Oregon Cider Week 2019

Oregon Cider Week starts today, and just as Portland Beer Week was, this "week" is an 11-day long celebration that encompasses two weekends. We were fortunate to be able to attend a preview event earlier this week that featured 20 local cidermakers and over 60 ciders. Try as we might, we didn't make it through all of them but of the ones that we had those that rose to the top of the barrel were:

Tieton Cider Works Single Varietal Harrison - Tieton cans some of their cider but the Single Varietal series is in bottles. Speaking to them we learned that they grow all of their own fruit in Yakima and that the Harrison apple was a variety that nearly went extinct shortly after Prohibition. Not an eating apple as much as what one would consider a baking apple, it hit the mark for us as a cider apple.

Square Mile Cider Hopped Cider - First off, yes, Square Mile is a Widmer Brothers "sibling" - make of it what you will. As for this Galaxy dry-hopped cider what really impressed us was that not only did the dry-hopping impart a beer-like aroma, it provided plenty of beer-like flavor to the still-a-cider base. It's certainly not for some people but should we run across someone who was gluten-free and craving hoppiness, we'd recommend checking this cider out.

2 Towns Ciderhouse Camp Clementine - We've been impressed by 2 Towns ciders again and again so it wasn't a surprise that this passionfruit and clementine cider was one of our favorites. Passionfruit can sometimes be a bit too sweet but the clementines nicely restrained the sweetness here. Bonus points for a "sunny" and thoroughly summer looking label.

WildCraft Cider Works Willamette Heritage - There are a ton of American ciders we love but the key to our heart really is a funky, barnyard French cider and this offering from WildCraft is one of the closest we've had to something from across the ocean. If you like a bit of barnyard in your cider, too, seek this out.

AVID Cider Dragonfruit - While the aroma was a bit muddled, the flavor combination from the dragonfruit and raspberries used was quite nicely tart. The can sports an eye-catching label and we also loved it paired with the Blue Star donut* featured at the event. 

AVID Cider Watermelon Rhubarb - Would you expect a cider that smells like a Jolly Rancher to actually taste good? Of course not. You'd expect it to be gimmicky and over the top sweet. Not so in this case. Yes, it smells like a watermelon Jolly Rancher but the actual flavor is far less sweet and somehow the rhubarb manages to provide a rind-like flavor to the cider. It might possibly be black magic.

We won't re-list the information about all the Week's events here, but direct you to their website and Facebook page. One event, however, that we enjoyed last year and if we were able to attend again would be the Oregon Cider Summit. It takes place at The Fields Park Friday and Saturday and like the preview we attended, is a great way to try many ciders in one place. If you buy your ticket online today it is $30 (+ $2.85 fees) for a glass and 12 tasting tickets. At the door, if tickets remain, they will be $35.

*Vanilla cake donut with a glaze made from Bauman's Loganberry Cider, fresh raspberries and juicy blackberries. Topped with a salted crumble made with olive oil and lemon, vegan to boot. Available at all Blue Star locations throughout the Week.

Pressing Matters Brings Cider and Cask Beer Together

We’re not sure how Pressing Matters Proper Cider and Real Ale Festival missed our radar last year but we’re pleased to see it hit the radar of enough others for it to make it back to Cider Riot! for a second year. The festival, taking place Saturday, November 17th, brings together the work of 15 cideries and and seven breweries from around Cascadia. The ciders range from those made bittersweet apples to those from bittersharp apples, combining innovations from America with fermentation traditions from England and France. And the all-cask ale lineup offers a greater selection of this traditional style than one is likely to find without a visit to the TSA.

Upon reviewing the cider and beer line up we see many familiar names although we have not had many ciders and we've only had one of the beers, albeit in non-cask form. The three year vertical of Cider Riot!’s 1763 is intriguing and we’ll be interested to see if the same recipe was used each year and if so, how it has aged. In addition, since we drink a comparably small amount of cider this will be a good opportunity to try more.

