Woodchuck Oak Aged and Spring Ciders - Thursday, July 15th

*Insert me going on, at length, whether you want me to or not, about my love of cider here*

I'm a fan of Woodchuck ciders. They're widely available and, for the most part, quite drinkable. While some of them I'm not too keen on (I'm looking at you, Pear) the Dark and Dry/Amber are classic cider stand-bys when I want cider and I go to the store. The coolest thing is they put out seasonal offerings which tend to tickle my palate. This is a comparison between the Winter and the Spring offerings. Here we go!

Woodchuck Oak Aged (Woodchuck Winter) - Nose is just plain apples. I think there's a predominance of Granny Smith or such because it has that tart, crisp apple smell to it. No oak smell to it at all, which saddens me. I want it to be an oaky bastard. Taste is quite nice though. Woodchuck is a rather sweet cider in its own right (I typically go for the Dark and Dry and even that's a touch sweet for a cider). The oak on this is definitely prominent in the taste and it provides balance to the sweetness. Mmm, this is a nice cider. Pleasantly sweet with a medium bodied oak profile on the finish. The color on it is gorgeous too. It's like an amber ale.

This would be a perfect cider to try out something I've always wanted to try...

The Stonewall Jackson.

The Stonewall Jackson is elegant in its simplicity. It's just cider and bourbon. Reputed to be what the old hard-nosed old bastard of T.J. Stonewall (Thomas Johnathan) used to drink in excess. If it's good enough for a Southern boy then well, shit, I want to try it. Add a touch of Elmer T. Lee here...

Oh...oh gods. Oh man. Oh man...It tastes like victory. Victory, success, and admiration. This must be what they serve to people upon entering Heaven. There's no huge gates up there. It's just St. Peter behind a bar called "The Pearly Gates". When you come in, he checks your mortal tab. If it's not too high, you just start drinking and this is always on special. I...I just want to fill a bathtub with it and wallow in it like a drunken pig. I may wean my future children on this stuff. It's terrific. I have not lauded something this hard ever on this blog. You know it's gotta be good. This Oak Aged NEEDS to be a regular release. It's too good not to be.

Woodchuck Spring Cider: Alright, I don't know what they did to it...but it smells like flowers. I can't remember exactly what flower smells like what but I think it smells like lilly. It's scaring me. It smells like my mom's flower garden. No sign of apples in there, just fresh flowers. Taste is...odd. Flowery and sweet, it kinda tastes like a flower-fordward wildflower honey. It has a buttery component to it and...weirdly enough, kinda tastes like crushed Sweet-Tarts. Jeez, it tastes like flowers too. I dunno about this one.  It doesn't taste like cider but rather chewing on flowers drenched in honey after a spring rain.

If that's your bag, go for it but...damn....I don't think I like it. This gets shelved with the Woodchuck Pear for me. I'm not gonna add bourbon to it because in order to make a Stonewall Jackson, you have to start first with cider, not fresh pressed daffodils.

Still <3 you though, Woodchuck.

Ace: Joker Hard Cider - Saturday, Feb. 7th

As you know, I love cider. A lot. I'm always on the hunt for new cider brands and when I find them I typically drink more than my weight in them. When I found out about the California Cider Company out of Sonoma County, I was elated. A whole company dedicated to making cider. How wonderfully buzz-copping is that? I contacted them asking if their cider made it out NY way and they said no. I was a sad panda. But they said they'd be more than willing to send out a few bottles for me to try. I went from a sad panda to a happy panda. Here she is:



The Ace cider is a European styled dry cider with a 6.9% ABV. It is an intriguing cider, although not in a hurry to replace my favorite ciders. The ABV makes it punishingly deceptive. It is easy to drink and gets you tipsy in a hurry. The aroma is straight apples with a slightly yeasty edge. I could almost swear that there is some pear in this as well as it has light pear-y notes too. The pear follows slightly into the taste as well. It says it has "natural flavors" in it so maybe it has pear in it as well. The taste is quite dry and has, as it states, a fine dry bubbly quality of a good champagne. The ingredients list is slightly disconcerting though. It appears to be made from hard cider, carbonated water, apple concentrate, and natural flavors. While "natural flavors" may be all natural I don't really view anything made with them as a "natural" product. I really do think there's some pear in there because the label has a joker juggling not just apples but pears as well. Gotta get to the bottom of this.

Overall, it's an alright cider. The pear/apple flavor is nice (if a touch light) and I think the addition of the carbonated water results in the light/weak flavor but it is an easy-drinking cider with a huge ABV to boot. I'd be curious to see what the price point is. The fact that it's 6.9% in a 22oz. bottle does not go unappreciated.

Blackthorn Cider - Tuesday, Jan. 5th

As if my life didn't have enough apples, I found a cider I haven't tried yet. Goodie goodie gum-drops. It's a wonder why I ever have to go to the doctors ever when I have so many apple products in my diet. Except for a liver transplant. Anyway, this cider's pretty meh. Nose is heavy with sweet, sweet apples, yeastiness, and bread. Nothing unusual for a cider. The taste...the taste is refreshing but not really cidery. It's a dry cider and it seems pretty thin for a fermented cider. Also has a slightly bitter and very, very short finish. The addition of "carbonated water" probably accounts for this. It's drinkable and pretty thirst quenching but it's pretty thin and not very evolved. Good news is that it clocks in at 6%. It is also the tipple of choice for my friend Ryan, which is odd because it doesn't have a particularly fancy label or enjoyable name. He loves this stuff, mainly because he can get it in a wine bottle size for $4.99. The can above was about $1.99, which makes me wonder if its the same cider. You can generally tell when he's having a bad week by the inclusion of a bottle of this cider in his cart.

I'll give you a hint: it's usually in there. We're chemical engineers, we don't have good weeks.

Edit: I checked, it is the same as what he gets. The Wikipedia page says that it isn't made from fresh-pressed apples but rather apple concentrate, sugar, and controlled industrial yeast. Oh yummy.

Crisp and delicious

My second favorite thing about fall is the cider. I have been, and always will be, a big apple fan. Apples are awesome. They make good pie. They make good snacks. They especially make excellent beverages. My favorite thirst quencher is probably ice cold apple juice (followed by lime water) and hard apple cider, well, its pretty damn amazing. I've hinted at my love of cider a few times in this blog but I feel I should wax philosophical about my love of cider now, during the cream of the crop season. Hard cider is awesome. You should love hard cider. Its vegan, low in calories, all natural, and high in digestible sugars. It sounds like a health product but this shit is the furthest from anything you'd find gracing the shelves of your local health food store. No, friends, this is hard cider; apple juice for adults. As I type this, I'm drinking a decent pint of Woodchuck Fall cider, a wonderfully crisp and slightly sweet/sour cider (thanks to some Granny Smiths, I think) spiced with mulling spices and all around a tall glass of awesome. So, here here to the people that decided to first brew cider. May you rest easy knowing that, if no one else, I am carrying on your tradition of getting absolutely hammered off of apples. Prost.

But wait, dear readers! What is my favorite thing about fall? Beverage-wise, its...

something you'll have to wait until next post to find out! Ha! Building suspense is awesome!

Edit: Ha HA! Now with pictures! Go go gadget Kodak Easyshare!