, an Irish pub-style cider made in Quebec Canada. Dublin’s Pub also makes Black Velvet and Irish Red cider varieties.

Cider: Irish Cider
Cidery: Dublin’s Pub
Cidery Location: Quebec Montreal Canada
ABV: 5.0%
How Supplied: Four pack of 12oz clear glass bottles (although I got a single, despite it saying not for individual retail sale on the bottle lol); kegs

Availability: Unknown, but at least Montreal and parts of the U.S.

Cider Description: The sensorial profile of Dublin’s Pub resembles that of beer, without the bitterness. Thus, the selection of the apple varieties and the wine-making techniques used produce a fairly neutral cider with a round, fresh flavour,without the sharp acidity typical of conventional ciders.

Cidery Description: From the Middle Ages to the present day, cider has been Ireland’s most popular beverage. Dublin’s Pub is an apple cider made in the purest Irish pub tradition. Alcoholic and refreshing, Dublin’s Pub’s unique taste is the result of a process involving the crushing of rigorously selected apples and the fermentation of their juice. Dublin’s Pub can be enjoyed on any number of occasions, such as pub outings or gatherings among friends, and makes a superb accompaniment to a variety of dishes. What’s more, it’s the only cider that brings out the Irishman in you!

Price: ~$2 for a single bottle? It was a while ago…
Where Bought: Special Brews in Lynnwood WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. My husband picked it up and I didn’t look too closely before buying…I thought it was actually from Ireland. There are definitely some drawbacks to having a combination bottle shop & bar; I always come home with more cider than I was expecting to buy. When I got home I read the bottle and was disappointed to find out this “Irish” cider is actually made in Canada. Then I had a cider buddy say they thought this cider was pretty bad. So, it wasn’t at the top of my list to try and has been sitting in the cabinet for awhile.

First Impression: Pale straw yellow. Moderate carbonation (large bubbles). Basic apple juice scent.

Opinion: On the drier side of semi-sweet. Very back sweetened (not so much that it was very sweet, but it was very juice-like). This is when they add un-fermented juice back in after fermentation, often to bring the alcohol level down to a target as much as to actually sweeten the cider. Crisp & refreshing but a bit boring and one-dimensional. Moderate acidity. Very light tartness. No bitterness, astringency, tannins, or sourness. Light bodied. This cider actually tasted better out of the bottle, which I’ve noticed with some commercial ciders (made it seem not as juice-like and retained more carbonation). This is a type of cider which should be served very cold. I was glad I ended the night with this cider, vs. starting it.

Most Similar to: Possman Pure Cider and Crispin Original. However, I actually enjoy the Crispin as it has a bit more complexity (tartness) and some tropical notes.

Closing Notes: I consider this to be an average commercial cider (although its possible its in the craft category…it just doesn’t taste like it). I’d prefer this to Angry Orchard Crisp Apple and Strongbow Gold Apple for example (mostly as it isn’t crazy sweet & syrupy), but there are many other commercial ciders I’d prefer, such as many Woodchuck varieties, Ace Joker, and Crispin Original & Browns Lane.

Have you tried Dublin’s Pub? What did you think?

Blackfin Cider Company Pacific Peach

November 18, 2015November 8, 2015 cidersays Blackfin, review Apple Beverage Alliance, Blackfin, Blue Mountain, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Grizzly, hard cider, Pacific Peach

Review of Pacific Peach from Blackfin. This is a new cider company out of Oregon that is part of the Apple Beverage Alliance, started by Grizzly Ciderworks (Woodinville WA) and Blue Mountain Cider Company (Milton-Freewater OR).

Cider: Pacific Peach
Cidery: Blackfin Hard Cider
Cidery Location: Milton-Freewater OR
ABV: 5.8%
How Supplied: four pack of 12oz cans (or kegs)

Availability: OR & WA

Cider Description: Clean, bubbly and bursting with peach flavor. This cider is vibrant and delivers just the right amount of fruit sweetness.

Cidery Description: At Blackfin Hard Cider we create top quality craft beverages from the freshest local ingredients. Our apples are handpicked and fresh pressed within sight of the orchards from which they came. Our ciders are created to deliver the best possible quality and value at an affordable price. Proudly produced in the state of Oregon, we celebrate all the adventure and beauty of our beloved Northwest in each and every can.

Price: $8 for a four pack of 12oz cans (which I split with a cider friend)
Where Bought: Schilling Cider House in Seattle WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: The announcement of this new cider had been making the rounds on Facebook, so when I saw it at the Cider House, I was game to give it a try, especially for the very reasonable price.

First Impression: Straw yellow with honey-peach-orange hue. Higher (force) carbonation upon pouring. Smells of ripe apples, peach, tropical fruit, and apricot.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Very tart. Highly acidic. No bitterness or sourness. Moderate astringency. Light bodied. Carbonated mouthfeel. Peach flavor with a hint of tropical fruit and apricot, but they remain mild to moderate, so the apple (including some green apple notes) still shines through. I wouldn’t be surprised if the residual sugar content was higher than my received semi-dry level, but the tartness was quite high on this cider, which could have balanced it out.

Most Similar to: Atlas Apricot, which although was sweeter and not nearly as tart, had some similar apricot, peach, and tropical notes. I’ve had at least two peach ciders, from Blue Mountain (it was quite awhile ago but I remember the peach being very mild), and Finnriver (Country Peach, which was sour, so quite different from this one as well).

Closing Notes: Pretty good, but it was a bit too tart for my liking. My husband was a huge fan though, however that may have mostly been because it was peach (he is a huge peach fan). I’m intrigued to try some of their other varieties, which at this point also include Splash Semi-Sweet, Tidebreak Crisp Apple, and Northwest Berry, although I haven’t yet seen the later two in the Seattle area. The price is definitely right! Plus its great they use local fresh pressed juice and no additives (although that is the norm in this area with craft cider). Here is a neat article from New School Beer on Blackfin.

Have you tried Blackfin Pacific Peach, or any other Peach ciders? What did you think?

Cider Riot! 1763 (Revolutionary West Country Cider)

November 12, 2015October 31, 2015 cidersays Cider Riot, review 1763, cider, cider review, Cider Riot, cider tasting, hard cider, portland, revolutionary

Review of 1763 (Revolutionary West Country Cider) from Cider Riot! from Portland OR. This is the first bottled cider I’ve had from Cider Riot!, although I had their Never Give an Inch Oregon Blackberry on tap recently.

Cider: 1763 (Revolutionary West Country Cider)
Cidery: Cider Riot!
Cidery Location: Portland OR
ABV: 7.5%
How Supplied: 500ml bottle

Availability: Cider Riot! is available in bottles and on tap in OR, WA, and British Columbia. 1763 is part of their Reserve line, and available in bottles in OR & WA. Its definitely a limited release, with only 100 cases of 12 bottles made.

