Oliphant Spooky Squishy Sour Ale

Oliphant Spooky Squishy Sour Ale.

5.5 % ABV. Oliphant Brewing, Somerset, WI.

Clear, amber-hued, slim white head. 

In the nose: Fruit, spice, sour. Warm and lively.

In the mouth: Cool, but hot. Big spice and apple flavor from the get-go. A little cinnamon? Tart and tasty. Minor hops. Medium malt. Lean, clean, light and delightful. Beautiful blend. Tart and refreshing. I'm liking this. 

An Apple Pie Sour to get you through darkest, creepiest nights! 

contains lactose & vanilla.

Woodchuck Amber Cider

Woodchuck Amber Cider. The Original American Hard Cider. Gluten Free. Made in Vermont. Est. 1991. Refreshing Red Apple. 5 % ABV. Canned by Vermont Cider Co., Middlebury, VT.

Clear, slight amber color, no head.

In the nose: Apples. Red apples.

In the mouth: Crisp, tart, refreshing. And apple-y. Red apple-y. Little bit of tannins, taste of the peel. Delightfully fruity. Smooth and tasty.

Good cider and you can drink it.

Woodchuck® Amber is the original Woodchuck Cider. It's made from a blend of apples and fermented with champagne yeast to produce a great tasting and refreshing alcoholic drink. 

Fiercely crafted with a medium body, golden hue and refreshing red apple finish. Enjoy the brand that started the American cider revolution. 

Blake's Hard Cider Co. Wake Fire

Blake's Hard Cider Co. Wake Fire. Infused with Michigan Cherries and Orange peel. 6.5% ABV. Blake's Hard Cider, Armada, MI.

Clear, pale gold, no head.

In the nose: bright, golden apple. Cherries slowly unspool, traces of citrus, too. Cherry gets bigger and bolder.

In the mouth: Crisp, dry, bursting with fruit. Light bodied, easily consumed, and tasty. It's a good cider and you can drink it. And drink it, I will.

One more time, I've got to say it: I'm trying to find the trick to writing about cider. Is there anything I'm missing? Do I have to learn a new terminology? Am I getting it? I'm giving it all I've got, and I want to know if I'm doing it right. Until I learn better, I'm going to keep trying as best as I can.

It's impossible to replicate a Michigan summer. Recreating a northern night under the stars would be a futile endeavor. So, we've done the next best thing - we've crafted summer's perfect ally. Experience WakeFire, a comforting blend of Michigan-grown cherries, orange peel and our famous Blake's apples.

Vander Mill Ginger Peach Hard Cider

Here we have just the first of many Michigan ciders from Vander Mill brought to me by the sample man. I swear I will get through all the ciders samples in the fridge, mark my words. Maybe I'll even order some, one fine day.

Vander Mill Ginger Peach Hard Cider. Produced and bottled (or, actually, canned) by Vander Mill, Spring Lake, MI. 6.9% ABV.

Crystal clear, light yellow, no head.

In the nose: ginger butts in first, followed by apple. Any peach yet? Oh, there we go.

In the mouth: Light, refreshing, slightly spicy and lightly fruity. Peach is more apparent on the palate. Crisp-ish, increasingly peachy. It's nice. Go drink it, it's tasty stuff.

A refreshing balance of bright ginger bite and peach sweetness, neither of which will over power your face. Pair it with food, or crush it on its own, this cider is clean and crisp from start to finish.



I believe that this one will be "crushed on it's own", the next beverage will be paired with dinner. And the age of not drinking, but crushing, is in full effect.

Sociable CiderWerks Road Rash Shandy Apple

Sociable CiderWerks Road Rash Shandy Apple. 6.6% ABV. Sociable CiderWerks, Minneapolis, MN.

Clear, bright yellow, no head.

In the nose: big apple, medium carbonation, what else? Shades of citrus.

In the mouth: Big lemon on the palate, big citrus and a ton of tart. Toss up between sweet apples and tart lemon. Lean bodied, refreshing, tasty. Ain't bad at all. I wouldn't turn to it more than once (I can only take so much lemon), but maybe you might. I won't stop you.

Road Rash scuffs up what you’d expect from shandy by blending the Midwest’s finest freshly pressed apples with zesty shredded lemons. The result is a light bodied citrus character that is tart, refreshing and never too sweet.

Sociable Ciderwerks Fat Bike Mulled Apple

Sociable Ciderwerks Fat Bike Mulled Apple. 5.2% ABV. Sociable Ciderwerks, Minneapolis, MN.

Clear, golden toned, no head.

In the nose: Cinnamon, clove, allspice. Apple behind it. All the pumpkin pie spices at play.

