Sociable Tandem Tap Blood Orange Cider

Sociable Tandem Tap Blood Orange Cider.
6.4 % ABV.
Sociable CiderWerks,
Minneapolis, MN.

Almost clear, bright golden hue, no head.

In the nose: assertive fruit, bold apple flavors, slight citrus.

In the mouth: Apple kicks it off, with citrus right behind. Here comes the orange, but not so bloody at first. Slightly tart and astringent. Tasty, though, and refreshing. It could have used a little more infusion, though. Just a tad.

Sociable Cider Werks Training Wheels Scrumpy Apple

Sociable Cider Werks Training Wheels Scrumpy Apple.
6.3 % ABV. Sociable Cider Werks, Minneapolis, MN.

Clear, bright yellow, looking like a cider.

In the nose: Slightly sweet, slightly tart, a hint of slice, and all apple.

In the mouth: bright, vibrant, fruity. A trace of tart, a hint of sweet, and ending very dry. Medium bodied, excellent drinkability. Nice and juicy.

Despite what they say in the copy below, this was not hazy, and it did not taste unfiltered. It is tasty, though. Good cider and you can drink it.

Training Wheels steps back to a simpler time when ciders went unfiltered and you couldn’t fall off your bike no matter how many you had. This freshly pressed blend of Midwestern apples is hazy with sediment and sweet with unfermented apple sugars in a throw back to the ciders of the colonial era.

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 Cider Werks Hop A Wheelie Hopped Apple Cider

Sociable Cider Werks Hop A Wheelie Hopped Apple Cider. 6.7% ABV. Sociable CiderWerks, Minneapolis, MN. Dry-hopped with Chinook, Cascade and Golding hops.


Clear, bright golden, slim head.

In the nose: Apples and hops. Beautiful balance of bitter and sweet.

In the mouth: Starts more bitter and slightly tart. Bitter bite. Spicy. Light bodied and very drinkable. I can find no reason not to enjoy this. What is it? It's a good ol' hoppy cider, and you can drink it.

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.

Sociable Ciderwerks Spoke Wrench Java Apple

Sociable Ciderwerks Spoke Wrench Java Apple. 5.8% ABV. Crafted and Canned by Sociable Ciderwerks, MPLS-MINN. Decidedly Different. Delightfully Sociable. Stout Apple. Ingredients: Fresh Pressed apples, malt, hops, cacao, coffee, yeast.

Dark brown, opaque, slim white head, soon gone.

In the nose: coffee, cola, apples. I don't really ever mix coffee and apples. Maybe I'll bite into an apple after drinking some coffee, but mixing them? Nah.

In the mouth: Big apple flavor up front, you know it's a cider, and yet....coffee? Coffee cider? I'm still, like, what? Light bodied, easy drinking, but very strange. I'm not sure who this is meant for, and, yet, I don't mind it at all. I'm not in love with it, it's touching my special buttons, but, man, it does not suck. Actually, I'm starting to like it.

Spoke Wrench reworks what you’d expect from apples by blending the Midwest’s finest freshly pressed apples with fresh cacao, chocolate and roast malts and cold pressed coffee. The result is a taste bud tune up that takes you from subtle chocolate to roast toffee without ever losing that signature apple crispness. If you're in the mood for a bit of a change this Spoke Wrench is sure to get you tuned up. 

Sociable Ciderwerks Rusty Chain Cranberry Apple Cider / MN Breweries One by One #90

I'm not a cider drinker. Just don't get what I like from beer in ciders. Sorry. Not sorry. But I keep getting ciders because people want to sell me ciders. What people? The people who make and sell cider, of course. In an effort to clear out my fridge by year's end, I'm going to focus on the ciders for a bit.

We'll start with Rusty Chain, the first appearance of Sociable Ciderwerks here in the Nib. (No, not really.)And you know, while we're at it, I'll conclude this post by writing about my visit to Sociable last year, as the 90th brewery (/cidery) that I visited in 2016.

First, Rusty Chain, the only sample of Sociable that I've ever been able to take home. I had samples at work before, but the salesman insisted on drinking them then and there. When I see the cans in stores, I don't spend my money on them, because, well, I'm not a cider drinker. Thanks to the Sample Man for these, and for letting me take it home.

Rusty Chain Cranberry Apple Cider. Enjoy Every Freshly Pressed Batch. Crafted and canned by Sociable Cider Werks, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. 6.6% ABV. Ingredients: fresh pressed apples, cranberries, sorghum, hops, yeast. Naturally gluten free.

Clear, bright cranberry red, slim pinkish head.

In the nose: tart, fruity, dry. There's the cran, there's the apple. Nice.

In the mouth: Very dry. Clean, crisp, easy drinking. Plenty of fruit, more cranberry than apple. Good cider and you can drink it.

Rusty Chain links together a blend the Midwest’s finest freshly pressed apples with ripe cranberries. The result is a bright rose color, light body and brilliant berry flavor that balances tart acidity with gentle residual sweetness.

Now on to Sociable in general. They opened up at 1500 Filmore St. NE in 2013 with a mix of ciders and beers. I popped in once that year with Dave A., tried some of the beers, didn't go for the ciders, a pattern I kept up with just about every time in the place. Did I ever takes notes or bring back growlers of these beers? Not once. Nothing against them, just wasn't what I was going to do.

My next visit was in 2014, as one of the last stops on my attempt to bike to each Minneapolis brewery on one day. (Link provided above.) If memory serves, I made it there again later that year for the second annual NE Brewer's Block Party. Is that right? Did they do the first one their first year in business? Or did I go in 2015? Damn this memory! Untappd is no help. My first check-in is for Crystal Hop in 2014, then the two in '16 at the fest, one at a party at Dave's, and then a Rusty Chain at Acadia, when I finally decided to bring them on tap. Only 5 times in 3 1/2 years. Because other places are breweries, and here the focus is cider. And I needn't keep repeating about me and cider.

I biked up to NorthEast Minneapolis that Sunday to take part in this festival in which Sociable hosted just about all of the breweries and distilleries of NE in a big old party in their parking lot. Bands were playing, games were about, tons of food trucks, a jolly good time. I recommend you check it out next time they do this. I had an Indeed, a Dangerous Man, and from the bar inside, a few of
Sociable's beers, and not a single cider. Their ciders are quite good and they really know what they're doing, but I never want to reach for one. I'll try to get my hands on some more cans and review them here in the future.

I didn't stay very long at the festival, had a few beers, took some pics, hung out with friends, and it's in the books, brewery #90. Time to move on, for I was bound to bust into #'s 91, 92, & 93 still that night. And I did too: 612Brew, Clockwerks, & Inbound. I'll get around to them, just as I finally finished this.

Something else: I've never taken notes on the beers, or the ciders, at Sociable because I've always been there in social situations (imagine that), hanging out with friends or relatives. I never pull out the notebook then, at least very rarely. I'll do that soon, as I give them a visit in my new project of revisiting all the local breweries. I'll tell you about that soon. Just what I needed, a new reason to spend money, hang out in breweries, drink beers (and ciders!), and tell you about it.

I don't remember the name of this band. Skipper &
the Little Buddies? 

Seems like I'm always bumping into these guys!

They called this one Peachy Kolsch. It was.

This one they named Hoppy Beer. It was that, too.

Biking the Beers of Minneapolis, Part Two.2: Stabbing Northward

Biking the Brewpubs and Taprooms of Minneapolis, the Adventure Continues!

A break and we're back. When we last left this tale, I was at Dangerous Man Brewing Company, having a Scottish Ale, when along came Tim Olson, of Tallgrass Brewing, with his co-worker Jake. Saturday was the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest, and there were many brewery representatives in town. Tim was kind enough to buy me the pint, and I almost had another, but stuck to the plan, and had one and was done. While briefly on facebook (I was going online periodically and updating my adventure, to the virtual cheers of my fb friends), my sister Lynn sent a message asking where I was headed next. I suspect she was concerned of my safety after eight or nine beers, while on bike. She was going to Indeed with her husband (who is, co-incidentally, actually my brother-in-law! small world), and guess what? So were Tim and Jake. Okay, next up, go from 13th to 15th, then a right turn and all the way to Monroe Street, and there we are...

Brewery #9: Indeed Brewing Company, 711 15th Avenue NE.

Around this time, my note-taking had ceased completely. I can't recall when I left Dangerous Man or when I arrived at Indeed, but I'm going to guess 7:30? I also have to confess that while the directions given above are correct and true, I did not actually follow them. I went into this without taking a map, or printing out Google Maps, or doing anything beyond writing down addresses in my notebook. I've biked to Indeed many times, and I've travelled from Indeed to Dangerous Man on foot, and always found my way there. But I did get lost, as I often do, and once again the Bitter Nib continues it's tradition of being the blog that tells you how I live, rather than demonstrating how one should wisely live. It's just how it is around here.

Eventually I found my way, much more than a mile away, and longer than the six minutes it should have taken. Remember, people: don't be like me! (Except when you should, of course.) And I pulled into the bike rack, and there were my pals Dave and Mikayla on the patio, and so were Tim and Jake, and inside, at a booth, there was sister Lynn, and brother in law Pete. I chose for my beer #9 at brewery #9 the LSD Ale, and you can read my thoughts on that here.

It seemed a little quiet for a Friday night at Indeed when I first rolled in, but after 8 o'clock, boom, along came the crowd. Just in time for me to make my next move. Could I do both 612 Brew, and Sociable Cider Werks (despite it's name, actually a brewery), before going to Harriet to complete 12 breweries in one day (skipping the 13th Minneapolis brewery as of this minute, which is but one among a national chain, the downtown Rock Bottom)? Should I? Would I?

At Indeed's taproom, clockwise from left: Tim, Jake, and, in the foreground, my glass of LSD.

The decision was made when it started to look like rain, at last. I made two snap decisions: 1. skip 612 Brew, and 2. accept sister Lynn's offer to toss my bike in her car and take it to ...

Brewery #10: Sociable Cider Werks, 1500 Filmore St. NE.

This was my second visit to Sociable and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. They're making beers, and with the wort from that beer, they're crating an ale/cider hybrid called "graff", so rare and unknown that it doesn't have a Wikipedia entry? How is this possible when this is actually a fictional invention of Stephen King? Don't these wiki's and pedias talk to each other?

I ordered a beer, something called Crystal Smash, a "Single malt/single hop" beer, while sis and bro-in-law had one of the tart ciders. I remain a non-cider lover, a lover of non-ciders, i.e, not a lover of ciders. Will it ever happen? Pigs have flown, yet they still cannot fly.

At Sociable Cider Werks, clockwise from left, my glass of Crystal Smash, brother-in-law Pete, big sister Lynn.

I said hello to friends in attendance, kept up the routine of frequently remembering the rule of IBU, and with my ale and their ciders tossed down our respective gullets, we travelled eastward, through Dinkytown and the University of Minnesota, across the big river, back into SouthEast Minneapolis, and to our final brewery taproom, a place regular readers should be well familiar with, ...

Brewery #11: Harriet Brewing Company, 3036 Minnehaha Avenue.

Walking into Harriet's taproom, I was informed that a cover charge in effect. They've been so kind to me there on so many occasions, I didn't mind paying it, for myself and my kin. Why the cover? Willie Murphy, local blues/rock legend was in the house.

Front and center, my pint of West-Side Belgian-style IPA, beer #11 at brewery #11, with Willie Murphy, vocals and guitar, directly behind.

 He was actually doing a cover of Lou Donaldson's "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky From Now On." I tried to find it on vinyl to play during the break, but I only have that one on CD. Did have some other funky jazz, and the musicians came over to the turntable to thank me for spinning some Shirley Scott.

the only picture not taken by me, this was shot by sister Lynn, laying down some grooves at Harriet Taproom.

Beer #11 was a pint of West Side Belgian-style India Pale Ale. Beer #12 was a pint of Divine Oculust Belgian-style Strong Golden Ale, and Beer #13 was Juhla Bru, the Finnish-style Sahti, which I was amazed that they still had on.

So?
Did I do it, did I make it to every Minneapolis brewery (brewpub/taproom) in one day? No, I skipped two, for time, and, well, I just didn't feel like it. Did I make it all the way by bike? No, when rain was on the way, I took the easy way out and made the longest leg of the journey ( 4.7 miles from NE to Harriet) by car.

Could you do it? Keep in mind that I only felt a buzz by my 13th glass. In fact, I was okay enough to actually go grocery shopping after leaving Harriet ...which I totally don't remember! Just kidding, I do have vague recollections of that midnight shopping spree, but I don't know why I felt the need for so many bags of Cheetos...Also, keep in mind, that this is me, and everyone's mileage varies. And so, I posit that if I had started this journey earlier (the first stop on the voyage, Herkimer, actually opens at 10 am), I could have spanned 13 pints at 13 stops. Further, I could have chosen smaller pours at some of those visits, but, since I never remembered to ask for them, I got a pint each time. Additionally, a little more food might have helped a bit (I only ate at Northbound, Freehouse, and a food truck at Indeed). Also, for the other stops skipped, they would be easy to include in the same itinerary from this trip. Rock Bottom is only about six blocks away from Fulton, and 612 is only a couple off from Indeed.

Theoretically doable, I hereby establish. But I won't try again. I awoke the next...afternoon...without a hangover, bereft of sickness, but very, very tired. Good thing that I didn't have to work until 5 in the afternoon. Did I ever sleep in. It was a fun day, to be sure. If I try anything similar, and I will, it will be more compartmentalized. On my next day off, Monday, all the brewpubs are open. Hey, why not hit the six of them, but the other way, from Freehouse to Herkimer? My next next day off is a Friday, when all the taprooms are open, I could do Fulton to NE, then that nearly 5 mile stretch (I've done it before, many times) to Harriet. Watch this space. More fun awaits!