I liked this one.įinnriver Barrel Berry Sour: A 6.5% sour blueberry-apple cider which was barrel aged. The scent was quite dry, but it came across as semi-sweet to me in taste (although Schilling had it listed as dry per their taste test). I didn’t know anything about this cider going into it, but put it on my flight card as I’ve been impressed by Aspall so far. All around complex and tasty! This was also still on tap as of Sept 25.Īspall John Barrington: A 8.4% cider from Aspall in the UK. I loved the honey flavor which was bold but not overdone. On the sweet & syrupy side, but very flavorful. I’ve had both meads and ciders from Moonlight, and now a cyser. It was then barrel aged in Jim Beam barrels for 6 months. Moonlight Meadery The Last Apple: A 16% ABV cyser (when apple juice is blended with honey, then fermented). Highly recommended! They still had some of this on tap as of Sept 25 by the way. I loved the honey and almost floral notes. Definitely booze-forward, but I found it easily drinkable on its own when it was cold (and I usually don’t do straight alcohol). However, its not really cider at this ABV, more like apple brandy, apple jack, Pommeau, apple spirits, whatever you want to call it.

I’m a little unclear as to how it was made (I heard once it was fortified with brandy and another time it was distilled cider). Schilling Barrel #2: A 21% ABV concoction which was barrel aged. Also, although I didn’t yet know it, I would also be trying some bottled cider! I should have just gone for the full 6, as I think it ends up being cheaper, but I was holding out to try some 2 Towns stuff later. Then Mick found me and I went over to the cool kids table with the distributor dudes. I sat at the cider house bar for a few minutes to figure out what I wanted to start with. I picked up a tasty Caprese sandwich from across the street. It was officially 6-9pm (when the 2 Towns guys were there), but they had the 2 Towns selections on tap much earlier. I got there quite awhile before the event started. Sarah from Cider Log is the manager at the Schilling Cider House now, I finally got to meet Mick from Click Distributing (we’ve chatted on Facebook quite a bit), and I also met some folks from some other distributors as well. It was only my second time there, but I’ve already gone back for a third visit the following week. You can’t beat their 32 cider tap selection! Plus they have a huge bottle selection, all chilled, and you can see every bottle and look at the label and such.

I’m a fan of 2 Towns, and got to meet up with some great cider folks, so I was very happy nonetheless. I honestly would have rather gone to the Barrel Aged event they had the night before, but that didn’t work for my schedule. The last Washington Cider Week event I attended was the 2 Towns Tap Night at the Schilling Cider House in the Fremont neighborhood from Seattle (Thurs Sept 17, 2015).

Two towns marionberry cider