This is Part 2/2 on Summer Cider Day 2016 in Port Townsend Washington, which includes tasting notes on the ciders I tried. See HERE for Part 1/2, covering the event itself.
Bull Run Pear Ice Wine, 12% – This is a 9% residual sugar ice perry, made from Hood River Oregon Bosc and Anjou pears, similar to how ice cider or ice (grape) wine is made (using the natural cold to concentrate the sweetness & flavor of the fruit). Semi-sweet to sweet (less sweet than a typical ice cider oddly enough, despite perries usually being sweeter than ciders as pears have non-fermentable sugars). Moderate to full bodied. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Hints of bitterness and tannins. I found this unique, like a complex pear syrup, with a well-hidden ABV. In addition to all the pear flavor, there were some honey, citrus, and melon notes. Moderate length finish. Moderate pear flavor. Low sessionability. Moderate complexity. Moderate flavor intensity.
Nashi Orchards Barrel Fermented Cider, 6.9% – This is a cider made from primarily Winesap apples with some French & English bittersweets (from the WSU Mt. Vernon Cider Research Center), aged in neutral French oak barrels. Dry. Light bodied. Low tartness. Low to moderate acidity. Low bitterness and tannins. Definite Winesap apple flavor with hints of richness from the bittersweet apples. Notes of oak (low) and honey. Moderate to long slightly boozy finish. Low to moderate apple flavor. Low sessionability. Moderate complexity. Low flavor intensity. Overall this is quite subtle, similar to their other products I’ve tried. I would love to see them do something made from only bittersweet apples and barrel aged, as those are my favorites, but alas, good cider apples are hard to come by / expensive, so its not done much here in the U.S. (which is why I am also a big fan of English & French imports).
Nashi Orchards Island Harvest Perry, 6.7% – This perry is from 90% Asian pears (Shinsseiki and perry pears) and 10% seedling pears foraged on Vashon island. Semi-dry. Light bodied. Low tartness. Moderate to high acidity. Hints of bitterness. Notes of pear, lemon, lime, and mineral. Moderate sessionability. Low pear flavor. Low flavor intensity. Moderate complexity. I found it to be very light; I think this would be great to pair with food. It was also very subtle.
New West Cidery – I thought I’d add a little about this cidery, as I hadn’t even heard of them before this event (their cider isn’t distributed to Seattle). They are part of Sasquatch Brewing in Portland Oregon, which was founded in 2011. They started making cider a few years ago under the New West name. They are opening a separate cidery in Northwest Portland in a couple months which will have 90 barrel fermenters (which is very large capacity considering a standard keg holds half a barrel). At the brewery’s tap room in Portland they currently offer 12 cider taps (including guest taps).
New West Black & Blue, 6.8% – Lovely deep berry hue. Semi-dry. Medium bodied. Low carbonation. Low tartness and acidity. Very mild pure berry flavor, 50-50 blackberry and blueberry. Quick finish. No apple flavor. High sessionability. Low complexity. Low flavor intensity. I like a more flavorful cider, so I didn’t really care for this.
New West Señor Cider, 6.8% – Semi-dry. Medium bodied. Low tartness and acidity. Notes of several different hot peppers and a hint of citrus & honey. Moderate heat, mostly at the end of the sip, which lingers with a long finish. Low apple flavor, sessionability, flavor intensity, and complexity. I don’t like spicy ciders, so I didn’t like this at all. I think a spicy cider works better when the spice level is low, it has higher residual sugar, and there is some flavor balance (like significant honey notes). Enough people must like these though, as cideries keep making them (for example – the Schilling Cider House in Seattle WA actually has a tap line dedicated to a rotating selection of spicy Schilling ciders).
Rambling Route Pear, 6.9% – This is the second cider in Tieton’s Rambling Route line, their Apple variety with Bartlett pear juice added. Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Nearly still. Medium bodied. Low tartness and acidity. Moderate apple flavor. Very light pear flavor. High sessionability. Low flavor intensity and complexity. I think I prefer their Apple variety, although I’m not really a fan of either. I think Tieton’s regular line of ciders is superior (although that is likely to be expected from the price point), especially the recent draft-only Bourbon Peach (my tasting notes here).