On the beer side, Baerlic’s New Noise IPA is the only one we’ve previously had an while we quite enjoyed it, the cask version could be considerably different. Both Gigantic and Machine House are bringing styles that lend themselves to cask, English Pale Ale and Bitter respectively, and while Marzen is not a style we find ourselves drawn toward, the Brewers Union offering should showcase well in a cask and alongside ciders.

If you’re as intrigued as we are, then we’ll see you there. Otherwise you shall have to hear about it after the fact, perhaps while kicking yourself for not taking advantage of one of the more unique festivals to grace Portland this year.

Pressing Matters Proper Cider and Real Ale Festival
Saturday, November 17th 1 - 8pm
Cider Riot!
807 NE Couch
Tickets in advance and at the door, $20 - $40

Disclaimer: We have been offered a media pass to attend the festival.

Picks for Cider Summit 2018

The 2018 Cider Summit kicks off Friday at 3pm (2pm if you spring for the VIP entry) at The Fields Park. With over 200 ciders from more than 60 cideries some hard choice are going to be made because even if you attend the full 10 hours of the festival spanning Friday and Saturday afternoons, in order to try all of the ciders you'd have to maintain a pace of one sample every three minutes. That doesn't even leave time for bathroom breaks or eating! 

We've compiled a short list of ciders we're most excited about, some of which we were introduced to for the first time last week. Some of those made our short list and overall we're giving preference to Oregon cideries even though the Washington, California, New Hampshire, New York, Canada, England, France and Spain cideries that will be there will likely have some things we would love. Tough choices. 

The top eight cideries we'll scouring the festival grounds for:
^5 Cider - 4 ciders and although most of what we've tried from them has gone a little overboard with the sour/tartness they made a cider for the Fruit Cider Challenge called Pineapple & Oak that sounds tasty and interesting.
Apple Outlaw - 4 ciders, including one in the Fruit Cider Challenge. We have very little experience with this cidery but the Pura Vida Pineapple has gotten pretty good ratings on Untappd and we do enjoy pineapples in our cider. Since the Challenge cider wasn't listed in advance that might be a game time decision.

Baird & Dewar - 4 ciders, including Peach Fuzz as their Fruit Cider Challenge entry. Having had three of their ciders before, including a previous version of Constitution and a peach/apricot blend, we were pleased to find leather or barnyard funk in all of them. That bodes well for these four and we might have to try all of them.
Blue Mountain - 3 ciders, all "Limely." We've only had one of theirs to date but were impressed by the fruit profile in the raspberry so we'll have to try at least one of these.
Bull Run - 4 ciders, of which we have had the Bramble Berry, and including Pineapple Perry for the Fruit Cider Challenge. The Bramble along with the Cranberry Perry we had both exhibited the barnyardy characteristic that never fails to hook us. Perhaps we'll have to do a back-to-back-to-back with their pineapple, ^5 and Apple Outlaw.
New West (the cider arm of Sasquatch Brewery) - 4 ciders, including a cherry one in the Fruit Cider Challenge. Of the four they are pouring we've had two, one we loved, one that was meh. It's likely we'll have at least one of the other two.

WildCraft - 3 ciders, one of which we had at the preview and two others, one barrel-aged and one a farmhouse. Yep, we'll be giving those a try!
Bandon Rain - 3 ciders, of which Don't Burn Grose sounds intriguing. Read on to see why.

Although we tried all of the 1859 Cider Co. from Salem at the preview, they were delicious and we HIGHLY encourage you to try them, too.

Perhaps we'll see you there tomorrow (and say hi if you see us first!).