Cider Description: Our tribute to those who stand up against the status quo, 1763 commemorates the year of the Cider Riots in the English West Country, when cider lovers rose up and overthrew the nefarious Prime Minister Bute who imposed a tax on cider. 1763 is inspired by the West Country ciders that warranted such passion. Yamhill County grown Yarlington Mill, Harry Masters Jersey, Dabinett, & Kingston Black apples lend robust tannins, and rich flavours to a cider that’s worth fighting for. Ranked #2 in the Traditional Apple Category in Sip magazine’s Best of the NW competition 2015.

Cidery Description: Cider Riot! is an urban cidery located in a detached garage off East Burnside Street in Portland’s North Tabor neighborhood dedicated to the production of dry ciders. We use a variety of apples grown in Cascadia, including rare English and French cider variety apples, wild apples from Yamhill County, Oregon, and dessert apples from the Yakima and Hood River Valleys.

Price: $12
Where Bought: Schilling Cider House in Fremont neighborhood of Seattle WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. This was a new release they had at the cash register. Actually it was this year’s release, as this cider actually launched July 2014. Here is a press release from NW Cider on this year’s release of the 2014 vintage of 1763.

First Impression: Slightly hazy amber-orange with a hint of pink oddly enough. Almost still (little carbonation, just a bit of foam). Smells of high tannin apples, a slight earthy funk, and a touch of honey.

Opinion: Dry to semi-dry. High tannins. Moderate to high astringency. Moderate bitterness. Low to moderate acidity. Mild sourness. Earth, yeast, and wood notes. Very mild funk. Full bodied. The flavor of the cider finished quickly, but bitterness lingered at the back & sides of my mouth. I found the bitterness overwhelmed my palate and didn’t let the full richness of the cider apples shine through. I think if the bitterness was decreased and/or the sweetness was increased it would have been a more balanced cider. I also found it to be alcohol-forward, with a warm burn (it is 7.5% ABV though). Oddly enough this cider had some of the flavor characteristics of being barrel aged, but it wasn’t. I recommend drinking this cider between fridge and room temperature, as it mellowed a bit as it warmed up.

Most Similar to: High tannin ciders (such as English-style), including Alpenfire Ember, Traditions Bourbon Barrel 2012, Whitewood Kingston Black, and Liberty English-Style, all of which I tried at Cider Summit Seattle 2015 (tasting notes here), and Worley’s Premium Vintage.

Closing Notes: Unfortunately this cider was too bitter for my liking. I think fans of high tannin ciders who don’t mind bitterness would really enjoy this one however. Its commendable they were able to make a cider using only local cider apples, which are rare and expensive. I also believe that this cider would have greatly benefited from cellaring…I wish I had given it a year or two before drinking, as it likely would have mellowed out some of the bitterness. However, it appears they already aged this cider a year, as it was noted the 2014 vintage was released this year. I look forward to finding another variety to try from Cider Riot! that might be more to my liking.

Have you tried anything from Cider Riot? What did you think?

Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouche Brut De Normandie 2011

November 10, 2015October 29, 2015 cidersays Dupont, review Bouche, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Dupont, French, hard cider

Review of Cidre Bouche Brut De Normandie (2011) from Etienne Dupont.

Interesting side note on vintages: In the U.S. current law does not state that cidermakers are allowed to put a vintage or harvest date (only winemakers). Therefore it is rare to see it here, despite the variations in a cider from year to year. Its great to be able to compare reviews and know that you are actually comparing apples to apples (vs. a different vintage of the same cider).

Cider: Cidre Bouche Brut De Normandie, 2011 vintage
Cidery: Etienne Dupont
Cidery Location: Victot-Pontfol France
ABV: 5.5%
How Supplied: 375ml bottle (also available in 750ml size)

Availability: Semi-wide release. See their list of distributors.

Cider Description: Cidre Bouché is created using the traditional method of the Pays d’Auge. Full of fruit and freshness, the taste reveals the aromas of apples and citrus with finesse (“cidre bouché” is a generic term for traditional cider, literally “cider under cork”).

Terroir: Nutrient poor clay and marl soil, perfect for giving small fruit.
Varieties: 80% of bittersweet apples; 20% of acid apples
Harvesting: from October to November

Techniques used: Controlled fermentation in stainless steel vats. Indigenous yeasts. Stabilization of the cider is sought by carrying out successive racking. The fermentation is controlled by successive racking. The cider is bottled unpasteurized between March and April. Density (O.G.): 1060 after pressing, equivalent to 134 g of sugar per litre. 1024 when bottled, which gives 5% alcohol after bottle fermentation has finished.

If well cellared, it can be kept for 5 years after bottling, Because the cider is on its lees, the mouth will improve and become more complex.

Cidery Description: The Louis Dupont Family estate consists of 30 hectares (74 acres) of orchards in Normandy, in the heart of the Pays d’Auge region. The estate produces ciders, pommeau and calvados. For more than 25 years now, the Estate has resolutely followed a path towards high quality. By drawing on the best techniques used to make cognac and its great blends, Etienne Dupont has studied, tried out and refined his cellar work to reach the same levels ofelegance and expressiveness as found in the best wines. Some of these techniques, such as manual sorting of the apples, and even working with an oenologist are found only very rarely in the making of cider.

But just as for wine, the quality of the apples is still the first essential step. It is only after this that the creation of cider can make the most of the apple and its terroir. Specialities of the estate: Ciders bearing a vintage date… a cider blend aged in oak… a blend using traditional methods of making sparkling wines… an apple “sweet wine”… cask strength calvados. Thanks to their qualities of elegance and authenticity, the ciders and calvados from the Domaine Dupont are nowadays appreciated in many countries world-wide. A very great majority of its production goes for export.

See Dupont’s Page on Tasting Cider for some great info. They have an online store which can ship if you aren’t in the U.S. They also offer tours and a tasting room in France.

Price: $7.99
Where Bought: Total Wine
Where Drank: home
How Found: Recommendation from a fellow cider lover

First Impression: High carbonation and foam. Smells of rich ripe apples, yeast, with a slight funkiness. Hazy deep orange-amber hue.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Very yeasty, earthy, and beer-like. Low acidity. Moderate bitterness. Moderate tannins. Mild sourness and tartness. Mild to moderate funk. Full bodied. More foam than fizz. Long finish. I didn’t find this cider very apple-forward…its other qualities such as the bitterness, funkiness, and foam were a bit overpowering for my palate. It left me wanting the rich ripe apple flavor that I smelled.

