Tag: 2 Towns Ciderhouse

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Fuji to Hood for Cider

Usually my collaboration talk is between 2 breweries but today we are going to talk about 2 Towns Ciderhouse and their international cider collaboration with Japan’s Son of the Smith cidery.

Son of The Smith in Nagano is headed by Kota Ozawa, Takuro Ikeuchi, and Nobumitsu Miyajima and they “provided a unique yeast strain cultivated from raw Japanese maple sap and honey. This yeast was propagated in 2 Towns’ lab and used to ferment fresh-pressed Pacific Northwest apple juice in mead barrels selected by Ikeuchi. One barrel utilized the Japanese wild yeast, while the other employed a distinctive Brett strain from Takush’s favorite home brew originating in Alaska.  The result is a blend of these two fermentations, creating a cider with complex, layered flavors.”

The cider is named Twin Peaks and it “is a bone-dry, unfiltered farmhouse-style cider with an ABV of 7.3%. Crafted from a blend of Pacific Northwest apples, this cider features an expressive apple-forward profile with delicate notes of stone fruit and floral character from the Japanese yeast. The Brett strain adds a mild Brett finish, enhancing the cider’s overall complexity.”

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Baddie

2 Towns Ciderhouse has their Women’s History Month cider ready for you.  “The Baddie is the result of an all-women led initiative and 2 Towns is allocating a portion of the proceeds to the Pink Boots Society, aiding women and non-binary individuals in the fermented beverage industry.”

Look for it when you are in cider mode.

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Mead Review – Two from Nectar Creek

I am known to be ambi-beverage-ous so I was happy to receive two mega meads from Nectar Creek. Both Super. Mure and Cyser.

Starting with the Super Cyser, which looks a bit like honey in my glencairn. The aroma is apple-y and not sweet. The honey comes on strong in the first sip. But the apple is not far behind at all. A bit slick on the tongue but not in a cloying way. For something that is 14%, it is not super bitey.

The SM with blackberry has a more pronounced aroma. Berry comes through for sure. This one tastes way sweeter to me. I get sugar, then blackberry, then a smidge of honey. I do like the berry, it tastes natural and fresh. But this is the one for the sweet tooths.

Which one the casual mead appreciator would like comes down to sweetness tolerance. If you prefer dry then the Super Cyser is the choice, if you are looking for a dessert partner, the Super Mure is the pick.

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Featured Cider Review – Crimson Bliss from 2 Towns Ciderhouse

Got some C’s for you today. Cranberries and currants from 2 Towns Ciderhouse.

Bliss pours the requisite red, would have been weird otherwise. I like that the aroma is still primarily apple. It needs to be cider with flavors, not just flavors. There is a really nice tartness here. I get the currants more than cranberry but I have a feeling that each drinker will perceive the two in different amounts. Very zippy with a nice hit of carbonation. I can see this paired with a salad with blue cheese very easily.

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In the Tap Lines for January 2024

We are back around the calendar horn. A whole beer year stretches before us. All sorts of new brews and new news are waiting for us craft beer fans. Starting with…..

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Craft Beer & Brewing’s Best of 2023 Canadian picks.

~ special featured reviews of beers of ciders from 2 Towns Ciderhouse

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer Roughhouse Friday by Jaed Coffin

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to The Food Programme from the BBC

~ Sports & A Beer returns with Streaming Sports

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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Cosmic

Lost in the shuffle of the hellstorm of 2020 was the hyped then disappearance of the Cosmic Crisp apple. Well, it is back, in cider form….

2 Towns Ciderhouse is adding a Cosmic Crisp to their portfolio. I wasn’t much impressed with the apple but that doesn’t mean that it won’t make a good cider.

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Thanksgiving Cider

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If you want to throw a curveball at your craft beer Thanksgiving, you can start by getting some old world style ciders to go along with it. You could start with two ciders from Two Towns and their newly christened Traditions line-up:

CIDRE BOUCHÉ: French Style Keeved Cider – 6.5% ABV
“Inspired by the bittersweet ciders of France, Cidre Bouché is made with an Old World process called keeving. We start with 100% traditional cider apple varieties like Kingston Black, Michelin, Reine des Pommes, Dabinett and Muscat de Lense, and then let the fruit ‘sweat’ and intensify in aroma. Next, the apples are crushed and left to soak on the skins before the juice is fermented slowly over the course of a year, and aged in French oak casks. When finished, this keeved cider is rich, thick and brimming with overripe bittersweet apple character. Pairs well with classic French fare— think savory crepes, pork terrine, camembert and blue cheese.”

RIVERWOOD: New World Brut Cider – 6.3% ABV
“Inspired by sparkling brut champagnes of the past, Riverwood is a contemporary take on a classic. Slow fermentation at cold temperatures allows the intense passionfruit-like aroma of freshly picked and pressed Jonagold and Porter’s Perfection apples to flourish. Dry, bright, and floral, this New World cider brings the brut style out of the past and into the present. Pairs well with lobster mushroom risotto, butternut squash ravioli in sage brown butter, asparagus with lemon aioli and Moroccan chicken with dates and braised greens.”

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Review – Rhubarbian from 2 Towns Ciderhouse

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You are at Beer Search Party and yes, you are reading a cider review on this blog.  On my recent trip to Portland, I picked up this Rhubarb cider because when are you going to get a chance to taste this combo?  Maybe in a pie but in an alcoholic drink.

This Corvallis based cidery does plenty of fruity ciders but the combination promised on the can: “Tangy, wild, and not for the faint of heart, the Rhubarbarian is a fearsome hard cider made with fresh-pressed NW rhubarb” made me pick up a can.

The aroma doesn’t scream rhubarb to me.  More like a combination of cider and white wine.  The taste is both pretty smooth with an initial hit of tartness.  The apple taste seems most prominent to me though the rhubarb is a nice undercurrent throughout the drinking.  You do have to pay attention to get that rhubarb though which leads me to wanting a bigger hit of that and less of the apple.  They also do a version with hops by the name of Hop & Stalk which I wish I had seen to compare.

Now I want rhubarb pie!