2018 Cider Summit
The Fields Park, 1099 NW Overton
3 - 8pm Friday, 12 - 5pm Saturday
$35 general admission tickets at the door include tasting glass and 12 tickets, additional tasting tickets $2 each

Oregon Cider Week 2018

The door has barely closed on PDX Beer Week and now it's time for Oregon Cider Week. Kicking off today, June 21st, and running through Sunday, July 1st the the number and variety of official events is as impressive as Beer Week. We know we won't be able to make it to them all, nor preview them all, but what we can do is give you our take on some of the ciders and cideries.

Earlier this week we were given a preview of 20 of the cideries that will be taking part in Oregon Cider Week. Some, like Finnriver and Cider Riot!, were familiar while others, like 1859 Cider Co. and Art+Science, we hadn't even heard of before. It kind of took us back to the days when we were discovering craft breweries, somewhat overwhelming but in a wonderful, exciting way.

Before we talk about the ciders that hit the highest notes for us at the preview, we have to tell you about the special Oregon Cider Week donut that Blue Star has created. The brioche donut is frosted with a beautiful and delicious combination of Finnriver Lavender Black Currant cider, black currant puree and Bee Local Hot Honey. Available for the duration of Oregon Cider week at all of their locations, it is worth seeking out, whether it's enjoyed on its own or enjoyed with Finnriver's cider.

As we back away from the donuts, it's time to talk about the ciders that most impressed us.

Finnriver Lavender Black Currant - Staring out with a spectacular color and wine-like aroma, the berry/floral flavor is followed by a pleasant wine aftertaste.

1859 Strawberry - Both the aroma and flavor of this cider are exactly like that of fresh strawberries, with no alcohol flavor at all.

Alter Ego Guardian Angel - This combination of blueberries and pomegranates are juice, juice, all juice baby.

WildCraft Elderberry Perry - Oregon elderberries are fermented whole in a red Bartlett perry and aged for three months, resulting in a juicy brew with mild alcohol flavor. 

WildCraft Trinity Pome Blend - Lovely, funky tastiness!

1859 Green Dragon - This represents the perfect balance of sweet and dry. As a bonus, it pairs wonderfully with prosciutto.

While we would be happy to belly up at one location and drink any kegs of the above ciders dry, to fully experience Oregon ciders, we recommend checking out one of the festivals or other events that feature multiple ciders and cideries. Here's a brief list with the full event list and details found here.
June 23
Oregon Cider Week Saturday Sampling
Tasting event featuring Baird & Dewar, Carlton Cyderworks and WildCraft Ciderworks
2 - 4 pm
McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop 2290 NW Thurman Street, Portland

June 23
Happy Cider Day
11 ciders, including the 1859 Strawberry we are so enamored with
6 - 9 pm
The Westside Taphouse & Growler Fill 1594 Edgewater Street NW, SALEM

June 23 & 24 
3rd Annual Fruit Cider Invitational
24 Oregon-made fruit ciders from Cider Riot! and others
2 - 8 pm
Cider Riot! 807 NE Couch Street, Portland

June 24
Dog wash at Bushwacker Cider
Charity dog wash benefitting Clackamas County Dog Control with 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Seattle Cider Co. and Bushwacker Cider, 21+
12 - 3 pm
Bushwacker Cider, 1212-D SE Powell Blvd, Portland

June 25
PDX Cideries Nite
Event features cideries located in the city of Portland
6 - 10 pm
Portland Cider House, 3638 SE Hawthorne, Portland

June 26
Oregon Cider Celebration
Draft and bottled offerings from Oregon cider companies
4 - 7 pm
Tin Bucket 3520 N Williams Avenue, Portland

June 27
OMSI After Dark: Ciderfest
Featuring 17 cideries, this 21+ event includes science demonstrations, $30 tickets 
7 - 10 pm
OMSI 1945 SE Water Avenue, Portland

June 29 & June 30
Cider Summit Portland
Nearly 200 ciders from across the nation, general admission tickets $30 in advance, $35 at the door
3 - 8 pm Friday, 12 - 5 pm Saturday
The Fields 1099 NW Overton, Portland