Snowdrift Cornice, 7.3% – I’ve tried this before (see here), but it was awhile back, and I was curious how this year’s version turned out. This is their barrel aged cider made from cider apple varieties. Smells mildly oaky. Semi-sweet to semi-dry. Medium bodied. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Low bitterness. Low tannins. Notes of oak, smoke, and honey. Moderate apple flavor. Moderate sessionability. Moderate complexity. Low flavor intensity. I found this vintage to be more approachable than their previous one, but I really enjoyed both.
Spire Mountain Dark & Dry, Jack Daniels Barrel Aged, 5.0% – This is a special version of their typical Dark & Dry cider which was aged in Jack Daniel whiskey barrels for 8 months. Smells strongly of whiskey, plus some oak and brown sugar. Semi-dry to dry. Medium bodied. Moderate to high bitterness. Low tartness and acidity. Notes of brown sugar, molasses, whiskey, vanilla, and coffee. Long bitter finish. High spirit influence. Low barrel influence. Low apple flavor. Moderate flavor intensity. Low sessionability. Moderate complexity. Its crazy how the barrel aging changed this cider from a fairly simple sweet cider to a bitter complex dry cider! I think they are on to something with barrel aging this cider, but it was aged too long for my liking (something I thought I’d never say…I always say I wish a cider was aged longer!), as it was too intensely bitter.
Spire Mountain Dry Hop Apple, 5.0% – This is their Red Apple cider with Citra hops, their new Summer Seasonal. Semi-sweet. Medium bodied, slightly syrupy. Low tartness, acidity, and bitterness. Subtle hops flavor, more herbaceous than citrusy, which is unusual for a Citra hopped cider. Moderate to high apple flavor. High sessionability. Moderate flavor intensity. Low complexity. I thought this was pretty decent for a commercial cider; I liked how the hops flavor wasn’t overwhelming, although I think I like a more citrus-forward hopped cider.
Wandering Aengus Wanderlust, 6.9% – This was their first cider variety they made 12 years ago. Its an off-dry (0.5% residual sugar) English-style cider made from primarily heirloom sharp plus some bittersweet apples. Semi-dry. Medium bodied. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Low bitterness. Low tannins. Notes of bittersweet apples, oak, and mineral. Sharp flavor with hints of richness. Moderate length finish. Moderate to high apple flavor. Moderate sessionability, complexity, and flavor intensity. This time around I enjoyed it better than when I tried it awhile back; either this batch had less bitterness than previously and/or I’m not as sensitive to it anymore.
Whitewood Gibb’s Farm, 6.7% – They nicknamed this limited release cider a “Farmer’s Reserve”. It was made from a large number of varieties of apples only from Grant Gibbs’ farm outside of Leavenworth WA. Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Low carbonation. Medium bodied with a nice texture, slightly syrupy. Moderate tartness and acidity. Low bitterness and tannins. Notes of sharp apples, honey, and lemon. Moderate to long slightly boozy finish. Moderate to strong apple flavor. Moderate sessionability and flavor intensity. Low to moderate complexity. I enjoyed it.
Whitewood Newtown Pippin, 6.9% – This is a Newtown Pippin apple single varietal, part of their Old Fangled Series, made from 2016 harvest apples from Hood River Oregon. Semi-dry. Medium bodied, with a nice frothy texture. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Hints of bitterness and tannins. Quick finish. Moderate apple flavor. Low flavor intensity. Low complexity. Moderate sessionability. I found this to be very mild, which is characteristic of Newtown Pippins, but not something I prefer.
I didn’t taste ciders from every cidery there (as I had tried the remainder of the lineup), but here are photos of the other booths.
<Finnriver>
<Eaglemount>
<I agree with this sentiment!>
Cider Says 