Most Similar to: The beer-like aspect reminds me of Square Mile Original, but that is a completely different style of cider. I’ve only tried a handful of French ciders, but I seem to be picking up on two categories…the drier funky ones and the sweeter apple-forward ones. As far as the French ciders I’ve tried, this is more along the lines of Manoir du Parc Authentic Cidre (vs. Le Brun Organic Cidre, Celt Cidre Breton Traditionnel, or Dan Armor Cuvee Speciale Cidre Brut). This one was the former, while I definitely like the later, with the Dan Armor being my favorite so far (especially for $5!).

Closing Notes: I wasn’t really a fan. My husband was though (which makes sense as he is a beer fan). However, Etienne Dupont seems to be a big hit in the cider community, so this is great example of why its great there are so many ciders…there is something for everyone. Just because I didn’t care for a cider doesn’t mean you won’t! It appears that most of their ciders have these qualities (and that this may be on the milder side for them), but I may have to do more research to see if I’d be open to trying any of their other ciders. Often not liking a cider will have me want to try something else from the cidery as much as liking a cider will.

Note that it appears this bottle had been in the store for quite awhile. I bought it in the last month, yet I was able to find reviews online of the 2012, 2013, and 2014 vintages. Being in the store (vs. cellared with light & temperature control) can unpredictably impact the flavor, so its unknown how the flavor of this cider changed during that time.

Have you tried Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouche Brut De Normandie, or any other French ciders? What did you think?

2 Towns Cidre Moscato

November 6, 2015October 31, 2015 cidersays 2 Towns, review 2 Towns, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Corvallis, hard cider, hard cider review, Moscato, oregon

Review of Cidre Moscato from 2 Towns, made using Muscat grapes. I had this awhile back and couldn’t remember if I liked it before, so was curious to try it again when I stumbled upon a bottle in the walk-in cooler of a local grocery store. This was a special release quite awhile ago, so I was surprised to find it. I’ve had at least 10 selections from 2 Towns.

Cider: Cidre Moscato
Cidery: 2 Towns
Cidery Location: Corvallis OR
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: 500ml glass bottle

Availability: Probably limited at this point as it was a special release in 2014 I think. 2 Towns ciders however are sold in OR, WA, CA, AK, HI, NV (limited), ID, IL (Chicago), & MN (Minneapolis).

Cider Description: Out of the rich soils of the NW grow lush and zesty muscat grapes. Full of vibrant aroma, this blend of Muscat and hard cider will make you wave your pinky in the air like you just don’t care.

Cidery Description: 2 Towns was founded in 2010 by partners Lee Larsen and Aaron Sarnoff. Dave Takush joined us shortly thereafter. All three of us grew up together in the Corvallis, OR area. We’ve had explosive growth since our inception at which point we had intended to produce and distribute cider to the Corvallis, OR and Eugene, OR areas only (incidentally, the 2 Towns of our namesake). It became readily apparent that our initial vision needed to grow as we hit our maximum capacity in our first production space (a converted 1,000 sq ft garage) in roughly 2 months. We’ve since built 2 new production facilities with a total of 25,000 sq ft of production space and our team has grown to over 30 people to help us to distribute to 9 states and counting.

Over this time, we’ve kept to our original goal of bringing craft hard cider back to the people. We feel that a craft cider is made with fresh-pressed fruit and contain no artificial flavorings. Our fruit is all sourced in Oregon & Washington and all of our ciders are also free from added sugars other than those present in the juice and in some cases local honey. We feel that cider doesn’t need to be sweet to express the natural flavors of the fruits we ferment.

2 Towns Ciderhouse planted an orchard in 2011 with all traditional cider apple varieties such as Kingston Black, Dabinett, Jersey Brown Snout, and many others. 2 Towns has also contracted with several growers in the Willamette Valley and beyond to grow additional traditional cider fruit.

Price: $7 on sale from $9
Where Bought: QFC grocery store
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing the walk-in fridge. I also found the first bottle awhile back the same way.

First Impression: Light carbonation, a few small bubbles. Straw yellow, no haze. Very light tropical and white grape scent.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Fruity, refreshing, and light. The tropical and white grape notes continued into the flavor. Higher acidity. Low to moderate tartness. No bitterness. Light astringency. It has some sweet flavor notes without being sweet. The flavor profile on this cider is pretty mild. Very unique. Moderately complex too.

Most Similar to: Attila Scourge of God (review here), although that didn’t have the additional fruitiness. Moa Kiwifruit was also on the drier side and had a light tropical kiwi flavor. Most tropically ciders I’ve had were a bit sweeter, such as Reverend Nat’s Revival (review here) and Woodinville Ciderworks Tropical (review here).

Closing Notes: Tasty! This would especially be a great summer cider. I was surprised I enjoyed it so much as usually I go for bolder ciders.

Have you tried 2 Towns Cidre Muscato? What did you think?

Tod Creek Mala-Hop

November 4, 2015October 25, 2015 cidersays review, Tod Creek cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, hopped cider, Mala-Hop, Malahop, Tod Creek

Review of Tod Creek’s Mala-Hop. This is the second cider I’ve had from Tod Creek. The name is a reference to Malahat, Vancouver Island’s dividing mountain between Victoria and its southern tip, and that is a hopped cider.

Ron from DrinkingCider.com brought me two Tod Creek ciders from his Vancouver detour to his Cider Summit Seattle 2015 / WA Cider Week trip! See here for my review of Tod Creek’s Tod Cider Vancouver Island.

Cider: Mala-Hop
Cidery: Tod Creek
Cidery Location: Victoria B.C. Canada
ABV: 6.0%
How Supplied: 500ml glass bottle

Availability: Vancouver Island, Vancouver, and a couple store in the interior of British Columbia. They are entering their second season, and have plans to expand into the Kelowna area, possibly Alberta, and hopefully eventually the U.S.

Cider Description: All juice hard apple cider with triple-hop flavour….

Premium cider with a West Coast bite. Cruising the Malahat is a rite of passage for most Islanders, the mountain at your side as Finlayson Arm and Saltspring Island creep into view. Whether you’re heading to Victoria or leaving the capital city, the Malahat is an essential part of Island life. This hard apple cider is prefect for beer-lovers and cider enthusiasts, featuring a touch of tartness from the Granny Smiths and three different hops delivering that distinct flavour and aroma loved by true hop-heads….

This sparkling cider is all juice — no water added to dilute the great taste. Mala-Hop is a triple-hopped treat and tastes great on its own or paired with a spicy pepperoni pizza, nachos loaded with jalapenos, or a hearty beef stew….

Ingredients: apple juice, maple syrup, sulfites, hops….