July 1
Cider + Donuts
Donuts from Blue Star, NOLA and Delicious paired with NW ciders
11 am - 10 pm
Portland Cider House 3638 SE Hawthorne, Portland

July 1
Oregon Cider Week Pairing Menu
Curated 3-course menu pairing Baird & Dewar, WildCraft and OR/WA Cider Co-Op ciders with food, $45
5 - 9:30 pm
Ned Ludd 3925 NE MLK Jr., Portland 

In addition to places to drink cider, there are a couple of retailers offering discounts on packaged ciders. To start off the week, New Seasons Market will offer 20% off all hard ciders June 22 - 24 (Friday - Sunday). Picking up the discounts a couple days later is People's Food Co-Op, with 10% off the purchase of any six ciders June 26 - July 1 (Tuesday - Sunday).

For those looking to get some education along with their cider check out:
June 21 
Cider Appreciation Class
Explore 20+ ciders, many of Nat's favorite cideries from around the world and the history of the craft, $50 tickets 
7 - 9:30 pm
Rev. Nat's Cidery & Taproom 1813 NE 2nd Avenue, Portland

June 25 
History & Science of Cider
Enjoy 9 ciders from around the world with cider makers from Cider Riot! and Portland Cider company leading an educational class, $25 tickets 
7 -10 pm
Cider Riot! 807 NE Couch, Portland

*Please note that we did not try all of the ciders at the preview, nor does this represent all of the ciders that will be at Oregon Cider Week Events. We do what we can but even we have our limits.

The Best Things We Drank: September 4 - 10

Hops ruled our week however in this season of fresh hop beers, only one of those made the list. We've found we've become less enamored with fresh hop beers on the whole in the last couple of years but it's still a joy to find ones that hit us just right.

Fremont Field to Ferment Centennial - Field to Ferment is a series of fresh hop beers used with a pale ale base. Being that Centennials are the first that are ready to be harvested, thus they are the feature of the first batch. Yummy, yummy Centennials.

Firestone Walker Propagator Generation 1 - An unfiltered IPA, it runs the line between those popular-right-now NE style IPAs and the typical West Coast IPAs. Whatever the style or un-style, when it comes to hoppy beers Firestone Walker is rock solid.

Three Magnets Big Juice Smoothie - The biggest of the beers this week at 8.5%, it starts with a grapefruit aroma that follows through to the flavor and is accompanied by a bit of lactose to round the edges, all contained within a handy to-go 16oz can.

The last beverage on this week's list is a cider and a simply amazing cider at that. Made by our favorite cidery, Reverend Nat's, and shared by one of our favorite (and generous) beer buddies, Chris, this cider is the result of Revelation Newtown Pippin, fortified with dark Muscovado sugar, being refermented in Elijah Craig bourbon barrels. 17% sounds daunting until one finds it in their glass and must resist the urge to grab the bottle and run. So. Very. Good.

The Best Things We Drank: March 20 - 26

This week's list is short and topped by local, fast rising star Great Notion. We met a couple friends there last weekend and ran into a couple more...go figure...and also chatted with two of the owners. In addition to completely turning around the former Mash Tun Paul, James and Andy are great guys who I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing for a piece in the Oregon Beer Growler this time last year.

Great Notion Super Ripe - The brewery has done a few iterations of Ripe and this double dry hopped one is absolutely delicious. Starting with a zesty-juicy aroma, the flavor is more juicy than zesty and very drinkable for 9.5%.

Great Notion Heart of Gold - Once again showing their command of sour beers, this barrel aged Saison made with peaches and sour bacteria has a smooth peach aroma, golden color and lovely sour bracingness.

Omnipollo Bianca Mango Lassi Gose - Omnipollo is essentially a gypsy brewery with the recipes conceived at their home base in Sweden but brewed at breweries around the globe. This beer, a 6% gose brewed with rock salt, lactose and mango puree, was brewed at Buxton Brewery in the UK. While we didn't find much in the way of fruit character it was a nice gose that had the pronounced salt profile one would expect from the style.