In the mouth: Hot, juicy, spicy, cloves, cinnamon-y, all-spicy. This has it all going on. Spiced apple pie. Nice. Very nice. Light bodied, lots of flavors, good drinking. I like this one. It's pretty darned alright.

Actually, it's damned nice. Good stuff.

Sociable Ciderwerks Freewheeler Dry Apple Cider

Sociable Ciderwerks Freewheeler Dry Apple Cider. 6.4% ABV. Sociable Ciderwerks, Minneapolis, MN.

Boy, this is a long time coming. I finally got some samples. That's all it takes. Just give me the beer, or cider, and I'll write about it. Well, I wrote about the first one two weeks ago, and I got the 4-pack some weeks before that. I'll get to the other two soon, but for some reason, in the past two weeks I've opted not to pick one from the fridge. I'm on a mission to close it on out. But we start with Freewheeler:

Clear, bright golden, no head.

In the nose: Sweet, slightly tart, very apple-y.

In the mouth: ah, that's nice. Straight up cider. Dry, a little tart, and fruity. Never too sweet, this one. Light bodied and refreshing. Snappy, scrappy, satisfying. It's good cider, and you can drink it. Mmm, mmm. If I were drinking a cider, I'd be drinking this one.

Freewheeler blends the Midwest’s finest freshly pressed apples with a touch of lightly hopped cane sorghum. The result delivers more mouth feel, more bright acidity and more effervescence than most cider… never too sweet and always a refreshing alternative to great craft beer.

Milk & Honey Fauna

Milk & Honey Fauna. 7.3% ABV. Milk & Honey Ciders, St. Joseph, MN.

Clear, bright yellow, slim head, soon gone.

In the nose: Aburst with apple. I would embarrass myself if I guess which ones. It's an "elite group" according to the label. Whichever, it's pretty darned apple-y. Tannin-y, Dry, slightly bitter, not a touch sweet.

In the mouth: Tart, to start. Sharp and tasty. Lean and clean. Likable, to be sure. Again, I must reiterate that I know very little about cider, and seldom drink it. This is impressive. It's charming my socks off. Quite a lot to like in this one. I do believe a beer will, once more, be my next beverage, and probably something hoppy, but I would not turn one of these down if offered.

Within Fauna you will find and an elite group of apples capable of truly great cider. Tannic apples for depth and body. Sharps for bright fruity-vinous character. Interesting heirlooms for aromatics. Every year the apples may change depending upon the whims of the orchard, but they will always impress. Let the apples shine.

Blake's Hard Cider Grizzly Pear

I don't mind if you skip this post. "What do I care about ciders?" you're asking, of course. Well, I'm saying it, too, but I have to try them out at least. Other people like ciders, so it's my job to at least know something about them. And I have them in my fridge, and I need to drink them. Why not post about it? It would not hurt me at all if you don't read this. I promise. Especially since, if you're not reading this, well, you're not reading this.

So. Blake's Hard Cider of Michigan, and their Grizzly Pear, "made with pears, not bears." Infused with elderflower. 5% ABV.

Clear, bright golden coloring, no head, active carbonation.

In the nose: Sweet at first, apple-y, then dry. There was some pear in there, too. Crisp, lean, refreshing, delightful. I'm getting the pear a bit more, now. But none of the grizzly. And the elderflower? None sure where that comes in.

This is quite nice. I certainly wouldn't turn one down.

Our first pear hard cider, Grizzly melds soft notes of pear & prickly pear cactus balanced with a sharp apple finish with a hint of elderflower. No bears were harmed in the making of this product.

Uncle John's Hard Cider Blueberry Apple

The Bitter Nib is a beer blog, this we all know, but sometimes a bit of cider comes my way. I could just drink and say "it's alright" and not chronicle it here. Or I could write about cider. So, here's the first of two that popped into my fridge recently, and I popped their cans open and notes away...

Uncle John's Hard Cider Blueberry Apple Seasonal. Produced and bottled by Uncle John's Fruit House Winery, St. John's, Michigan.

Clear, pinkish red color, active carbonation.

In the nose: apples first, hints of blueberries. A little sweet, a little tart.

In the mouth: there it is: blackberry flavor coming through, coming on top over the apples. Nice and tart, with sweet on the side. Light and drinkable, tasty. Nice.

Guys, you know me, I'm a beer man. Not a cider drinker. Unsure of how to write about cider, but I'll keep trying. All I can tell you is: here's a good one. I wouldn't pass one up, but I'd always wish I had an ale instead.

Sisyphus Anti-Social Apple Ale

Sisyphus Anti-Social Apple Ale.

Clear, pale straw golden color, no head at all.

Nose: all apple, sweet, lightly tart, dry...nice.

Taste: dry and clean...honey-crisp? Maybe. Wet. And Dry. Light-bodied, crisp, tasty.
That's all I got. As apple ales go, it's all right. I don't mind it. In fact, actually, I can dig it, just a little.

Good apple ale, and you can drink it.

(notes from May 30. But you can find it at the tap-room currently, so these notes aren't entirely invalid.)

Town Hall Harvest Fresh

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery has gone all apple-happy. They're now pouring ten different ciders on tap on a daily basis, and inaugurated Cider Week earlier this year. And this season, they released a second fresh hop beer, this one celebrating not just the hop crop, but guess what else? Apples! It's called Harvest Fresh, and I took home a growler last week. Let's it open it up and see if I'm going to enjoy 64 full fluid ounces.

Appearance: clear, bright golden color, slim white head.

Aroma: bright, vibrant and fruity, some stone fruits, like apricot and peach, a little citrus, more smooth than bitter. Some hops are here, but on a very mellow scale.

Taste: On first sip, there a bitter hoppy bite, then a fruity flush. Sip it again, there's a return of the hoppy smack, then brisk carbonation, next come the apples. The come in with more tart on the third, until that's all I'm tasting. By the fourth gulp, we're in Cidertown, my friend. The hop bitterness and the apple-y tartness go hand in hand. Body is medium-low, leaving the main ingredients to do all the talking. Tart apple flavor is turning a degree sour, subsuming the parts of the ale. It finishes crisp, dry, and refreshing, a unique and intriguing drink.

I'll finish this, and I will enjoy it, but it's not the sort of thing I'd ever choose over an IPA, a stout, or a Belgian single. Sorry, appleheads, not gonna happen.

Here's the official word on it: "The second fully fresh hop beer we made in 2014. Fall is the harvest season for many things…hops and apples to name a couple. We worked with Milk and Honey Cidery and received 3 BBL of fresh pressed apple juice to use in this beer, it is fresh hopped with Equinox. A relatively new hop that gives off a strong apple and citrus character. 5.7%"

So, why is a well-regarded, award-winning brewpub showing such devotion to cider, I wondered? The answer came back to me that the owners feel that cider is the next big thing, and they want to be ahead of the curve. At the risk of being on the wrong side of history, I just don't see it. Cider has it's charms, of course, but I remain immune to them. As for it's champions, the only ones I know personally also happen to sell it or make it, and I just can't be turned over to their side, try as I might. There simply isn't the diversity of flavors that beer has, and what there is, it's so delicate in distinction, it honestly doesn't register with me. Maybe I need to try harder to like cider, but more often I find my time pre-occupied in pursuit of beer.

Unibroue Ephemere Apple

Hey, what do you know, there's a Unibroue sampler box, "the Sommelier Collection" (didn't they get the word that we say "cicerone" now?), featuring 1 each of 6 of their beers, 3 that I've already covered here, 3 that I haven't. Here's come the notes....


Looking back at some old Unibroue notes, this one the Ephemere, ale brewed with apple juice, 5.5% ABV, first jotted down on November 20, 2003:

Pungent green apple aroma wafts out from the instant the cork is released...

Color is clear, pale golden, and is topped with a lush, creamy white head.
Aroma has settled some from that initial sharp sensation, is slightly sweet, and distinctly apple-ish.

Taste: big, brisk hoppiness, then all is mellow. Very light in body, with a crisp, dry finish. Apple flavor is never too strong, just subtle enough, and that's just fine with me.

For some reason, I imagined something bigger out of these guys, but all things considered, this is just right for what they're trying to do here. A nice, mild, bright, fruity ale, perfect for desserts, picnics, parties...but nothing I'd likely turn to often.

Furthermore Fallen Apple Ale

Notes from October, 2007:

Fallen Apple, Cream Ale brewed with Apple Juice, Further Brewing Company, Black River Falls, WI, 12 oz brown bottle.

"Brewed with our favorite season in mind, this blended delicacy is a celebration of falling leaves and falling in love." Aw, sweet.

Clear and tawny red appearance, small to nil for the head. Apple-y.

Nose is tart at first, then comes the apple. A little sweet, a little sour.

Taste: big sour snap at the front, then fading. Pucker, pucker, smack, smack. A little wine-y, cider-ish. The body's thin, though, and I can't find any hops. Maybe I'm not supposed to...it's a cream ale, after all.

I've got a problem. It's too much apple flavor, for me, personally...and not enough any other flavor to make it interesting. Can't finish this very easily. No joy slips through my lips. Bracingly tart, but too thin in the body, with nothing in the finish.
Got to admit that that works fine for some people. Not me. Bit one-dimensional.

Glad I was able to pick up a single of this. Only $1.49 down the drain.