Tag: cider

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Two Reviews of Two Towns Ciders

I might break my record for cider talk in a month. Due to Two Towns Cider House sending me a care package of two of their new ciders on the market…

I started with the Hop & Stalk which is cider that has Citra hops and rhubarb added to the mix.

H&S pours a hazy dark yellow with a green apple aroma to it. Flavorwise this is a three way battle between rhubarb, green apple and the imperialized 8.2% ABV.

It is initially sharp and carbonated on the tongue. The rhubarb lurks between the brighter notes of the apple and also adds that extra oomph to take this from just boozy to complex. On the negative side, I did not detect any Citra hop aroma or bitterness.

Prickle Me Pink is more red when poured into the glass. This cider tastes like a cocktail made with a watermelon wheat beer. It isn’t syrupy sweet but it has a candy flavor for sure. It is a pretty red Kool-aid color but that is about it for the plus column. The Nopal is a distant taste and the cider aspect is bludgeoned by the watermelon which leaves the balance out of whack.

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A Book & A Beer – The Apple Orchard by Pete Brown


When I hear that Pete Brown has a new book out, it goes on my radar to read as soon as I can. He has the ability to be folksy and technical and to cut through the noise surrounding a topic. Be it IPA history or Shakespeare’s Local.

The history of how apples spread across the country is a fascinating one followed by the fascinating topic of how to graft an apple tree to make sure you get the same type of apple, as is re-creating heritage apples and creating new apple varieties.

I mean who amongst us knew that apples basically migrated from Kazakhstan? I liked that the book was structured to follow the growing season and that each chapter had such tidbits of information. Once I grew accustomed to the fact that this was more of a shallow skim across the world of apples with some deeper dives, the book grew on me more and more.

For someone with little knowledge of apples barring a few trips to Oak Glen here in SoCal, this book provides a lot of fun facts.

To drink, well, it’s obvious ain’t it?

Golden State Cider
“Mighty Dry is a champagne-like cider that pairs perfectly with any moment of the day. It’s just dry enough. It’s perfectly balanced, and crispy (if not crispier) as biting into a freshly picked apple.”

101 Cider House
Scrumpy, the flagship cider is their hazy meets barnyard version

Reverend Nat’s
“My newest release is Revival Hard Apple and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share it with you. I start with a secret blend of Washington-grown apples and add piloncillo, dark brown evaporated cane juice, purchased direct from Michoacan, Mexico. I ferment this dark base to all the way to dry using two exotic yeast strains: a beer yeast known for the round mouthfeel in Saisons and a rarely-used secret culture which produces aromas of pineapple, guava and peaches. This cider is brilliantly golden in color and deeply complex while remaining subtly familiar, with just the right amount of sweetness and acidity to be an everyday beverage.”

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It’s Great (for cider and mead)

After walking a couple blocks away from the Beachwood/Beer Belly/Congregation triplex in Long Beach you find a couple blocks of quaint shopping area and on the corner, Great Society.
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Occupying a sunny and big space, GS is designed to separate out the outdoor seating area from the bar area, from a third seating option to the side out of sight.

The list of ciders and meads is quite impressive flavor wise (pears and peppers were spied) though it would be nice to see a wider range of cidermakers on the boards. Each producer seemed to have 4 or 5 ciders represented.
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The Smoked Pumpking cider from Tieton Ciderworks that I tasted was very autumnal though missing the promised smoke. More PSL than roasty.

This is a really nice change-up from craft beer.

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Mead in the LBC

Not just mead but cider too. Great Society has opened in Long Beach to serve up apples and honey instead of malt and hops to thirsty patrons looking for a change-up from non-stop IPA’s that dominate most craft beer taprooms.
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The options in Long Beach for fans of craft beverages is growing wicked fast.

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Cider during LABW8?

The answer is yes. Here are some apple specific events for you to take in, starting tonight!
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Wednesday, June 22nd
We’re celebrating LABW by tapping our newest cider blend, Sunset Swizzle. A spin off of a traditional Haymaker’s Punch, this is a dry cider made with local strawberries, fresh ginger, local lemon verbena, then naturally conditioned with local orange blossom honey. On the beer side, Westlake Brewing Co. will feature a syrah barrel aged Kolsch on tap!

Wednesday, June 22nd
“Highland Park Brewery and 101 Cider House have teamed up to create a beer and cider hybrid for LA Beer Week. We’ll have this funky, fruity, barrel-fermented concoction on tap, along with a few special treats from 101 Cider.”

Thursday, June 23rd
“This is a battle of the ages, a showdown of traditionally made ciders versus their modern day counterparts. Taste handcrafted ciders from LA’s local 101 Cider House and Oregon’s Wandering Aengus Ciderworks, joined by classic European ciders from France and Spain. Ticket price includes 8 ciders (4oz pour), plus burger & fries.”

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NW Cidery # 3 – Outlaw Apple

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Our final destination as Johnny Appleseed takes us to Outlaw Apple with the rebellious raccoon logo are former Californian’s now tending orchards in Oregon.

Here is my cider taster tray, starting with the Original…

“Apple Outlaw Original is our flagship cider. This sparkling, golden, semi-sweet cider has strong floral and fruity aromatics with a long finish. Just one taste and you’ll understand why the Bandit is wanted in every state.”

Then…. “Ginger Bite spices up this band of Outlaws! Made with a delicious blend of apples and Peruvian yellow ginger at our family-owned orchard in the Applegate, Ginger Bite is bursting with apple aromas and the spicy zing of ginger. The combo packs a punch sure to reward your rebellious palate, should you be so adventurous.”

Third up is….Expertly crafted with apples, tangerines, and hops, Tangerine Twist was made to revive tired taste buds. This hopped cider balances bold citrus flavors with floral aromas and crisp apple overtones.”

Then finish with…”Rabid Dry is for the experienced outlaw; its intense flavor so infectious, you’ll be left craving more. Apple aromas persist in this slightly acidic, dry cider, creating a bold flavor with no residual sweetness.”

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NW Cidery # 2 – Portland Cider Co.

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During my last Portland visit, I was finally able to sneak in some time at a cider tap room. In this case the satellite for Portland Cider Co. on Hawthorne. They lead with their own ciders including ciders with fresh hops (First Crop), cider with a Hawaiian twist (Maui Cruiser) and a cider aged in used gin barrels (London Dry). They also have ciders from other producers on tap as well so you can easily compare and contrast styles and apples.

I suggest going for the weirder ones but you could also start with their mainline offerings:

Kinda Dry
“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.”

Sorta Sweet
“If we had to describe this cider in a word it would be YUM! Blended with similar varieties of apples as our Kinda Dry, Sorta Sweet will hit you with apple flavor right from the start. Balancing the higher levels of residual sugars with just the right amount of tartness gives Sorta Sweet a fresh flavor that tastes like biting into your favorite apple. A nice long finish follows that makes sipping a pint something not to be rushed. We ferment it with the same care and give it the same attention to detail as our other ciders. Also lightly carbonated, pair a glass of Sorta Sweet with your favorite curry or any spicy dish and you cannot go wrong.”

Pearfect Perry
“Made from nothing but a blend of Bartlett and D’Anjou pear juice. This light perry is medium sweet and bursting with pear notes. Like all our ciders it is balanced and refreshing. Available on draft and in 22oz bottles, ask for it at your favorite growler station or pub.”

Hop’rageous
“Take a balanced dry cider, infuse it with the fragrant Citra variety of hops, then double down on the citrus notes of those hops by throwing in some bitter orange peel, and the result is an outrageously refreshing hopped cider that can only be described as Hop’rageous! With equal notes of bitter hop and tangy citrus, this unexpected combination pairs well with anything coming off the grill.”

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Festival Review – L.A. Cider Fest

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It was yet another scorcher of a day for a beer festival but this time the focus was on cider and the many, many variants of cider that are being made.  Most of which, I simply was not aware of until I wandered through the many booths at the L.A. Cider Fest.

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I was really impressed by the Maryland ciders from Millstone.  Both the peach cobbler and the Hopvine ciders had really light touches to them that allowed the cider to stay center stage.  I also was intrigued by smoked ciders from Alpenfire and Tilted Shed.  Neither would rank as a favorite to my palate but they were well made.  In my effort to touch upon multiple styles, I also tried a couple cider cocktails.  Ginger Cider and gin worked like a charm.  The porter and cider, did not which was no fault of the Jackie Tar from MacLeod’s that was excellent.

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Overall, the selection was great. I did notice that some ciders that were on the website didn’t seem to be pouring (same went for breweries). There was also a couple issues that can be tweaked to make the next installment better. Starting outside, there needed to be signage telling people where to stand and line-up. Especially since there was another line for Let’s Make a Deal. There was also a bit of a traffic snarl at the entrance because tables were set-up right next to the glass hand-off section which just created a bottleneck that you had to punch through. Other than that, the organizers used the stage space well and made efforts to mitigate the heat. (Great to have an ice cream vendor on site!) I would suggest adding this to your festival year. Just do the night session instead.

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Review – Snakebite From Gigantic

Many moons ago, I embarked on a month-long visit to London as a college theatre course.  My naive beer and alcohol knowledge consisted of wine information gleaned from my parents and college parties.  For some reason, I became enamored of the Snakebite a 1/2 lager – 1/2 cider concoction with black currant added.  It was not good.

But now, memories paint it in a different light and Gigantic Brewing has teamed with Cider Riot! and Beau’s All Natural Brewing to make a 2015 version of the Snakebite. The Gigantic version is Kolsch fermented with apple juice and black currant .

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How will it compare to my faded recollections?  Let’s see….

Right off the bat the currant and apple flavors pop. Thankfully, it isn’t in a sweetened juice way as this ale/cider hybrid gets very dry, very quickly. There is a biscuity undertone and a bit of watery lightness on the back of the tongue to stave off a complete drying effect. This amber/red streaked colored beer still retains a beer-iness even though the aroma has a bit of mint quality to it. Like drinking a sour ale, this rewards the fan who slowly takes it in rather than as a quick refresher type of beer.

On my new (patent pending) rating scale of, Buy It! – get a bottle. Try It. – get a taster. Shy from It. – get something else first  Snakebite gets a Buy It!

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