Cider Riot! Everyday Semi-Dry - We find ourselves adding cider into the mix more often and this one is exactly what the name says, something we'd be happy to drink every day. We had it on tap, while checking out a Portland institution we've driven by hundreds of times - Sandy Hut, but it is also the first canned offering from the cidery. Six packs will start popping up next week and to celebrate this next step in the young cidery's life there is a can release/dance party on April 12th at Mississippi Studios.

In putting together this week's list it seems clear our taste buds are more than ready for spring, which will hopefully finally settle in as we put March behind us and welcome in April this weekend. With any luck we'll be getting out and about more soon, perhaps toting some cans, possibly the 12oz variety from Cider Riot! or the large format crowlers from Great Notion.

Beer & Girl Scout Cookies Pairing Year IV, Part II

Last week, on Pi Day, we dove in to part II of this year's Girl Scout cookies and beer pairing. On the docket were:
- Thin Mints
- Caramel de-Lites/Samoas
- Do-Si-Dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich
- Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties
- Toffee-tastic (gluten-free)

Since our venue happened to have 2013 Alaskan Brewing Barleywine on tap and previous years had taught us that chocolate cookies, which were most of what we had in front of us that day, went well with darker beers like this Chris had to go for it. Although four years old, the beer retained a boozy profile that ended up working well with the Thin Mints, the mint negating that booziness and the beer amping up the mintiness of the cookies. Another big boy - the 18% Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - also found a companion in the Thin Mints. Mag, not one for big beers like these, found Half Acre Daisy Cutter pale ale to be a nice complement to this staple of the cookie line up.

Samoas, a cookie some of our pairing group love and others really don't, can be challenging to pair both because of the overt sweetness and the coconut. Here we found Cascadia Ciderworkers Berry's combination of blackberry, blueberry and cranberry to be quite complimentary to the coconut, to such an extent that the caramel and chocolate flavors nearly vanished. The big Dogfish Head stout also paired well with the overt sweetness of the cookie and the 18% ABV balancing one another.

Switching from chocolate to peanut butter, the Cascadia cider also went nicely with the Tagalongs to provide a peanut butter and jelly sandwich flavor combination. Working off of our love of coffee and coffee beers we opened a beer from a new-to-this-market brewery, Modern Times, their Black House coffee beer. Presenting a strong roasty aroma and flavor it enhanced the peanut butter qualities of this cookie, muscling the chocolate component to the back seat. Once again, diverging from a similar flavor profile and towards a complimentary one, the Half Acre Daisy Cutter hit the mark.

The other peanut butter cookie, Do-Si-Dos, went best with Modern Times Black House, the combination being reminiscent of a cup of coffee and a slice of toast topped with peanut butter. Sounds like a good way to start the day, right? Chris happened to have a Golden Road 329 (lager) open and while the beer itself was sweeter on its own than he would prefer it actually worked with this cookie, confirming Craft Beer & Brewing's recommendation of a malty lager.

Finally, the sole gluten-free cookie of the bunch, Toffee-tastic. It's a cookie that we unanimously like on its own, in large part because of its strong butteriness. It was due to that butter profile (similar to Trefoils) that it worked with and was balanced by the Alaskan Barleywine. With the Modern Times coffee beer it was similar to enjoying an iced coffee and a butter biscotti. And for the an all around gluten-free experience we recommend Magner's Original Irish Cider. The apple-toffee combo played off one another, each enhancing the flavors of the other.

Huge thanks to Chris for procuring the cookies, especially the out of market ones, and being an eager participant along with Mag and the many friends who helped consume All. These. Cookies.

Super Saturday: 5 Awesome Events

Saturday will be a GREAT day to be a beer lover in Portland! And we'll be out of town...but in another good beer town (Bend). So that you can plan your day, here's a rundown the things we'd be deciding between. Do one or do 'em all!

