Bourbon Barrel Aged Hard Cider

Locust Cider bottled one thousand bottles of their bourbon barrel aged hard cider (aged for nine months). I bought two bottles back in February and gave one to a friend. I saved mine to share with my father-in-law for Father's Day. It was worth the wait! Even though I had tasted it in the store, it was better than I remembered. I guess this cider might be best described as an apple wine: dry, strong, and a nice apple flavor. I really enjoyed this bottle, but at $18 each, I probably won't be buying very many bottles.

Grumpy Bear Nitro

Schilling Hard Cider released a canned cider on nitro (instead of carbonated). It also has cold brew coffee in it. I was very excited to taste the nitro cider, but I must admit I was skeptical about the coffee addition since I am not a coffee drinker. 

The cider pours with much less head than a can of Guinness. The nitro cider that Schilling has on tap pours with a much thicker head. Still, the nitro makes for a very smooth mouth-feel. The coffee is almost all in the nose with very little coffee flavor showing up on the tongue. The cider is also pretty sweet. I enjoyed the can I had and am glad that I bought the full four pack of cans.

Tieton's Apricot Cider

Tieton Cider Works made the first hopped cider that I ever had. It was amazing! The following year's hopped cider was underwhelming, but they seem to generally make some nice ciders. I haven't been buying many bottled ciders since there are a few local hard cider makers that I can get growler fills from, but I picked up a bottle of Tieton's Apricot Cider recently. I really enjoyed it! The apricot was very forward in both flavor and tartness.

Elemental Hard Cider

I see bottles of Elemental Hard Cider in stores and just haven't gotten around to buying one. I saw that they have bottled some root beer infused hard cider and decided that I would drop by their shop in Woodinville a couple of weeks ago.

I got to taste their root beer cider, blood orange cider, pear cider, cherry cider, dry cider, and jalapeño lime cilantro cider. They were all good. A bit on the sweet side except for the dry cider. The sweetness wasn't a detriment, and the jalapeño lime cilantro cider was amazing! I brought a 32 ounce growler of it home with me.

Anderson Valley Bourbon Stout

I recently had some Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout on draft (via my growler) and was very impressed. I decided to buy some bottles of it as Xmas presents for my father-in-law and my brother-and-sister-in-law (in Japan). I, of course, had to taste a bottle of it to make sure that the bottles tasted good enough to be presents. The bottles were very good, but they weren't as good as the draft.

Anderson Valley Brewery is not far from Alexander Valley Vineyards (in California). My wife and I both enjoy Alexander Valley's wines. We had a 2003 merlot that scored an 89. Yum! It was our first "Wow" experience with a wine.

Locust Cider

A new hard cider place called Locust Cider opened up next to one of my favorite craft breweries (Dirty Bucket Brewery). I haven't yet tasted all of their offerings, but I will eventually. I think their dark cherry infused cider is one of the best I've ever had. It's flavorful without being too sweet.

They also make an aged dessert apple hard cider that is very tasty.

Hopped Cider

I have really started liking hopped hard ciders. I discovered them three years ago and have kept my eyes open for different kinds and ciders makers. I've tried five so far.

Tieton Cider Works

Finn River

Anthem Cider

Schilling Cider

Red Tank Cider

Every season seems to bring a difference in the batches. I tasted the Tieton for the first time three years ago, and it was amazing! The next summer produced a hopped cider that was very different and not to my liking. Finn River's hopped cider was a little overpowering the first time I tried it and underwhelming the second time. Anthem has been to most consistent so far over the last three years and very good.

I just discovered Schilling's and Red Tank's hopped ciders this year. Both are fantastic! Schilling is sweeter but has the best nose of any hopped cider I have tasted. The balance of the hops and the cider flavors is really nice. Red Tank's Cascade hopped cider is less sweet and also nicely balanced. It's my favorite. I got the Red Tank at the Schilling Cider House in Fremont (Seattle), and I highly recommend a visit if you're in the area. I got to taste a cider on nitro, and that was a wonderful experience!

Here are some pictures of the Schilling Hopped Cider. It's easy for me to get and very enjoyable. I'm excited to taste it next year.