Hopped cider has been around for years, but only recently in the Pacific NorthWest has it really become discovered and loved by so many. This cider is for the beer drinker, or for anyone who wants to have the tremendous nose and flavour of hops in their cider. Kinda like peanut butter and chocolate….

We use a blend of Granny, Golden, Jona, Sparton apples, and this year we’re also using Mac. In the Mala-Hop is also some cider variety such as Yarlington and Tremlett, with some crab as well.

The three hops we’re using are Chinook, Sterling and Centennial, all sourced from the organic growners HOOH (harvest our organic hops) in Liloette, BC.

Cidery Description: Tod Creek Craft Cider makes small batch, handcrafted cider with BC apples. We source our apples from local trees on Vancouver Island as well as from farmers in the BC interior. Long, slow fermentation brings about great flavours in the traditional way. We typically ferment each batch for about four months. If you want the super-sweet, watered-down canned stuff, we can’t help you. Our ciders are all-juice blends to bring a clean, crisp, enjoyable drink that goes great with dinner, friends, or all by itself. As a small batch cider, you’ll notice that each year the ciders will vary slightly, much like a good wine does. Our apples will be influenced by the sun, the amount of rainfall, and other factors, so each year will yield a slightly different taste. Most of our ciders are coarse filtered, and our hopped cider isn’t filtered at all. Filtering can take some of the flavours out of cider, so we try to limit the amount of filtering we do.

They opened in June 2014 and have a micro-cidery setup, their own orchard in Victoria, and lease an orchard in Kelowna. A tasting room is in the works (hoping for Summer 2016), but they will do a tasting & tour by appointment. Sea Cider and Merridale are also in the same area.

Price: n/a (appears to run $7.60 CAD, or $5.77 USD a bottle)
Where Bought: n/a
Where Drank: home
How Found: Ron gave it to me. I’d never heard of Tod Creek cider before as it isn’t available here in the Seattle area.

First Impression: Almost no carbonation. Light straw yellow with a hint of honey hue, slightly hazy. Mild aromas of hops, floral, citrus, wood, and maple.

Opinion: Semi-dry. This cider tasted spot-on to how it smelled, with the same mild hops, floral, citrus, wood, and maple notes. Low bitterness, astringency, acidity, and tartness. Medium bodied. Very smooth. On the unfiltered side. Balanced complex flavor. Average length finish. The hops are present throughout the sip, but remain very mild. I’m surprised it wasn’t more tart as I pick up a lot of granny smith aple notes, but I imagine the other apple varieties, hops, and maple syrup balanced out the flavor. I’m impressed they really kept the bitterness down. My main comment is that it could use more carbonation, but I say that about almost all ciders!

Most Similar to: Portland Cider Hop’Rageous, which is the only other hopped cider I’ve tried that I actually liked (tasting notes here). Hop’Rageous also has very little hop flavor, more floral & citrus notes with a slight hops aftertaste. Most hopped ciders seem to go quite overboard on the amount of hops, only appealing to beer lovers, which I definitely am not.

Closing Notes: Not bad! I was pleasantly surprised. My husband also enjoyed it. I’m not sure Mala-Hop is something I would buy if it was available here as its not really my type of cider, but like Portland Cider Hop’Rageous, I’d recommend it to anyone who is curious about hopped ciders and looking for something on the mild end of the spectrum. I didn’t have any problem finishing the bottle, which was definitely unexpected. Hopefully I’ll be able to try more ciders from Tod Creek in the future.

Have you tried any cider from Tod Creek? What did you think?

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?

Virtue The Mitten Bourbon Barrel Aged Cider

November 2, 2015October 25, 2015 cidersays review, Virtue barrel aged, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, hard cider review, Michigan, Mitten, Virtue

Review of Virtue Cider’s The Mitten, a bourbon barrel aged cider made using only Michigan apples. This is the first cider I’ve tried from Virtue.

Cider: The Mitten
Cidery: Virtue Cider
Cidery Location: Fennville MI
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: 750ml green champagne bottle, capped (also available in kegs)

Availability: Limited release, winter seasonal. Virtue cider may be available in GA, MD, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PN, RI, VA, VT, IL, ID, KY, MI, MN, OH, WI, CA, OR, WA, & TX.

Cider Description: When the leaves fall, there’s a chill in the air and the evening greedily takes hours from daylight, we stand strong and embrace the wintertime. It’s a time of rich foods, roaring fires and our favorite sweaters. Drinks change from refreshing to intense and satisfying. The Mitten is a Winter cider, a blend of last seasons best, aged in bourbon barrels, with the new season’s fresh pressed apple juice. Straight cider, aged for 3 seasons, finds notes of vanilla, caramel and charred American oak, balanced with the best of the orchard, over-ripe apples and their sweet, tart, earthy juice. Many barrels are filled, but only a small portion, the very smoothest, will find their way into The Mitten. We love wintertime, especially when we have The Mitten to keep us warm and happy through the long, cold night.

Northern Spy, Cox’s Orange Pippin, McIntosh, and Jonathan apples blended with cider aging in our barrel house that is made from more than forty varietals of apples.

See Virtue’s info page on this cider.

Cidery Description: Virtue Farm is located in Southwest Michigan, part of the state’s thriving Cider Coast. Michigan’s Cider Coast boasts 200 miles of apple orchards, changing leaves, and stunning vistas best enjoyed with a glass of crisp cider. All along the coast, great cider being made by a bevy of wonderful cider makers, all working hard to revive dozens of varieties of heirloom apples ideal for juicing and fermenting. Virtue Cider is proud to be part of this burgeoning revival of an important Michigan tradition.

They have a tasting room. Also see this page on their barrel aging program. This cider was bourbon barrel aged at least 6 months (depending on the vintage). I’m guessing I tried the 2014 vintage. The 2015 vintage is expected to be released in December by the way.

Price: ~$24
Where Bought: Capitol Cider in Seattle WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: I’ve read a number of articles & reviews on this cider, which is quite well-received. I’ve been on the lookout for it ever since (although I can find a number of Virtue’s other varieties, this one is more rare in WA). I was very excited to see it on the bottle list at Capitol Cider, and just my luck, they still had it (they only update their printed bottle lists so often, so its possible they have since run out of items).

First Impression: High carbonation (foamed over when I opened it!). Gold amber hue. Lots of tiny bubbles and foam. Hazy. Rich medium sweet very ripe apple, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, and brown sugar scent.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Frothy almost mousse-like sparkling/carbonated mouth feel. Rich bold flavors but light bodied. Very warming. Mild to moderate barrel influence. Moderate to heavy bourbon influence. Moderate to high acidity. Moderate bitterness, Low to moderate tannins. Moderate tartness. Moderate astringency. Ripe apple, bourbon, vanilla, oak, and caramel notes (quite similar to the scent, but tasted less sweet then it smelled). Slightly earthy and smokey. Long bitter finish. The other reviews I’ve read didn’t seem to mention this high of a level of carbonation and the significant bitterness, but each palate is different, and they could have been from a different vintage (a craft product like this varies year to year).

Most Similar to: Other drier bourbon barrel aged ciders with bitter notes. My favorite bourbon barrel aged cider so far is Traditions Bourbon Barrel 2012, made by 2 Towns, which I tried at Cider Summit Seattle 2015. This one definitely had the highest level of carbonation I’ve seen in this type of cider (often barrel aged ciders are presented almost still). The level of heat reminded me of Sea Cider Prohibition / Rumrunner. I would have guessed this cider was a much higher ABV, but it was very smooth and relatively easy to drink.

Closing Notes: I think I psyched myself up a bit too much for this one. I really liked it, but didn’t love it. I think if it wasn’t for the bitterness in the finish, I would have been really impressed. I think it also smelled better than it tasted (more sweetness came across in the scent). Maybe all the sweet-type notes made me want a sweeter cider? All in all it is a nice cider selection which makes me want to try more ciders from Virtue and from the Finger Lakes region (which similar to WA & OR is known for cider).

Second day update: I didn’t finish this cider the first night (as its just me and I have a tendency to make small pours). On the second night, I oddly enough found it had developed a distinct sourness (and remained pretty high carbonation). I’m used to ciders losing flavor / mellowing out, but sour is a new one. It was well-sealed with a flip top. So, I’d recommend drinking this in one night.

Have you tried any ciders from Virtue? What did you think?

Boonville Bite Hard – Updated Review

October 30, 2015October 25, 2015 cidersays Boonville, review Bite Hard, Boonville, Boonville Cider House, california, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, sample

Review of Bite Hard from the Boonville Cider House. I actually reviewed this cider about a month ago (see here), but Roger Scommegna, founder of Boonville Cider House, contacted me on Facebook and asked me to give it another try. He sent me a lovely sample box with not one but three bottles of Bite Hard, a t-shirt, and a fact sheet. This time around the cider is bottled not canned, so I’m curious to see if I spot any differences.

He said: “Same variety, but I think I need to explain why it is terrific cider. We use apples and yeast, nothing else. Most cider is made from concentrate and flavoring. It’s truly just a soda. Cider is wine, and you would never drink a wine made from concentrate, and it’s illegal to add flavors to wine, so we make our cider like wine. We ferment dry with two different champagne yeasts, then finish it like Sauvignon Blanc. Our cider is delicate and clean. It’s actually harder to make it that way. I’ll send you a bomber and try it out of a wine glass. Thanks!”

This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by the Boonville Cider House. Although I will take care to treat it the same as any other review, there is always the potential for bias as I received this 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: Bite Hard
Cidery: Boonville Cider House
Cidery Location: Boonville CA
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: 22oz glass bottle

Availability: CA, AZ, WA, MN, WI, IL, MI, NY, IN, CO, and MO

Cider Description: Bite Hard Apple Cider is a crisp, semi dry cider, slow fermented from heirloom apples in an English tradition. Made from tannic and full bodied fruit, this cider carries its distinctive BITE with a clean and unique apple finish and citrus notes. We take the time to seek out and preserve the best that Autumn has to offer.

Cidery Description: MAKING CIDER & TAKING NAMES SINCE 2010! With an orchard first mentality, Boonville Cider House uses its favorite varieties of apples to put the finest cider into every can, bottle, and keg. Made with gumption, and drank with gusto, the Boonville Cider House is less a place and more a state of mind. So crack a can and taste Autumn in Boonville, taste us wassailing beneath the stars, and taste the hard work and great times that go into every gallon.

Additional Information from Boonville: We started in a small town in Northern California called Boonville. Home to Anderson Valley Brewing Co, Roederer Estates and ever growing list of fantastic wineries…We use a blend of Pippins and Russets mostly – hand picked, no windfalls. The goal has been to make a simple and pure cider. Pick apples, squeeze into juice, add yeast, ferment dry, enjoy heartily. We believe the best ciders have a short list of ingredients.

They also shared this blog post written by the founder & cider maker (titled Ruminations on Our Ethics of Fermentation).

Price: n/a
Where Bought: n/a
Where Drank: home
How Found: n/a

First Impression: Straw yellow, no haze. Little carbonation with medium sized bubbles. Light dry apple scent.

Opinion: Dry to semi-dry. High acidity. Moderate tartness. Light astringency. No bitterness, sourness, or funk. Low carbonation. Light bodied. Clean and refreshing taste. Moderate length finish with acidity & tartness. I pick up citrus, green apple, and tropical notes. I definitely recognize it was made using champagne yeast. I’m surprised how different this tastes than I remember (and noted before). I didn’t pick up any bitterness this time, the tartness level seems higher, and it even seems a touch sweeter. I suspect it may be a different batch. Craft cider can vary significantly batch to batch. I wonder if bottle vs. can makes a difference too. Also, I’ve always noticed that free beverages/food taste better!

Most Similar to: Some other drier flagship ciders. This actually reminds me of Attila Scourge of God that I had recently (review here).

Closing Notes: I was more impressed this time around. I liked the acidity level and tartness, that it lacked bitterness, and that it isn’t very sweet. However, this still isn’t my favorite type of cider…I usually like bolder flavors and some richness in a cider (such as found with English, French, barrel aged, etc, ciders). I think bottles instead of cans is a good route for them, as they seem to be going a bit more higher end, comparing to wine, drier, etc. However, a lot of craft ciders are going the can route, and it seems to be popular. I look forward to enjoying the other two bottles!

Have you tried Boonville Bite Hard? What did you think?

Crispin 15 Men (Rum Barrel Aged)

October 29, 2015October 25, 2015 cidersays Crispin, review 15 Men, barrel aged, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Colfax, Crispin, hard cider, rum

Review of Crispin’s newest barrel aged limited release, 15 Men. It is a dark rum barrel aged Colfax apple cider with wildflower honey and dark candi syrup. The name 15 Men alludes to the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Crispin’s previous barrel aged limited release cider before this was Venus Reigns (my review here). They have had a barrel aging program for 6 years.

Cider: 15 Men
Cidery: Crispin
Cidery Location: Colfax, CA
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: 22oz bottle

Availability: limited availability, but wide release, since early October 2015

Cider Description: Buccaneers & buried treasure. Mutiny & murder. For the love of adventure and a barrel of rum. Drink and the devil had done for the rest. An epic saga of Colfax classic apple wine matured in dark rum casks, then laced with wildflower honey and dark candi syrup. 15 Men rolls strong like a deep ocean swell with notes of burnt caramel and oak, gentle hints of ripe fall fruits, vanilla and exotic floral fruit carried on the trade winds. Before pouring, give a solid bottoms-up tilt and swirl to disperse sediment evenly and experience the complex aroma and bouquet. Best enjoyed at cellar temperature, 50/55F. With or without 1 or 2 ice cubes.

Cidery Description: Classically refined, but not styled as a traditional “sweet beer” beer alternative, Crispin ciders are crisp and clean, not sweet and sticky and never sacrifice superior quality refreshment satisfaction for overbearing complexity. Always true to the fruit, Crispin Hard Ciders are naturally fermented using fresh-pressed apple or pear juice, not from concentrate, from a premium blend of fruit from the west coast. Additionally, Crispin Ciders do not contain added malt, grape wine, or spirit alcohol. Crispin Ciders are all Gluten Free.

Price: $9.99
Where Bought: Total Wine
Where Drank: home
How Found: I read about this release online, then started the search for it. Total Wine has a convenient online inventory, so I knew before I went in that it was in stock.

First Impression: No carbonation upon pouring. Hazy honey orange amber. Smells of ripe apples, honey, tropical fruit, light floral, caramel, and brown sugar.

Opinion: Between semi-dry and semi-sweet. Still (no carbonation). In the taste, I again pick up the ripe apples, a lot of honey, some fruitiness & floral, and the caramel and brown sugar notes. Additionally, some mild wood barrel notes, a bit of citrus, and mild spiced rum in the finish. I thought the rum presented more in the lingering heat than the actual flavor. I’m surprised by how much honey flavor there is! Mild tartness and bitterness. Medium acidity. No significant tannins or astringency. Medium bodied. Average finish length. The barrel and spirit influence stays mild. This was better between fridge and room temperature, where it became very smooth and the honey flavor mellowed out a bit.

Most Similar to: Rum barrel aged cider always reminds me of Sea Cider Prohibition / Rumrunner (my review here). Honey reminds me of ciders such as Finnriver Honey Meadow (my review here). However, this cider wasn’t anything like either of those. The honey seemed to be competing with the rum & barrel aspects. So, there aren’t really any similar ciders I’ve tried.

Closing Notes: Overall this was a good but not great cider in my opinion. The amount of honey flavor seemed to be too much, and I would have liked more rum & barrel influence. A bit of carbonation wouldn’t have hurt either. Overall it was unique. However, $10 seems a bit steep for what it is, as at the end of the day, Crispin is a commercial cidery.

Have you tried Crispin 15 Men? What did you think?

Moonlight Meadery How Do You Like Them Little Apples Cider

October 22, 2015October 15, 2015 cidersays Moonlight Meadery, review barrel aged, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, How Do You Like Them Little Apples, Moonlight Meadery

Review of “How Do You Like Them Little Apples”, a cider from Moonlight Meadery. Note that they also offer “How Do You Like Them Apples” (without “Little”), which is quite a different cider, mostly as it has a significantly higher ABV, 13.5% instead of 6.9%. I’ve also tried that one (at Cider Summit Seattle 2015; tasting notes here).

Cider: How Do You Like Them Little Apples
Cidery: Moonlight Meadery
Cidery Location: Londonderry NH
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: draft-only (I got a half growler, 32 oz)

Side Note: This is the first time I’ve got a growler fill of cider! I’ve always decided against it as 64 oz of cider is way too much for just me to drink in a short period of time, but my husband came home with a half growler of beer recently. These half growlers (and even quarter growlers, only 16 oz) seem to be a newer thing. Two pints of cider is more easily doable. The place where I got it filled (see below) actually only sells half growlers, although I’m sure if you brought in a full size one they would fill it for double the cost. Also, check out my new cider glass!

I’ve been wanting to buy some real cider glasses for awhile, and picked up three (see above, with one of my usual cider glasses on the right for reference) at World Market, each between $2 and $4. They are officially a goblet, brandy snifter (pictured with cider above), and sangria glass (curved). I think the brandy one is my favorite as it isn’t as large/tall as the other two, although similar to wine glasses, none of these would be filled up all the way.

Availability: Regional. See the list on Moonlight Meadery’s website.

Cider Description: A hard cider, made with the finest New Hampshire apples that were available to us, which we had fresh pressed into apple cider. This fresh cider was delivered the day it was pressed to our Meadery, where we blended it with just a touch of honey, and some brown sugar and let it ferment, then we let it age in freshly emptied rye whiskey barrels, for a minimum of 3 months. This is a DRAFT only release.

Cidery Description: We are a world class, cidery and meadery from Londonderry New Hampshire, specializing in meads: wines made from honey, and ciders. The diversity of the offerings often leaves people speechless, while the flavors have them asking for it at their local stores. Stop by to find out why “History never tasted so good”™. Try the oldest fermented beverage, “Romance By the Glass”^®. Distributed nationwide both here in the United States, and Australia. It all started back in 1995, when Michael, our founder and head mead maker, tried a cyser (apple and honey mead) for the first time.

Since that first sip Michael has developed a passion, and a masterful skill at making international award winning meads. Michael Fairbrother has started Moonlight Meadery^®, with a mission to bring ultra premium meads to the market place. It is more than a product and it is more than a process, it’s our obsession. Our meads will be unique, and unlike anything you have ever tried, you will find it incredible! We are going to embrace the unique nature of natural honey as minimally processed as possible. Since starting production in May of 2010, we have grown beyond our wildest dreams. We hope you will stop by to hear our story and try our meads, and tell your friends.

Moonlight has a tasting room in Londonderry NH, and an online store selling their products which ships to 20 states (WA not included unfortunately). We get a few of their bottled meads in the Seattle area, but nowhere near the full lineup.

Price: $10 / 32 ounce half growler
Where Bought: Around the Table Game Pub in Lynnwood WA. This is a great option for draft craft cider in the greater Seattle area by the way, as they typically have 3 ciders and 1 mead on tap (and 8 beers, a coffee, and a soda). Although its not really my type of atmosphere (gamer types), the cider selection is pretty awesome. Special Brews up the street has more taps but less cider on tap (although they have a bottle shop).
Where Drank: home
How Found: I tried this for the first time at the Schilling Cider House (see my post here). Schilling Cider House has Moonlight Meadery’s ciders & cysers on tap pretty often. When I saw this cider was on tap at Around the Table, I went out of my way to get a half growler of it! Very reasonably priced too. I’m doing a full review of it now vs. my previous one which was only a quick writeup. I typically only do tasting notes when sampling ciders away from home as its tough to get a full picture of a cider when doing a quick tasting, and especially when trying it with other ciders.

First Impression: Shiney straw yellow champagne-like hue. Large bubbles. Complex rich sweet apple scent with a hint of oak wood.

Opinion: Semi-sweet to sweet. Rich ripe apple, honey, oak, brown sugar, and floral notes. The slightest hint of whiskey from the barrel in addition to the oak flavor from the barrel itself (which is on the mild side). Complex flavor, but low acidity, tannins, tartness, astringency, bitterness, etc. No funk (clean). Very low carbonation. Medium to full bodied. Longer finish, which is where some mild tarrtness and bitterness presents. Very smooth. I’d guess it was a higher ABV (maybe due to how full bodied it is), but its not really booze-forward.

Most Similar to: Not too much. Most barrel aged ciders don’t also have other flavors (honey & brown sugar in this case), and there aren’t too many barrel aged ciders that are this sweet (although Thistly Cross Whisky Cask comes to mind).

Closing Notes: Awesome! One of my favorite ciders. Even my friend who is very new to hard cider and whose tastes haven’t extended beyond very plain sweet juice-like commercial ciders enjoyed it (I thought she might be put off by the barrel notes). So, I can recommend this as a good introduction to barrel aged ciders (vs. some others that are very dry, strong barrel influence, lots of spirit notes, etc). I’ve been very impressed with everything I’ve tried from Moonlight Meadery so far (a few ciders, a cyser, and a mead)!

Have you tried Moonlight Meadery How Do You Like Them Little Apples? What did you think?

Woodchuck Raspberry

October 21, 2015October 15, 2015 cidersays review, Woodchuck cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Raspberry, Woodchuck, Woodchuck Raspberry

Review of Woodchuck’s Raspberry variety.

Cider: Raspberry
Cidery: Woodchuck
Cidery Location: Middlebury VT
ABV: 4.0%
How Supplied: 12oz bottles (six pack)

Availability: wide release, year round

Cider Description: Raspberry is a well-balanced cider that is light and refreshing. Delicate in body with a little extra zip that takes everything great about hard cider and kicks it up a notch with a fresh sweet raspberry finish.

Price: ~$4.50 / bottle at a bar
Where Drank: Fred’s Rivertown Alehouse in Snohomish WA. We were in the area to go to dinner at The Repp for our anniversary, and my husband requested a trip to Fred’s, due to their huge rare Scotch selection. They had a decent cider selection…Ace Pineapple and Schilling Sriracha Lime on tap (apparently they usually also have Blackthorn but were out), and Woodchuck Raspberry in bottles. I wasn’t feeling the Pineapple and wouldn’t fathom drinking a pint of Sriracha Lime (not a fan of more than a sip of spicy ciders), so Woodchuck it was. I’ve had their Raspberry a few times and its a solid selection, albeit not one of my favorites. The last time I had Woodchuck Raspberry was here as well. Sorry for the horrible photo, but we had a crowded bar seat.

First Impression: Very pale straw yellow with little carbonation and a foam ring.

Opinion: Semi-sweet (Woodchuck says sweet but I don’t find this one all that sweet oddly enough). Its definitely an easy drinking cider, especially at only 4%. Moderate carbonation in the mouthfeel. Low acidity and tartness. No bitterness. The raspberry flavor is pretty mild, but on the fake side.

Most Similar to: Woodchuck’s other fruity ciders, such as the Summer Time (blueberry), and Wyder’s Raspberry. This one has a different flavor than other “berry” ciders however; more raspberry syrup than raspberry fruit.

Closing Notes: Not a bad choice, but its pretty predictable. I kinda question how they did the raspberry flavor without adding any raspberry color though? I’d drink it again in a similar situation, but it isn’t one I’d buy a six pack of, like some of their other ciders (Winter Chill, Barrel Select, and Gumption).

Have you tried Woodchuck Raspberry? What did you think?

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!

Attila Scourge of God

October 16, 2015October 15, 2015 cidersays Attila, review Attila, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, oregon, Scourge of God, washington

Review of “Scourge of God” by Attila Hard Cider. I honestly bought this just because the name was funny. I haven’t tried any Attila ciders, but they also offer at least one other cider (Rapture, with Concord grape juice in addition to Granny Smith apple juice), and have been around since 2013.

Cider: Scourge of God
Cidery: Attila Hard Cider (for Elevage Wine Company in Ellensburg WA)
Cidery Location: Milton-Freewater OR
ABV: 5.9%
How Supplied: 22oz glass bottle

Availability: WA only, in bottles & kegs. Distributed through King Beverage (Budweiser house) in Eastern Washington and American Northwest in Western Washington.

Cider Description: Attila’s flagship lightly carbonated, slightly tart, perfectly blended cider with a clean, crisp finish. In the finest tradition of American Craft cider we only source the highest quality apples from Washington State . Drink what the Founding Mothers and Fathers used to enjoy after a hard day’s work. Made from only fresh-pressed apples with no juice concentrates or added sugars, make Attila, “The Scourge of God” the most refreshing cider on the market today, and at 6.99% Alc, you can bring this cider to any revolution!

Cidery Description: In 2011, we noticed an influx of people asking for draft cider at our wine bar in Ellensburg. Knowing very little about cider we tried them all, yet after our year long research, we only found two that we liked—both from Oregon. The winemaker in me thought, it can’t be that hard. Finally, after a long trial and error process, three years and several thousand of dollars of cider given away to friends (aka “guinea pigs”) Attila “Scourge of God” was born. Why Attila? Glad you asked. Attila was a true-life badass; a simple man with leadership abilities that would rival any modern day leader. Down-to-earth Attila that lead by example and enjoyed a good drink. Dubbed the “Scourge the God” by Pope Leo, Attila was feared by everyone and found joy intimidating the Romans; a businessman, he demanded up to 2000 kilograms of gold a year in lieu of being pillaged by Attila’s misfits. For us, we were not looking to conquer the cider business, but to grow Attila’s army into a band of local misfits who enjoy drinking a damn good cider. Our secret, using only locally-sourced apples, which are always fresh pressed creating a high quality craft cider for the masses. We look forward to seeing you at our wine bar Brix in Ellensburg or our tasting room in Leavenworth or better yet your favorite watering hole soon as we continue to grow and thrive here.

Price: ~$8? It was awhile ago…
Where Bought: Schilling Cider House
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing

First Impression: Crisp acidic dry slightly musty scent. Pale straw yellow. Very light carbonation which quickly cleared.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Simple, crisp, and refreshing. High acidity, which I really liked. Very apple-forward, which I also liked. Lots of granny smith apple flavor (made from golden delicious, gala, and granny smith apples), but the tartness remained mild. No significant bitterness or astringency. Some citrus notes. I didn’t pick up any funk (it remained clean), which I had expected a bit from the scent. This was definitely made from dessert apples (ie. low complexity), but it was well-balanced and not very sweet at all, which is nice. Quick finish. My only suggestion for this one is that more carbonation would be a good addition, but I say that about most ciders.

Most Similar to: Other drier flagship ciders, except this one was higher acidity.

Closing Notes: Pretty good. I’d rate this as above average, especially for a flagship cider, which I typically don’t care for (as I like bolder flavors). Its great they are doing so many good things, such as using fresh juice from WA apples, no additives, etc. I’ve been wanting to try their Rapture cider, which sounds interesting, but appears to be sweeter than this one.

Have you tried Attila Scourge of God? What did you think?

Henry Hotspur’s Hard Pressed for Cider

October 15, 2015October 15, 2015 cidersays Hard Pressed, review cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Hard Pressed for Cider, Henry Hotspur's, Trader Joe's

Review of Henry Hotspur’s Hard Pressed for Cider, only available at Trader Joe’s.

Cider: Henry Hotspur’s Hard Pressed for Cider
Cidery: Hard Pressed Cider Company, which according to some Googling may be part of Gordon Biersch Brewing
Cidery Location: San Jose CA
ABV: 5.8%
How Supplied: 22oz (650ml) bottle

Availability: wide release, year round, only at Trader Joe’s

Cider Description: Made from fresh pressed apples from the Pacific Northwest, Hard Pressed Cider company has a refreshing take on cider. Fresh pressed apple juice is fermented with brewing yeast and the resulting cider is slightly sweetened by adding back unfermented apple juice. That’s it. The finished cider is clean, crisp and delightfully enjoyable.

Cidery Description: None found. Have any information on them? Contact me so I can add it.

Price: $2.49
Where Bought: Trader Joe’s
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. I had tried this awhile back and decided to revisit it.

First Impression: Light straw yellow. Light carbonation. Foam ring. Light clean apple scent, slightly yeasty.

Opinion: On the sweeter side of semi-dry. Low acidity and tartness. No bitterness. Slight generic apple juice flavor. Its definitely an easy drinking & refreshing cider variety. Not too many identifiable flavor notes. It could use more flavor (its a bit on the watery side). However, I’ve definitely paid much more for cider I liked much less. I commend them for not using any concentrates or additives, which is unheard of at this price point. This cider per ounce would be equal to an $8.18 price point for a six pack of 12oz bottles, which is quite in line with commercial ciders.

Most Similar to: Other light easy drinking flagship ciders.

Closing Notes: This is a solid cider selection, especially for the cost. I’d consider getting it again. I’ve particularly been looking for an easy drinking affordable craft cider which is to my liking, as I can’t always drink the good stuff. However, I think in this case I’d spend a bit more and get the Dan Armor Cuvée Spéciale Cidre Brut ($4.99 for a 750ml, French import) from Trader Joe’s, which I find truly impressive. Its literally on my list of top ciders, along with a lot of ciders in the $10-$20 / bottle range. If I didn’t like variety / trying new ciders, I’d pick up a case of that and call it done.

Have you tried Henry Hotspur’s Hard Pressed for Cider? What did you think?

Liberty Ciderworks Stonewall (Dry Fly Whiskey Barrel Aged)

October 12, 2015October 11, 2015 cidersays Liberty, review barrel aged, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, liberty, Spokane, Stonewall

Review of Stonewall (a Dry Fly whiskey barrel aged cider) from Liberty Ciderworks, part of their Reserve series. I’ve tried a number of ciders from Liberty, including Manchurian Crabapple, English Style, Crabenstein, and Abbess.

Cider: Stonewall (Dry Fly Whiskey Barrel Aged)
Cidery: Liberty Ciderworks
Cidery Location: Spokane WA
ABV: 8.4%
How Supplied: 750ml bottle

Availability: Fairly limited. Per the cidery they currently self-distribute to Spokane and Seattle. In Seattle, I have seen them at Capitol Cider, Schilling Cider House, Total Wine, Full Throttle Bottles, and Special Brews. Look for them in bottle shops in WA which specialize in local craft cider. Liberty’s website lists some locations to find their ciders.

Cider Description: Named for General “Stonewall” Jackson – who reportedly enjoyed blending cider and whiskey – ‘Stonewall’ is our English blend aged in Dry Fly™ whiskey barrels. This oaky, dry cider serves up scents and flavors reminiscent of vanilla, ripe apple, and coconut. (GLINTCAP 2015 Gold Medal & “Best In Class” Winner)

Cidery Description: Carrying the torch for Artisan Cider. Located in the largest apple-growing region on the planet, Liberty Ciderworks is all about the apple, showcasing the diversity and wonders of locally grown fruit. From well known apples like McIntosh and Jonathan to rare, cider-specific fruit like Kingston Black and Dabinett, Liberty ciders put apples in their proper place: Front and center. We started Liberty Ciderworks in 2013 with a simple, two-part mission: 1) Using apples from local farms and fields, create unique, wonderful ciders, and 2) Share them with friends and neighbors across the great Pacific Northwest. Welcome to the cider revolution. Cheers! Rick & Austin

Liberty has a tap room in Spokane and offers over 10 varieties of cider. Here are links to two articles discussing this cider’s win at GLINTCAP, from Inlander and NW Cider.

Price: $13.99
Where Bought: Total Wine
Where Drank: home
How Found: I was on the lookout for this variety after reading about it online, as I’m really into barrel aged ciders.

First Impression: Copper amber hue. Lovely brilliant sheen. Very little carbonation. Mild rich apple, whiskey, and barrel scent.

Opinion: Dry. Moderate acidity, tannins, bitterness, astringency, and tartness. Medium bodied. Long finish. Rich caramel, vanilla, and ripe apple notes. The whiskey and barrel notes are mild to moderate. Note that I don’t like aged spirits at all, but love those flavors in a barrel aged cider. At first the tannins, astringency, and bitterness were a bit harsh, but as the cider warmed up and I had a few sips, I warmed up to it. I definitely find some similarities to their English style cider, which is what this cider is, except it was aged in whiskey barrels. I’m not really sure if I like this one or the English style better…I like the whiskey & barrel notes, but I found this one to have a bit more bitterness.

Most Similar to: Other barrel aged ciders made from cider apples, such as Traditions Ciderworks Bourbon Barrel 2012 and Whitewood Cider Kingston Black Whiskey Barrel Aged, which I tried at Cider Summit Seattle 2015 (tasting notes here).

Closing Notes: Tasty! The price point is also quite good considering this is a craft cider from a small cidery, made using cider apples, is a higher ABV, and was barrel aged. Another great selection from Liberty Ciderworks! I look forward to continuing to try their ciders.

Have you tried Liberty Stonewall? What did you think?

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