4th NW Coffee Beer Invitational
Saturday 12-7pm
Goose Hollow Inn
1927 SW Jefferson Street

 

This is the event I am most bummed to miss! Being a coffee fiend and having attended for the first three years breaking the streak is bittersweet. This year the event will feature 14 breweries and 2 cideries inside a cozy tent in the Goose Hollow Inn parking lot. The location makes parking challenging but historically this has been one of the most enjoyable festivals we've attended due to both the small size of it and, duh, coffee beers! Dave Fleming and his wife Jean bring the neighborhood feel of the Goose Hollow Inn to the tent for a festival where you're likely to see more people you know than you have time to chat with (especially if you're going to make it to any events beyond this one). Tickets are $15, available at the door only, and in the past the two of us have been able to drink through all of the beers by sharing.

Artisinful! The Portland Beer and Chocolate Festival
Saturday 12-5pm
Culmination Brewing Company
2117 NE Oregon Street

There's always something beer-and-food going on at Culmination and after last year's success Artisinful! is returning for its second year.  Tickets are required to attend ($21) and include entry to the Chocolate Hall where 8+ local chocolatiers will be sampling and selling their chocolate, a $5 certificate good toward the purchase of chocolate, tasting glass and four tasting tickets. The tap line up will include 10+ beers that either have chocolate in them or have been selected because they pair well with chocolate. Call it an early Valentine's celebration or preparation for Valentine's Day but if you love chocolate we're told this is a not-to-miss event (which is expected to sell out again this year although tickets were still available as of 7am Friday).

New Moon Mandarin Release Party & Chinese New Year Celebration
Saturday 4-11pm
Reverend Nat's Hard Cider
1813 NE 2nd Avenue

Technically not a "beer" event, most beer drinkers also at least dabble in cider and for our money, Reverend Nat's makes some of the best. New Moon Mandarin was made by "channeling the best champagne mimosas" using heirloom apples  that were fermented with a champagne yeast and blended with orange and lemon zest, a complex background of chamomile, fennel, coriander and cardamom, finished with a touch of orange blossom honey. The cider will be available on tap, in bottles to go AND through a special randall with fresh mandarins. To accompany the cider Chinese Lucky Dragon Food Cart will be slinging crab puffs, Buddah skewers, pork belly bao, pork and vegetable pot stickers and mar far chicken wings.

Stout Bout IV: Awards Ceremony & Public Stout Tasting
Saturday 1-5pm
Baerlic Brewing Co.
2235 SE 11th Avenue

With home brewing nearly as big as commercial brewing (maybe bigger) this is one of the events throughout the year that celebrates the two. From 1-3pm attendees can sample and vote on 12 stouts that were advanced from the Portland Brewers Collective Stout Bout Home Brew Competition for free and purchase raffle tickets. For the second half of the event winners, both People's Choice and those from the judges, will be announced along with raffle winners.

Base Camp's Collabofest
Saturday 2-8pm
Base Camp Brewing Company
930 SE Oak Street

This event showcases the collaborative spirit and creativity of 15 of Portland's breweries. Attending the event means all of the beers will be available in one space but if you don't make it they will be popping up at the breweries around town in the coming days/weeks. General admission tickets are $25 +fees and include festival mug, beer festival passport and 8 tasting tickets. For those looking to get a jump on things, $40 +fees VIP tickets allow for early entry at 1pm and an upgrade from festival mug to a festival branded Miir stainless pint along with the aforementioned items.

If you're going to try to make it to all five events, godspeed. There are sure to be motivated folks who will do so; others (like us if we were in town) would probably just pick one (maybe two) to fully enjoy. But whatever you do, pick at least one (for us, if for no other reason). Cheers!

