Worley’s Premium Vintage 2013

October 27, 2015October 15, 2015 cidersays review, Worley's cider, cider review, hard cider, Premium Vintage, Somerset, UK, worley's

Review of Worley’s Premium Vintage 2013 (Lot 9). Note that apparently the “Premium” refers to Worley’s believing this was the best cider they made of that vintage. This is real proper English craft cider, similar to Sheppy’s, not the fake stuff they import in larger quantities here in the U.S. such as Strongbow Gold Apple or Blackthorn (although Sheppy’s has been around far longer than Worley’s). I’ve tried one other variety from Worley’s, their Special Reserve, at Cider Summit Seattle 2015 (my tasting notes here).

Cider: Premium Vintage 2013
Cidery: Worley’s
Cidery Location: Shepton Mallet, Somerset, UK
ABV: 6.4%
How Supplied: 500ml (16.9oz) clear glass bottle

Availability: limited in the U.S., but any higher end bottle shops which carry imported cider would probably carry it / be able to get it

Cider Description: A medium-dry, slightly sparkling cider – with good tannin and a spicy finish. Best served chilled. The 2013 Premium Vintage is a blend of early-season cider apple varieties from some of South Somerset’s finest orchards. Freshly pressed juice is fermented under the influence of natural yeasts then slowly matured on the cool slopes of the Mendip Hills. The full-juice cider is sweetened, filtered and lightly carbonated at bottling to produce an unparalleled cider with plenty of flavour and a long, spicy finish.

Cidery Description: A hobby that got out of control. We first made cider as a bit of fun for ourselves and our friends. Now here we are nearly a decade later and we’re still having fun but we’re making a lot more cider! Our first experience of making was when we bought 50 gallons of juice off the farm press from the iconic Roger Wilkins in Mudgely, Somerset. We made the mistake of adding in a bit of sugar and ended up with 10.5% cider. It was lethal and one of the neighbours spent a few hours in a ditch as a result of downing a couple of pints. Lesson learned, we began to find our own fruit in various small Somerset orchards and gradually started to master the mysterious arts of fruit selection and fermentation. A few years ago we decided if wanted to carry on making cider we’d need the cider to start making a contribution to its upkeep. So we gradually started selling a bit. Now we’re making over 30,000 litres a year and don’t have time to have proper jobs any more!

Traditional cider made with care. Here at Worley’s our main philosophy is that the best cider allows the fruit to do the talking. All our ciders are made from fresh-pressed cider apple juice, once a year at apple harvest time. Using very high levels of apple juice is an approach only used by craft makers of traditional cider. We always allow all our ciders to ferment at the cool ambient temperatures of autumn and winter, using only the natural yeasts found in and on the fruit and in the fermenting environment. This approach leads to complex but mellow flavours with maximum fruity tastes and aromas. It’s a bit of a gamble using wild yeasts as things don’t always go according to plan, which is why the larger makers don’t do it, but the results are well worth the risk in our opinion. To make the best cider you need to use the best fruit at the peak of its ripeness. All the apples we use are the finest vintage cider apple varieties from the sun-drenched orchards of south Somerset. We use anywhere up to 16 different varieties, which we aim to blend into a decent cider before pressing. Then we do another round of blending once the different ciders have matured, which usually takes place in late May.

Price: $11.75
Where Bought: Full Throttle Bottles in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. The best selection of Worley’s I’ve seen in the Seattle area by the way was the Lake Union area Whole Foods, which had three varieties (Premium Vintage, Special Reserve, and Mendip Hills). Full Throttle Bottles had Premium Vintage and Special Reserve I believe.

First Impression: Significant yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Deep gold amber. High carbonation upon pouring with residual foam. Rich slightly funky sweet cooked apple scent. This is one of those ciders I just wanted to sniff for awhile as it smelled scrumptious!

Opinion: On the sweeter side of semi-dry (some sources say this is back sweetened, which I find interesting). Moderate to high tannins and astringency (definitely made from cider apples!). Moderate lingering bitterness. Low acidity. Well balanced. Rich sharp complex almost smokey flavor. I pick up some wood notes although as far as I know this wasn’t barrel aged (but was aged both before and after bottling). Full bodied. Slightly funky with noticeable yeast presence (note that this was wild yeast fermented, which is rare as it is more unpredictable & risky; more commonly cidermakers kill off any natural yeast present and use a commercial yeast strain). The carbonation started out rather high but rather quickly it went a bit flat. This is a great example of what I believe to be real English cider! Hopefully someday I’ll make it to England and see for myself (I’ve been before but as a child). I enjoyed this cider more as it warmed up to between fridge and room temperature, as it smoothed out a bit. My husband really liked this cider too, which is rare.

Most Similar to: Other English and English-style ciders. The closest I’ve probably had is Liberty Ciderwork’s English Style or Alpenfire Ember, both of which I tried at Cider Summit Seattle 2015 (tasting notes here). The Liberty one was lower tannin than this and the Alpenfire one was higher tannin than this.

Closing Notes: Very good! However, my favorite English cider so far is still Sheppy’s Oak Matured, and here in the U.S., Liberty Ciderwork’s English Style. I especially like the strong oak barrel flavor from the Sheppy’s. Both are a bit more affordable too, especially the Sheppy’s at $7 instead of almost $12 for a 500ml bottle (the Liberty runs $14 for a 750ml). I look forward to trying more English ciders such as from Worley’s.

Have you tried any ciders from Worley’s? What did you think?

Crispin Original

October 26, 2015October 13, 2015 cidersays Crispin, review apple cider, cider, cider review, Colfax, commercial, Crispin, hard cider, MillerCoors, Original

Review of Crispin’s Original cider variety. I’ve had this cider a few times, but this is the first time since I started blogging. Actually, I’ve tried most of their varieties, from Blackberry Pear to Browns Lane to Venus Reigns. Crispin is probably my second favorite commercial cidery behind Woodchuck.

Cider: Original
Cidery: Crispin (part of MillerCoors)
Cidery Location: Colfax CA
ABV: 5%
How Supplied: four pack of 12oz clear glass bottles (or four pack of 16oz cans)

Availability: wide release, year round

Cider Description: Crisp, refreshing natural hard apple cider. Crisp over ice. A classically styled, but untraditional hard apple cider. Fruit forward, with a fresh, crunchy appley nose and a deliciously refreshing, crisp mouth feel.

Price: $5.00 / bottle at a bar (usually runs $7 a four pack)
Where Drank: The Point in Prescott AZ. This was their only cider offering at the time. Apparently they usually had some sort of Schilling Cider on tap, but were out. I was excited to see Schilling (made in my area) all the way in AZ, so it was disappointing they were out. The Point was a very unique basement bar/lounge in Whiskey Row in downtown Prescott to say the least (it was dark and smelled lol, but overall was trying to be a higher end classy speakeasy). We were there for the whiskey selection for my husband and a friend. I was happy just to find cider that wasn’t Angry Orchard. Actually, that night I went 2/2, finding Woodchuck Amber (bottled) at Prescott Brewing Company. The following night I was 0/3 on cider, but 2/3 on mead. All in all those are above average odds on finding a beverage to my liking!

First Impression: Shiny straw yellow. Almost no carbonation. Sweet kinda fake crisp apple scent.

Opinion: On the drier side of semi-sweet. No bitterness. Low acidity and tartness. Tropical & pear notes. A bit juice-like. Medium bodied. Quick finish. Overall this is an enjoyable easy drinking cider which is less sweet than most commercial ciders (150 calories and 10 grams of sugar per 12oz). I liked the level of flavor, but that seems to come with the territory of being a bit sweeter (this is nowhere near dry). Its definitely “crisp & refreshing” as the bottle said, and it was quickly gone.

Most Similar to: Probably Crispin Pacific Pear, as I picked up some pear notes in this cider and it is a similar level of sweetness. Or maybe Stella Cidre or Spire Mountain Apple. I haven’t found too many ciders with this level of sweetness…most craft ciders are drier, and most commercial ciders are sweeter.

Closing Notes: This is a solid commercial cider selection. I especially like it isn’t overly sweet (and for folks who like an even drier cider, they make a Brut variety). However, the use of water, apple juice concentrate, and “natural apple essence” (whatever that is) disappoints me. Their description of the cider is pretty sad too… Appley? Serve over ice? No thank you. Overall though I don’t hesitate to order this cider when it is available, and I think its a much better choice than Angry Orchard Crisp Apple. If this was a craft cider, I’d probably keep some in the house.

Have you tried Crispin Original? What did you think?

Where Did My Cider Come From? (Major Cider Regions in the United States)

October 23, 2015October 18, 2015 cidersays cider education apple, california, cider, hard cider, Michigan, New York, oregon, Pennsylvania, region, washington

Lately I’ve been curious to learn more about the major cider regions in the U.S. The Pacific Northwest (WA & OR), NY, and MI (Great Lakes / Finger Lakes) come to mind. I was also surprised to learn that CA is a major cider producer, and PA is a major apple producer.

Apples are grown commercially in 32/50 states in the U.S. It all started on the East Coast in colonial times. The top ten apple producing states in the U.S. are WA, NY, MI, PA, CA, VA, NC, OR, OH, and ID.

Here is some information about the top five apple producing states:

Washington – Apples primarily grown in the Yakima valley, while the majority of the cideries are in the greater Seattle area.

New York – Apples grown primarily in the Hudson and Champlain valleys, while many of the cideries are in the Hudson valley.

Michigan – Apples grown primarily in the Northwest corner of the Northern Lower Peninsula and the lower half of the state, same as the cideries.

Pennsylvania – Apples grown throughout the state, but comparatively there are few cideries.

California – Apples primarily grown in the San Joaquin Valley, while many of the cideries in contrast are in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

When it comes to which state has the most cideries, the statistics get a bit murky. However, its pretty clear the top five in some order are NY, WA, OR, MI, and CA. The stats are further complicated as some wineries, breweries, and even meaderies make cider.

Here are examples of some well-known craft cideries in each of those states:

New York – Eve’s, Aaron Burr, Bad Seed, Bellwhether, Nine Pin, Slyboro

Washington – Finnriver, Snowdrift, Tieton, Alpenfire, Whitewood, Westcott Bay, Dragon’s Head

Oregon – E.Z. Orchards, 2 Towns, Reverend Nat’s, Blue Mountain, Wandering Aengus

Michigan – Virtue, J.K.’s Scrumpy, Uncle John’s, Tandem, Vander Mill

California – Sonoma Cider, Tilted Shed, Julian Hard Cider

Thats not to say cider isn’t available from cideries in other states. Many have numerous cideries. PA, CO, VT, NC, MA, NH, and VA come to mind. Its also difficult to look at it by state as the populations & landmasses vary so much. However, demand for cider is definitely skyrocketing, and new cideries are opening every week. Cider grew 70% each of the last two years!

