samuel smith’s

Perry Tasting Notes

cidersays AEppelTreow, Dragon's Head, Hogan's, Mission Trail, Oliver's, review, Samuel Smith's, Sea Cider, Viuda de Angelon Sidra , , , , , , , , ,

There was recently a perry tasting at my house (thanks Sarah, Merce, and Kevin from Cider Log for sharing!).  I took a few tasting notes.  Note that perry is similar to cider, but made from pears, no apples.  [In contrast to pear cider, which in the U.S. is often an apple cider with some pear juice/flavor added.]

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We didn’t end up opening every bottle, so we’ll need to have a perry tasting part 2!  Our dinner pairing was pizza, which worked surprisingly well.

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Dragon’s Head (Vashon Island WA) Methode Champenoise Perry (6.3% ABV), $29 / 750ml:  This is a special release of Dragon’s Head’s Perry, which was made in Methode Champenoise, a labor-intensive traditional way of making a naturally sparkling cider.  It was made from Taylor’s Gold and heirloom seedling Vashon Island pears .  High carbonation.  Semi-dry.  Light bodied.  High tartness.  Moderate acidity.  Low tannins.  Hints of bitterness.  Notes of pear juice & skin, floral, and honey.  I enjoyed it, although it was very mildly flavored.  It would be a nice champagne alternative, albeit pricey (this was by far the most expensive bottle we opened).

Oliver’s (Herefordshire England) Herefordshire Perry (6.9% ABV), price unknown:  This is an English bottle-conditioned perry made from perry pears.  Smells very funky.  Semi-sweet to semi-dry.  Light bodied.  Low sourness.  Moderate funk.  Mild tartness.  Moderate acidity.  Low bitterness.  Low tannins.  Pear-forward and floral.  I enjoyed it.

Hogan’s (Alcester, England) Vintage Perry 2010 (5.4% ABV), ~$10 / 500ml:  This is another English perry made from perry pears.  Semi-dry to semi-sweet.  Light bodied.  Hints of sourness, funk, tannins & bitterness.  Low tartness & acidity.  Pear-forward, rich, and nutty.  I really enjoyed it.

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Mission Trail (Bradley CA) Perry (6.0% ABV), price unknown:  This perry was made from Bartlett pears, and claims to be the only true perry (not pear cider) made in California.  Semi-sweet to semi-dry.  Medium bodied.  Moderate tartness & acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins.  Notes of pear, stone fruit, and honey.  I liked it, but this was the most “commercial” / pear cider type tasting of the group.

Viuda de Angelon (Asturias Spain) Sidra de Pera (5.2% ABV), $4 / 11.2oz:  This is a Spanish perry.  Semi-sweet.  Medium bodied, frothy.  Hints of sourness & funk (less so than most Spanish ciders).  Low to moderate tartness & acidity.  Pear-forward with notes of apricot.  I liked it.

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Sea Cider (Saanichton B.C. Canada) Perry (6.5% ABV), $18 / 750ml:  This is a Canadian perry made from perry pears.  Semi-dry.  Light to medium bodied.  Moderate tartness.  High acidity.  Very light kinda weird flavor, more floral & herbal than pear.  I think this was a bit of an off bottle though, as it was infected with scobies.  I’ll have to give it another try sometime.

AEppelTreow (Burlington WI) Perry (7.5% ABV), $12 / 750ml:  This is a Methode Champenoise perry made from Comice, Bosc, and Bartlett pears.  Semi-sweet.  Moderate carbonation.  Medium bodied.  Low tartness.  Moderate acidity.  Hints of bitterness & tannins.  Tastes exactly like champagne, no pear, but juicy, plus notes of stone fruit and honey.  I enjoyed it, although it was not what we were expecting.  Also a nice champagne alternative, and an excellent value for Methode Champenoise.

The day after the group tasting I opened up my bottle of Samuel Smith’s perry, as it was already in the fridge.

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Samuel Smith’s (Tadcaster, England) Organic Perry (5.0 ABV), $3 / 12oz:  This is another English perry, and Organic, but the most commercial (ingredient list included water, pear extract, malic acid, etc).  Semi-sweet.  Low to moderate carbonation.  Medium bodied.  Low to moderate tartness and acidity.  No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins.  No pear flavor, but notes of apple, apricot & other stone fruit, and honey (if I tasted it blind I’d call it cider, not perry).  I liked this, although it was definitely commercial tasting, and the sweetest option.

Our favorite was the Hogan’s (also an excellent value, under $10 I believe).  Our least favorite was the Sea Cider.  The most surprising was the AEppeltreow, as it was the least perry-like.

I’ve also previously tried these perries: Dan Armor Poire, Pear UP Half Past Prudent, Pear UP Cherry Perry, Pear UP Watermelon Perry, Pear UP Watermelon Raspberry Perry, Pear UP Raspberry Perry, Domaine Pacory Poire Domfront, Dunkertons Organic Perry, Eaglemount Perry, Locust Seckel Perry, Nashi Orchards Asian Pear Chojuro Blend Perry, Nashi Orchards Island Harvest Perry, Portland Cider Pearfect Perry, Snowdrift Perry, Snowdrift Seckel Perry, Tieton Sparkling Perry, WildCraft Pioneer Perry, WildCraft Elderberry Perry, and William’s Sir Perry

Cider at Seattle International Beerfest

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I’m looking forward to attending the Seattle International Beerfest at Seattle Center, July 10-12 2015.  Hubby and I are even planning to take the day off work so we can get there right when they open at noon on Friday, to hopefully beat the crowds and ensure we get to taste everything we want.  This unfortunately isn’t an event which has representatives from the breweries & cideries (beer & cider is served by volunteers), but it is still a great opportunity to drink some cider (and beer).

Entry gets you a wristband, tasting glass, and a specific number of tickets.  Advance sales are $25 (10 tickets) or $45 (40 tickets).  At the door it is $30 cash (10 tickets).  Additional tickets are sold for $1 each.  Beer & cider tastes (4oz) cost between 1 and 7 tickets each depending on their cost, where most are 1-3 tickets.  There are also a few selections to get a full pint for only $3, including Crispin Blackberry (I assume they mean Blackberry Pear).  Note that not all selections are on tap (some are bottles).  There will be music and food trucks.  This event is appealing as it appears more spread out than many, which often crowd folks into a small location.  If you are going, I’d recommend planning ahead what you want to taste; this helpful map even includes their locations and the number of tickets each will cost.

Ciders they plan to have:

Ace Pinapple (draft, 5% ABV, from CA, 1 ticket) – a very sweet but tasty pineapple cider; I like this one

Aspall Dry Cider (bottle, 6,8%, from England, 3 tickets) – dry English Draft style cider; I haven’t tried anything from them, so it’ll be on my list

Ace Blackjack 21 (bottle, 9%, from CA, 4 tickets) – a Chardonnay barrel cider which was a special release for their 21st birthday; this one was pretty good, but not worth the $15+ a bottle in my opinion

Crispin Blackberry (draft, 5%, from CA, only available as a pint for 3 tickets?) – I assume this is blackberry pear; I like this one – yummy and easy to drink, not too sweet

Crispin The Saint (bottle, 6.9%, from CA, 2 tickets) – part of their artisinal reserves, and has beer yeast & maple syrup; not a fan of this one as it tasted a bit like beer

Crispin Venus Reigns (bottle, 6.9%, from CA, 3 tickets) – wine barrel aged pear cider; I like this one, and surprisingly didn’t pick up much red wine taste, more berry/fruit – see my review

Rev Nat’s Hopland #5 / Envy (draft, 10.2%, from OR, 2 tickets) – a hopped cider in his 7 Deadly Sins collection; I haven’t tried it as I don’t like hopped ciders, but this would be a good time to have a taste as this stuff is pricey ($15), and for 2 tickets that is a good deal!

Samuel Smith’s Organic Cider (bottle, 5%, from England, 2 tickets) – apparently a plain cider which I haven’t gotten around to trying, so this will be on my list; my hubby likes their fruit ales

Wandering Angus Unspecified Variety (draft, TBD, from OR, TBD tickets) – no info given; a new release?; I’ll try it, although I haven’t liked two others from them (Wickson & Bloom, both too dry for my tastes, Wickson moreso)

Wyder’s Reposado Pear (draft, 6.9%, from VT, 1 ticket) – tequila barrel aged pear cider; I like this one – very smooth, and goes well with Mexican food, which can not often be said about cider!