A Pairing Dinner to Remember - Featuring Cider

Last night was one of the most outstanding pairing dinners I've been to and yet I have not a single picture of the meal to share. Maybe that's not a bad thing although the dessert and third courses were certainly as much a feast for the eyes as for the mouth.

If you can get past the lack of foodporn I'll do my best to use my words to tell you about this first ever pairing dinner held at the Alberta Street Pub. They teamed up with Reverend Nat's, makers of some of the best cider being produced anywhere, for an intimate meal.

Sacrilege Sour Cherry with Fernet & Sour Cherry-Glazed Hazelnuts
Not only is this a beautiful cider to look at, it's absolutely delicious to drink and complimented the hazelnuts wonderfully. The glaze, made with a reduction of the cider, was slightly sweet and while it worked I'm curious as to how roasted, salted hazelnuts would be with the cider. It's something I may have to explore as I will most certainly look to enjoy more of this cider, which according to Nat this version is slightly different from past batches and will be the recipe going forward. Yum!

Tepache with Guajillo Chile Braised Pork Cheek Tacos
I generally think of Tepache as a summery drink but when paired with this exceptionally tender and flavorful pork was transformed into a comforting, cold weather drink. As with the first course, the cider was used in the preparation of the food, no doubt infusing just the right amount of sweet into the dish. The portion size was very generous - two tortillas (not made in house, but you could have fooled me by Mike, their kitchen manager) chock full of hunks of meat and slaw - and could have been slightly smaller. That said, I finished every last morsel on my plate (and would have eaten more).

Winter Abbey Spice with Shepard's Pie
Whereas Tepache represents summer, this cider, which was aged for six months on raisins, exemplifies all that is winter. In this pairing it cut the richness of the Shepard's pie - served in muffin sized ramekins, a bottom of tender, flavorful meat and topped with cheese-crusted mashed potatoes - but was even more spectacular with the soda bread. This bread was no afterthought; the flavors from the raisins it contained clearly intended to play off the aging of the cider and the outside perfectly crusty to compliment the melt-in-your mouth interior. As an added bonus the cider was a delight with the remaining hazelnuts from the first course.

Whiskey Sour with Sea Scallop Masala
Not being a mixed drink drinker I can't say how true to the drink this cider is but if so I may have to start ordering them. Tart and lovely it played well with the smoky, perfectly cooked (if slightly over salty) scallops and was surprisingly stunning with the oven roasted tomatoes dotting the plate. Those tomatoes were reminiscent of the tomato confit I made recently and has planted the idea to make them again soon, pairing them with this cider, bruschetta-style.

Revival with Panna Cotta with Cranberry-Orange Sauce
Served in a stemmed dish the creamy panna cotta was topped with a chunky, fresh sauce and bordered with fresh orange slices. The most straight forward cider of the evening, a semi-dry cider aptly named, combined with the dessert to provide a refreshing end to the meal. I was revived and ready to start the whole thing over again.

The dinner wasn't without some issues from the kitchen - some courses coming out too close to one another, others with a significant pause between them and some dishes that were closer to room temperature than hot - but just like a newly opened restaurant, I'm more than willing to give them a pass. The quality and flavors of the dishes were outstanding and for the first time out, from a 10x10 kitchen no less, there's most definitely promise. I'm looking forward to getting information about their future dinners and I encourage you to do the same.

In the meantime, head over to Reverend Nat's tasting room or grab a bottle at your favorite shop to enjoy the liquid portion of this meal or visit Alberta Street Pub to enjoy the on-menu versions of the Irish Soda Bread, Pork Cheek Sliders or Shepherd's Pie.

Barrel Aged Ciders: A Collaboration Between Reverend Nat's and Raven&Rose

Warning: This post is not about beer. It's about cider that's almost as good as beer.

Reverend Nat's, always on the cutting edge of the cider world, has teamed up with Raven&Rose to produce two barrel aged ciders. Raven&Rose provided the Eagle Rare Bourbon barrels where Revival and Sacrilege ciders sat for about four months. This Thursday those ciders will be available at the Rookery Bar above Raven&Rose.