Cydermarket is a very cool website with a directory of cideries by state.

Sources:
World’s Best Ciders book (Bill Bradshaw & Pete Brown)
http://ciderjournal.com/top-five-cider-producing-states-u-s/
http://www.ciderguide.com/cider-maps/united-states/
https://cydermarket.com
http://www.usapple.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=179&Itemid=285
http://growlermag.com/cider2015/
http://www.statista.com/statistics/300851/us-number-of-cider-manufacturers-by-state/
http://www.orangepippin.com/orchards/united-states

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?

Sixknot Cider Organic Goldilocks

October 20, 2015October 13, 2015 cidersays review, Sixknot cider, cider review, Goldilocks, hard cider, hard cider review, Methow Valley, organic cider, Sixknot, Snohomish

Review of Organic Goldilocks from Sixknot Cider.

Cider: Organic Goldilocks
Cidery: Sixknot Cider
Cidery Location: Twisp WA
ABV: 6.5%
How Supplied: 500ml bottle

Availability: likely limited to WA, especially Western WA

Cider Description: Goldilocks is made by arresting the fermentation process with cold shock prior to complete transformation of the natural sugars to alcohol. This process delivers a refreshing, elegant cider that is easy for the first time cider drinker to embrace, and still provides complexity for the experienced palate. As the name implies, Goldilocks is not too sweet or too dry, it is a true balanced cider. The cider is naturally effervescent.

Cidery Description: Our farm and cidery rests on the banks of the Methow River near Twisp, Washington. We only press certified organic Washington apples, selected from our trees and other local orchards. We do not add sulfites, preservatives or sugars. To retain the subtle flavors often lost in processed ciders, we do not filter. Our cidermaking is kith and kin to the natural wine movement…organic practice in the orchard, and minimal intervention in the ciderhouse.

They sell three core bottled ciders, Goldilocks, High Desert Dry, and Gingerella. They also have special releases (such as Purple Sage), and their ciders can be found on draft.

Price: $11.00 (restaurant; retail is $9; pretty low markup actually)
Where Drank: The Repp in Snohomish WA. This is their only cider selection, and it isn’t even on the menu (I was glad I asked if they had cider the last time I was in). The only other time I’ve had this cider was also there. Its a great restaurant by the way, with good variety on the menu and reasonable prices for finer dining. There is also Fred’s down the street, a unique bar with a huge Scotch collection and a few ciders (where I had Woodchuck Raspberry).
How Found: I’d heard of Sixknot, but tried it mostly as that is what was available.

First Impression: I was still getting over being asked if I wanted ice with my cider! After that, I noticed the lovely hazy lemonade color with light carbonation & foam. Clean acidic apple scent.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Mild tartness and tannins. Moderate acidity. Some earthiness and the slightest bit of funk. Mild citrus notes. Very apple-forward. I enjoy unfiltered ciders. Some folks however consider haziness a flaw. I’ve heard that overly filtering can take out some of the flavors. This is a rather flavorful cider for being a flagship type variety, and I enjoyed it. I think this variety would be pretty widely appealing, although some would probably like a bit more sweetness. This was advertised as middle of the road sweetness but I found it a bit drier than that.

Closing Notes: Quite tasty. It was great to be able to enjoy some local craft cider at a local restaurant for our anniversary. I had seafood pasta and my husband had red wine and a steak. This wasn’t the greatest cider to pair with seafood pasta (I’d go for something a bit richer), but I was happy to have cider at all. Oddly enough, even being in a huge producing cider area, lots of restaurants in my area still don’t have cider, or only Angry Orchard Crisp Apple. Going to a non-chain restaurant increases the odds. Note that I’ve had another cider from apples grown in the same Methow Valley region, Methow Valley Honey Bear, but it was quite a different style & level of sweetness.

Have you tried Sixknot Goldilocks? 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?

Rambling Route Yakima Cider

October 14, 2015October 13, 2015 cidersays Rambling Route, review cider, cider review, hard cider, hard cider review, Rambling Route, Tieton, Yakima

Review of Rambling Route Yakima Cider, made by Tieton Cider Works. This is their lower end canned cider (vs. their bottled ciders).

Cider: Yakima Cider
Cidery: Rambling Route (Tieton Cider Works)
Cidery Location: Yakima WA
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: 16oz tallboy can (four pack)

Availability: Semi-wide (19/50 states), year round

Cider Description: The apple’s journey to America was parallel to man’s. The boat landed and the exploration began: in this vast new land the choices for thriving were endless. Some were happy to live on the coast where they landed, spreading out and staying diverse. Others were content to live amongst a few or be a solo tree in a town square. A few made it halfway across the land and settled in. The fearless joined the westward migration on horses and wagons, traveling thousands of miles looking for the perfect dirt, long sunny days and ample water. When it reached the land that would be called Washington, the apple knew. It was home at the end of a Rambling Route.

For those that appreciate the bold, crisp flavor of biting into a Washington grown apple, your quest for the perfect apple cider ends with Rambling Route. We grow and press only fresh apples from our family farm and carefully blend under the roof of our own cidery located in the heart of the Yakima Valley. Expect pineapple aromas and mineral qualities on the nose, snappy and racy acid levels on the palate, coupled by a deep full-bodied finish. No additives, no concentrates, or preservatives – ever!

Additional Info from Rambling Route: We use a variety of bitter sharp and bitter sweets apples in our Ciders. Along with some dessert varietals. We launched our can division on April 1st which is the Rambling Route brand. We will be launching Rambling Route in early 2016 with kegs.

Price: ~$2.50 for a single can (runs $8-9 for a four pack in my area)
Where Bought: Total Wine
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. Since then, I’ve seen it promoted quite a bit.

First Impression: Mild dry acidic crisp apple scent. Little carbonation upon pouring, but tiny bubbles. Light straw gold hue.

Opinion: On the drier side of semi-dry. Moderate to high acidity. Mild tartness, bitterness, and astringency. Citrus notes. I noticed the slightest bit of tannic cider apple taste, but it left me wanting more. Rather bland and watered down tasting. Light bodied. Longer finish with an odd almost soapy aftertaste (which I read can be a sign of stressed yeast). I liked that it wasn’t too bitter, which I’ve often found with drier ciders. I don’t agree with their description that it is bold or full-bodied. It is however a crisp and easy drinking cider. Well balanced, but I found it boring and unimpressive.

Most Similar to: Other drier light bodied PNW flagship ciders such as HUB Hard Cider, Red Tank Happy Cider, 2 Towns Bright Cider, Seattle Cider Semi-Sweet, and Anthem Cider.

Closing Notes: I commend Tieton for making an affordable craft cider (relatively small batch, made from fresh pressed juice, nothing artificial added, etc), and one that isn’t too sweet either. However, it just isn’t to my liking. I think if it was higher carbonation and had a richer flavor, they would be on to something I’d enjoy. I’m still in search for an everyday drinking craft cider which is affordable (which usually means it comes in a multi-pack). The cider folks I’ve talked to seem to either love or hate this cider. I’m sorta ambivalent.

Have you tried Rambling Route Yakima 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elemental Carbon (Traditional Dry Cider)

October 8, 2015September 27, 2015 cidersays Elemental, review Carbon, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Elemental, hard cider, Woodinville

Review of ‘Carbon’ from Elemental Hard Cider, their traditional dry cider.

Cider: Carbon (Traditional Dry)
Cidery: Elemental Hard Cider (part of Callahan Cellars)
Cidery Location: Woodinville WA
ABV: 6.5%
How Supplied: 500ml glass bottle

Availability: limited to Western WA at this time (see their website)

Cider Description: Our Traditional Dry Hard Cider is a European inspired cider. The experience is crisp, clean and tart. This is the perfect cider to pair with any meal.

Cidery Description: Each of our hand-crafted ciders are made from only the finest Northwest apples and cold-fermented to preserve the fruit. Our ciders are reminiscent of champagne, they are lightly filtered and mildly effervescent for clean taste. Experience our quality for yourself. Come in often to grab a glass. We are constantly trying out new flavors, so the line-up is always changing. Brian and Christina Callahan launched Elemental Hard Cider to bring quality, affordable, and delicious hard cider to the world. We strive to bring fun and exciting flavors to the experienced cider enthusiast, as well as novice cider drinkers.

Their current lineup includes Carbon (traditional dry), Helium (pear), Oxygen (pomegraniate), Nitrogen (acai), Hydrogen (grapefruit), CO (cherry), Pineapple, Spiced Apple, NW Atomic Root Beer, and Jalapeno Lime Cilantro, although some of those are seasonal and/or special releases.

Price: ~$8
Where Bought: Special Brews in Lynnwood WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: There has been a lot of talk on Facebook and such about this relatively new cidery (May 2014), so I’ve been wanting to give them a try. I actually tried a taste of their Cherry on tap at the Schilling Cider House awhile back, but I didn’t count that so much. Their other varieties I could find in bottles didn’t sound appealing (acai and pomegranate), so I decided to go for their flagship traditional dry cider.

First Impression: Very light color. High carbonation with little bubbles. Dry clean apple scent.

Opinion: Dry. Simple yet complex. Refreshing and clean taste. Moderate acidity, tartness, bitterness, and tannins. Quick finish. Slight earthiness. Champagne-like mouthfeel.

Most Similar to: Argus Fermentables Ciderkin. Like very very similar oddly enough.

Closing Notes: A solid cider, but not really a style I enjoy. I think its a great sparkling wine alternative. I’d be interested to try more of their ciders. However, I go for more of a bold flavor, often barrel aged, and I don’t really see them heading in that direction. I didn’t get a chance to try their NW Atomic Root Beer at Cider Summit, but that seems to be quite popular.

Have you tried Elemental Carbon? What did you think?

Book Review #5, Apples to Cider – How to Make Cider at Home

October 7, 2015October 5, 2015 cidersays book, cider education Apples to Cider, April White, book review, cider, cider book, Farnum Hill, hard cider, Stephen Wood

For the fifth book review here at Cider Says (see here for the first four): “Apples to Cider – How to Make Cider at Home”, by April White, with Stephen Wood of Farnum Hill Ciders, published February 2015. It is currently $18.72 on Amazon.

This is a review of a book provided to Cider Says by Farnum Hill Ciders. Thanks Farnum Hill! 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 review cue. I love free stuff, especially cider! Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here? Contact me.

Unlike some of the other books in the earlier four part series of books from my library, I read this one cover to cover. It was a fairly quick read, and I was lucky enough to be on an airplane, so I read it in one sitting. It was written by April White (not associated with Farnum Hill), but it appears she spent extensive time with the Farnum Hill folks, and there are some subsections written by Steve Wood from Farnum Hill.

Although the main focus of this book is presenting a cider making method for amateur home cidermakers to follow, there is a great amount of information which would appear to anyone who has an interest in cider. I especially liked some of the history of Farnum Hill Cider / Poverty Lane Orchards, cider styles & regions, cidermaking methods, extensive cider apple variety descriptions, and the terminology & glossary sections. They also included some information on the cidermaking methods used at Eden Ice Cider (Ice Cider, VT), E.Z. Orchards (French Cidre, OR), and Eve’s Cidery (Methode Champenoise, NY) in addition to Farnum Hill (NH).

Pros:

Very well laid out and easy to read.
Lots of beautiful and helpful photos!
Although I didn’t test out the cidermaking instructions, they were very clear, including specific equipment lists, timelines, methods, measurements, etc, in a way I haven’t noticed in the other cidermaking books I’ve seen.

Cons:

They used some terminology without defining it. After a bit I realized there was a glossary, so that would mostly solve that issue for the true beginner cider reader.
- The only term I don’t think was very well defined is tannin, which can be difficult to describe and understand. They only defined it as “A substance present in apples that provides the structure, astringency, and bitterness in cider.” Maybe there was some assumption of a wine background? I think information such that they contribute to bitterness and astringency, can cause a mouth-puckering taste, and in excess can dry the mouth, would be helpful.

The book left me wanting more (which could also be a good thing)

Chapters:

Introduction (including Farnum Hill Ciders Story and Farnum Hill Ciders Philosophy)

What is Cider? (including History, Perry, Science, Styles, Methods, Tastes, Terms, Trends, and Farnum Hill Ciders Style)

Tasting Cider (including Preparing, Process, Resetting Sense of Smell, Training Your Nose, Vocabulary, Defining What You Like, and Other People’s Cider)

Starting with Apples (including In The Orchard, The Apple, A Sampling of Apples, Turning Apples into Juice, Sources for Juice, and An Apple Grower and His Apple Trees)

Your Cider Room (including Where to Make Cider, Equipment, Ingredients, Best Practices for Sanitation, and A Commercial Cider Room)

Your First Batch of Cider (including Adding Sulfur Dioxide, Testing, Pitching the Yeast, Waiting, Moving the Carboy, Adding the Bored Bung, Adding the Airlock, Feeding the Yeast, Waiting, Testing, Racking, Tasting, Maturing, Bottling, and Our First Ciders)

Your Second Batch of Cider (including Excess Hydrogen Sulfide, Unintended Malolactic Fermentation, Acetic Fermentation, Other Potential Flaws, I Don’t Love It, and Don’t Fear the Stink)

Your Third Batch of Cider and Beyond (including Blending, Carbonation, Returning Sugar, Methode Champenoise, Cidre (French), Ice Cider, and Respecting the Apple)

Conclusion, Glossary, Resources, The People Behind Farnum Hill Ciders, About April White, Photographer Credits, Acknowledgements, Index

Some Quotes of Interest:

When blended and fermented, the most celebrated cider apples — often called inedible — reveal flavors such as apricot, black tea, honey, and pine.
A cidermaker’s responsibility is to coax the best from the fruit without unnecessary additives or techniques that would obscure the apple.
Cider, like wine, is an agricultural product and each batch you make will be unique.
The sugar is the food for the yeast, which will convert it into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
A cidermaker’s choice of apples has the biggest impact on the cider produced.
A geographic style develops over decades, or perhaps centuries, as cidermakers in a specific region, working with similar types of apples grown in similar conditions learn from and influence each other.
You can learn the most from your cider tasting if you develop a procedure and a vocabulary for tasting that controls as many variables as possible and allows for consistent and objective evaluation of each batch of cider.
And don’t taste with food, which will change your perception of smell, taste, and sensation.
The ideal tasting temperature is about 60 deg F…the aromas, tastes, and sensations of a cider are stronger and any flaws are more noticeable,
The tongue can only perceive acid, bitter, sweet, sour, salty, and savory flavors. Your sense of “taste” is truly your nose at work again, perceiving the changing aromas of a food in your mouth.
Tasting is really noting more than an effort to objectify characteristics that are essentially subjective.
During the fermentation process, the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast forms a protective layer over the developing cider, preventing the cider from coming into contact with oxygen.
Typically, over time, the tannins in the cider round out, becoming less astringent, and acids soften, becoming less harsh.
There’s one piece of advice every would be cidermaker needs: It’s all about the apple.

In summary, it is a well-written book which is a great addition to anyone’s cider library. I’d recommend it for folks interested in making their own cider at home as well as those who just want further information on cider, how it is made, cider apples, cider styles/regions/methods, Farnum Hill Ciders, etc.

About half of the book was specific to cidermaking, but I even found that interesting despite no current plans to get into cidermaking. In case you are curious, I don’t want to put a lot of effort into something and be disappointed, I don’t like to start something without the time to truly devote myself to it (I tend to get a bit obsessive so everything else gets ignored), and there is so much awesome cider in my area that is ready to drink already!

Boonville Bite Hard

October 6, 2015September 27, 2015 cidersays Boonville, review Bite Hard, Boonville, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider

Review of Bite Hard from Boonville Cider House. This appears to be the only cider they currently make.

Cider: Bite Hard
Cidery: Boonville Cider House
Cidery Location: Boonville CA
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: 16oz tallboy can

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: ~$3 for a single 16oz can (runs about $10 for a four pack)
Where Bought: Total Wine
Where Drank: home
How Found: browsing. The bright yellow can really stands out. I’ve seen it before, but have been on a kick trying to find a good affordable everyday drinking craft cider (ie. something that comes in a multi pack), so I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve honestly never been all that impressed by a canned cider, but most of them are plain flagship types that aren’t my favorite anyways.

First Impression: Light amber yellow. Very little carbonation. Light dry apple scent.

Opinion: Dry. High acidity. Moderate bitterness, tartness, and tannins. Light bodied. The acidity and tannins linger for a longer finish. Green apple and crabapple notes with a hint of citrus. I’d guess they use champagne yeast. Clean and refreshing. I find it interesting they say this is English style; I think it had some of those qualities, but was lacking the richer flavor. You can definitely tell they used heirloom (not dessert / common eating) apples. In this case I think more sweetness and carbonation would have made this cider more balanced. I did however enjoy the higher acidity.

Most Similar to: Some other drier flagship ciders. I haven’t had one this dry, but I found it similar to offerings from HUB, Square Mile, and Red Tank, due to the bitterness and tartness.

Closing Notes: I found the flavor a bit boring and unimpressive for my tastes. I am however impressed that they have made a truly dry canned craft cider with higher tannins, all fresh pressed juice, no additives, etc, at a reasonable price point. Going the drier, bitter, and tannic route seems a bit risky as it seems a lot of folks looking for canned cider especially like the sweet stuff, although trends seem to be moving a bit drier lately. I just like a different more bold flavor profile, high carbonation, etc. I’m intrigued to see if they come out with any other offerings.

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

Cider Says Blog Updates and the Ciders I’ve Tried Page

October 5, 2015 cidersays misc cider, hard cider

Blog Updates

Did you know that the Ciders I’ve Tried page has a running list of all the ciders I’ve tried, including links to reviews as applicable? Check it out! Let me know if you want info on any ciders I haven’t reviewed (which is mostly those I tasted before starting Cider Says).

I have also been updating the About, Cider Wish List, and Hard Cider Info pages over time, so if you haven’t had a look for awhile, they may be of interest.

Have any input on what you’d like to see here at Cider Says, have a cider recommendation, want to send a sample for review, spot an error, etc? Contact me.

Where to Find Cider Says

Follow Cider Says on Facebook for post notifications and great cider-related posts I share from other folks. You can also follow the blog directly by e-mail or on WordPress, using the sidebar (or at the bottom of the page on mobile devices), with the ability to adjust how often you get notification e-mails.

I’m in the cider subgroup on Reddit (as “ciderenthusiast”).

I’m on Cider Expert (as “cidersays”). Its a cider review website currently in closed beta, but they are accepting some requests for accounts, especially for folks with some cider experience, such as bloggers.

I’m in the Hard Cider Appreciation Society group on Facebook (as “Kate Smith”). For some reason folks using Facebook as a page (such as Cider Says) can’t post in groups, so I have to use my personal account. Note that I don’t accept friend requests from folks I don’t know in real life though.

Have a great week!

Portland Cider Kinda Dry

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 cidersays Portland Cider, review cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Kinda Dry, portland, Portland Cider

Review of Kinda Dry from Portland Cider. They have two flagship ciders, Kinda Dry and Sorta Sweet. Pretty creative naming and to offer two ends of the spectrum.

Cider: Kinda Dry
Cidery: Portland Cider
Cidery Location: Portland WA
ABV: 6.8%
How Supplied: 22oz bottle

Availability: OR & WA

Cider Description: Traditional English cider is dry, lightly carbonated, has very subtle apple flavors, and a lingering fresh finish. It is in the spirit of this traditional cider that we blend our Kinda Dry. We use fresh pressed juice from a blend of NW grown culinary apples such as Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Gala, Golden and Red Delicious, carefully ferment them with a yeast that preserves their subtle characteristics, give the cider time to develop to its full potential, then bottle or keg at just the right time. Just off dry, light, clean, refreshing, with a pleasant finish, Kinda Dry is the cider to always have on hand.

Cidery Description: What do you do when you’re frustrated by the quality of the commercial cider available? You start making your own! What do you do when friends and family keep telling you it’s the best cider they’ve ever had? You start a business! That is the essence of how the Portland Cider Company got its start. Founded by Jeff Parrish, an Oregon native, and his wife Lynda, an ex-patriot from the Somerset region of England (the Mecca of cider), the Portland Cider Company is based on the belief that good cider comes from good fruit, honest practices, and attention to detail. Our cider starts with fresh pressed juice from Northwest grown apples. We then carefully ferment it using yeast that protects the delicate characteristics of the fruit. The results are cider blends that are easy to drink, refreshing, and downright delicious. Drink it, it’s good!

Portland Cider started in 2012, and they have a taproom in Portland (with their ciders and some others).

Price: ~$7
Where Bought: My husband brought this home from Whole Foods for me. I had joked for him to bring me home some cider, and he did!
Where Drank: home
How Found: I’ve had my eye on Portland Cider after trying their Passion Fruit and Pearfect Perry on tap at the Schilling Cider House (see tasting notes here).

First Impression: High carbonation with tiny bubbles. Shiny light gold amber. Dry clean apple scent.

Opinion: On the drier side of semi-dry. Moderate acidity and bitterness. Mild tannins. Nice higher carbonation level. This has a pretty standard flagship cider flavor and I didn’t pick up too many distinctive flavor notes. I’m surprised there is so much bitterness from dessert apples, but I’ve also found that in other ciders, and its something I’m sensitive to. I think my favorite thing with this cider was the higher carbonation. For me, the more bubbles the better most of the time! Many ciders seem to be lacking in carbonation, which may be due to the current taxation levels which penalize cider and tax it as champagne above a certain carbonation level (one of the main points of the CIDER Act).

Most Similar to: Other flagship ciders with higher bitterness.

Closing Notes: I found Kinda Dry to be kinda boring, but its a solid craft cider choice. For what you get (a 22oz bottle of craft cider from PNW apples and no additives), its a nice price point. I think it just needs more flavor in general. I found the dryness and bitterness to overwhelm the cider a bit. I also wasn’t impressed with their Passion Fruit and Pearfect Perry, also thinking they needed more flavor. I may be convinced to try their Sorta Sweet, but I heard it is quite sweet, and I’ve been moving towards drier ciders. I see on their website they offer “Bourbonator” in their taproom, which sounds more to my liking, as I love anything barrel aged.

Have you tried Portland Cider Kinda Dry? What did you think?

Tod Creek Tod Cider Vancouver Island

October 1, 2015February 22, 2016 cidersays review, Tod Creek cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Tod Cider, Tod Creek, Tod Creek Cider, Vancouver Island

Review of Tod Cider Vancouver Island from Tod Creek Craft Cider. The only other Canadian cider I’ve had that I can think of is Sea Cider. Thanks to Ron from DrinkingCider.com for bringing me two ciders from Tod Creek from his Vancouver detour to his Cider Summit / WA Cider Week trip!

Cider: Tod Cider Vancouver Island
Cidery: Tod Creek
Cidery Location: Victoria B.C. Canada
ABV: 6.0%
How Supplied: 16oz can

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: Our craft cider in a can! This is all juice, and not watered down like all the big boys do. Refreshing, clean Canadian cider with a hint of tartness.

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.

Additional information I obtained from Tod Creek: This canned cider variety is made from mostly dessert apples (Golden, Granny, Sparton, Macintosh, and Jona), but their bottled ciders have more apple variety, including crabapples. 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.

I commented I noticed a higher carbonation level and enjoyed it, but cidermaker/owner Chris Schmidt says their canned cider is carbonated to the minimal levels for Aluminum cans, a target of 2.4 atm, and their bottled cider is also lower carbonation. So, I’m curious why I perceived different. Maybe read my review and see what you readers think? I’m guessing if anything its the citrus notes which made it seem more fizzy.

Each batch of Tod Cider is 1000-1200L, so its very small production. Consequently, there will be slight differences between each batch. Also, it is 99% juice without any water, sugar, preservatives added. And we only course filter the cider. I’m really trying to put a true craft cider into a can, and provide a price point similar to the big commercial producers. [he says 99% as they actually consider the water used to wash the apples the other potentially 1% lol]

Price: free for me, but their website says $11.30 CAD for a four pack, which is $8.55 USD
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: Light lemonade yellow, slightly hazy. HIgh carbonation upon pouring. Smells of citrus, yeast, and apples of course.

Opinion: On the sweeter side of semi-dry. Moderate acidity and tartness. Mild bitterness and tannins. Flavor is quite citrus-forward. Some yeast, pear, and floral notes. Slight funk and earthiness. Light bodied. Moderate carbonation. Quick finish. A refreshing and easy to drink cider. More complexity than I expected. The only negative I have is that it seemed slightly on the watery side, but they only used fresh pressed juice; sometimes it just ends up that way.

Most Similar to: Nothing I’ve had. Its still pretty dissimilar from Spanish Sidra, which probably typically has the most citrus notes of any type of cider. Seattle Cider kinda came to mind, but not really.

Closing Notes: This is probably my favorite canned craft cider so far, and possibly one of my favorite flagship ciders. I think I like the citrus notes and higher carbonation the best. I usually don’t like significant tartness, but it worked well in this case. It doesn’t however seen to be as well-received online. I really want to try their Breakwater Vanilla (Cider with Maple Syrup & Vanilla), as that sounds awesome! I also have Tod Creek’s hopped cider, but I’m not a hops fan, so I may pass the cider review baton to my husband, who is. Here and here are two writeups which mention Tod Creek, from Cidercraft and Straight.

UPDATE (Feb 22, 2016) – A friend gave me a can of this cider, as she remembered me saying I liked it, and she didn’t. Its quite unusual she also stumbled upon some as its still not available in the U.S. (although she works in the industry). This batch was quite different, and unfortunately I didn’t like it nearly as much. Although the citrus notes were there, it was drier (between dry & semi-dry), a bit more bitter, and a bit more tart. A good reminder that it is common in craft cider to sometimes have large differences batch to batch, year to year, despite trying to keep all the variables the same. Since this review I have a new favorite canned craft cider, Cascadia Ciderworkers United Dry, and have also found more multipack craft ciders I enjoy (like Rev Nat’s Revival and Celt).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Angry Orchard Stone Dry

September 29, 2015September 27, 2015 cidersays Angry Orchard, review Angry Orchard, bittersweet, cider, cider review, cider sample, cider tasting, hard cider, hard cider review, Stone Dry

Review of Angry Orchard’s newest variety, Stone Dry. It is their driest Core selection, and described as a twist on English cider.

This is a review of a sample bottle provided to Cider Says by Angry Orchard. 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, considering it is a new release and the info may be helpful for folks deciding to purchase it. I love free stuff, especially cider! Want your cider or cider-related product reviewed here? Contact me.

They send me two bottles, a fact sheet, a note from head cider maker Ryan Burk, and a large quantity of bubble wrap (not pictured).

Cider: Stone Dry
Cidery: Angry Orchard
Cidery Location: Walden NY (their new R&D facility)
Cider Production Locations: Cincinnati OH & Breingsville PA
ABV: 5.5%
How Supplied: six pack of 12oz bottles
(will also have limited draft availability to start, nationwide in 2016)

Ingredient List: Hard cider, water, sugar, apple juice concentrate, carbon dioxide, malic acid and sulfites to preserve freshness

Availability: year round, wide release, launched 09/24/2015 (part of their Core collection)

Fact Sheet from Angry Orchard: For more than two decades, the cider makers at Angry Orchard have been experimenting with ingredients from all over the world and tinkering with recipes to perfect the craft of cider making in the U.S. In the UK – where cider is 15% of the beer segment, as opposed to around 1% in the U.S. – traditional English dry ciders have been around for centuries and are a cultural mainstay. These styles are known for their use of traditional bittersweet apple varieties and showcasing naturally occurring tannins that create a drying effect on the palate.

Angry Orchard Stone Dry – the driest cider in Angry Orchard’s core collection – is an American interpretation of the traditional English dry cider style. It offers a bright apple aroma, juicy flavor, and a clean dry finish, showcasing an intricate balance between the sweetness and acidity of culinary apples and the tannins of traditional cider making apples. The traditional apples chosen by the cider makers are European bittersweet varieties like Dabinett, Binet Rouge, and Harry Masters Jersey, which contribute to the high tannic character and dry finish. The result is a refreshing, slightly puckering cider with a drying finish, most often felt on the middle of your tongue and the front part of your mouth.

While most of the juice from apples in the cider is fermented, Angry Orchard’s cider makers add a bit of non-fermented bittersweet apple juice into the cider during the post-fermentation stage to help achieve this cider’s balanced, dry taste. This results in Stone Dry’s fuller tannic mouthfeel as well as perceived dryness and robust bittersweet aromatic notes – much like a very ripe apple.

As the palates of American cider drinkers have continued to grow in sophistication and evolve with the increasing popularity of hard cider here, Angry Orchard has developed a broad range of cider styles for drinkers to try and to showcase what American cider can be, including the newest year-round offering.

Angry Orchard Stone Dry pairs well with a wide variety of foods, from porcine plates to seafood dishes. This take on a traditional European dry style cider is an excellent accompaniment to charcuterie, including cured meats and aged cheeses, and is a great introduction to fall foods and heartier dishes or stews with root vegetables. It can also be used as an ingredient in recipes, such as mussels steamed in Angry Orchard Stone Dry cider.

Price: retails for $7.50 a six pack in my area, although Angry Orchard’s fact sheet said $8.99-10.99
Where Bought: n/a
Where Drank: home
How Found: on my doorstep

First Impression: Amber hue with very little carbonation. They got quite a bit of color out of this one. Dry “cheap” apple scent….I just didn’t pick up much nose to this one.

Opinion: Semi-dry. Mild bitterness, tannins, astringency, and acidity. Simple flavor. Almost watered down tasting. I get a bit of that bittersweet apple flavor, but this doesn’t remind me of English style cider at all (which to me often have a really rich flavor). Quick finish. Definitely more drinkable than their other varieties I’ve had (which is most of them), but I’m not impressed. More flavor would definitely be nice. Its unfortunate they use apple juice concentrate (and water & sugar oddly enough!). It tastes like they were trying to eek some tannins out of dessert apples, although they note the use of bittersweet apples.

I find it interesting their description indicates more a drying flavor (which I’d call astringency) than dryness (lack of sweetness). I actually through their fact sheet was kinda funny, coming from the biggest commercial cidermaker in the U.S. It seems they are trying to reconnect with craft cidermaking, between releasing this variety and moving into an R&D facility with a 60 acre orchard earlier this year (article). They have plans to open a tasting room there in the fall for their small batch creations.

Comparison to Woodchuck Gumption: It seems this may be Angry Orchard’s response to Woodchuck’s latest hit, Gumption (in addition to responding to requests for a drier cider in general). So, I thought a comparison was in order. Note that I didn’t however have a bottle of Gumption available (I may have to get one for a side by side test with my second bottle of Stone Dry), so I went by memory and notes. They both incorporate bittersweet apples and aim to make a drier cider for their core collection. Stone Dry comes across as significantly drier than Gumption (even more so than the 7 vs. 13 grams of sugar per 12 oz would indicate). Where it gets interesting is the calories, 150 for Stone Dry vs. 220 for Gumption (for equivalent ABV). I found Gumption to be more flavorful and more rich in general. Stone Dry includes concentrate (and water & sugar) where Gumption doesn’t. However, Gumption is listed to have “natural flavor”. Gumption gets my vote as far as likability, although for someone that wants the driest easily found commercial cider available, Stone Dry may be a good choice. The driest commercial cider I’ve ever seen by the way is Ace Joker, which only has an impressive 3 grams of sugar per 12 oz, but it isn’t quite as readily available (I have a bottle of Joker at home to try).

Closing Notes: Not bad. Definitely drinkable. If a bar had this and no other cider, I’d buy it. I won’t on the other hand pay for Angry Orchard’s Crisp Apple variety, which is too syrupy for my liking. Stone Dry is an above average commercial offering, but I wouldn’t in any way say this is a craft cider (neither would I describe Woodchuck as craft though).

Have you tried Angry Orchard Stone Dry? What did you think?

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