Before we get to the ciders and happenings  on Thursday, I wanted to share some of what I learned during the "lecture" owner Nat West gave to the Oregon Bartender's Guild. "Lecture" isn't really fair since it was one of the most interesting presentations I've been to (not to mention there was cider being poured throughout). He covered the history of cider in the US and abroad, the process of making cider and the varieties of cider.

Some of the most interesting takeaways:

• Prohibition was even more devastating to the cider industry than the beer industry. Thousands of apple varieties, suited only for cider making and not eating, were lost when there was no market for them. Unlike beer, when Prohibition was lifted producers couldn't just start making their product again; they had to wait for apples to be grown before they could resume their business.
• The Pacific Northwest is the fastest growing region in the US for cider. This is due in large part to easy (and inexpensive) access to apples from Washington, the nation's top apple-producing state.
• Glucose is the sugar in apples. Maltose is the sugar in grains. Glucose is much easier for yeast to eat. (Things got really science-nerdy here.)
• Most cider makers in the US use white wine yeast. Nat's a bit different (in case you missed his experiments with Angel of Death and Kumiss Mongolian Milkwine) and he uses Belgian yeast.
• All yeasts have different nutritional and temperature requirements. Nat is dialed in to what his yeast needs and has been known to show up at the cidery at all hours of the night to make sure they're able to do their job optimally.
• Even with all that attention, yeast used to make cider cannot be repitched, they're just too tired (true across the cider industry).

Now, back to the upcoming release of these two barrel aged ciders. I had a chance to try each and I can assure you that the barrel did its work on the Revival, imparting a ton of bourbon aroma and flavor. Not being a bourbon connoisseur the subtleties may have been lost on me but those more well-versed in the spirit should enjoy the side-by-side boilermaker experience of the cider and the bourbon from that barrel. The effect of the barrel on the Sacrilege is completely different and the result is a very dry and tart product. Intended to be a primary component in the Old Fashioned, generally a very sweet drink, the goal was to enhance the sour, dry and funkiness of the cider. Both the boilermaker and the "Old Fashioned" will be available for $10.

For those not able to make it to Raven&Rose Thursday there are a limited number of bottles of each barrel aged cider. But I can't tell you more than that...just yet. Keep up with Reverend Nat's online or check back here. I promise to let you know more as soon as I can.

Eagle Rare Bourbon Barrel Aged Ciders Release Party
Raven&Rose's Rookery Bar
1331 SW Broadway
Thursday, June 25th 6-10 pm

Cider Themed Bottle Share

I've participated in more bottle shares than I can count, from ones we've hosted at our house to larger ones put together by friends and #pdxbeergeeks, but yesterday was the first one I had attended by @PDXbottleshare. It was held at Reverend Nat's and was appropriately cider themed.

Arriving at the appointed hour I wasn't surprised to find there were plenty of familiar faces and bottles of cider and beer already gracing the bar. More people and bottles continued to arrive until the bottles nearly spanned the length of the bar and the taproom space was crowded with a friendly, excited group.

Nat (above) kicked things off by opening a bottle containing the first cider he brewed seven years ago. Not your standard appley cider, but a very smoky cider, a great start to lead off two hours of tasting. There was a multitude of ciders I'd never heard of, much less tasted (like Grasshop-ah), in addition to beers ranging from IPAs to barleywines.

It was a great time and I'm excited about the upcoming November and December dates, which have been announced and and put on my calendar. The nominal entry fee of one bottle of craft beer doesn't begin to speak to the great time to be had. Perhaps I'll see you there.

Huge thanks to Reverend Nat's for hosting and Hotlips for donating pizza!

Upcoming bottle shares:
November 16th 2 - 4 pm at Bridgetown Beerhouse
December 14th 5 - 7 pm at Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom