Peaks & Pints argues that autumn is a super season, at least when it comes to food and drink. What we eat and drink this time of year evokes memories more easily than what we consume in other seasons. This is the time of year we dust off crockpots and Dutch ovens for soups and stews, filled — at least right now — with the remaining harvests of our local farms. This is when we flock to orchards for fresh-picked apples and hops, and when we scoop out globs of pumpkin seeds for roasting. We drop cinnamon sticks in hot cider, and warm up chocolate with piquant spices. We’re heartened that in these divided times, it seems like we can all at least agree on fall. The cool weather, the smell of crabapples on wet leaves redolent of schooldays past, warm spices baking in the oven, fresh hops harvest, and delicious cider … who could argue with any of that? Peaks & Pints has rounded up five delicious hard ciders for an autumn day that we call Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: Fresh Autumnfest.
Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: Fresh Autumnfest
2 Towns Hollow Jack
6.4% ABV
In late 2010, Corvallis homebrewers Aaron Sarnoff-Wood and Lee Larsen filled a gap in the college town’s drinking scene — cider. The duo opened 2 Towns Ciderhouse crafting unique ciders brewed with the traditional English and French-style’s tannic apples, Oregon grown, of course. Made from A brew of fresh-pressed apples, caramelized pumpkin, and sweet potatoes, 2 Towns Ciderhouse Hollow Jack is basically fall in a glass. The pumpkin flavor isn’t overwhelming, which is enjoyable and not too sweet.
Seattle Cider Pumpkin Spice
6.9% ABV
Seattle Cider Pumpkin Spice is a flavorful, small batch of seasonal cider crafted by the same folks that bring you Two Beers Brewing. Seattle Cider Company combines fresh pressed Washington apples with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves for a semi-sweet cider with just a touch of pumpkin.
Bellingham Cider Spiced Pumpkin
8.7% ABV
Bellingham Cider’s Spiced Pumpkin reminds us of a scrumpy mixed with a pumpkin pie slice. It’s a semi-sweet for sure, but tart, which keeps it right in between a semi-dry and semi-sweet flavor.
Bauman’s Fresh Hop Centennial
6.9% ABV
In 1895, on the West Coast, between Salem and Portland, Bauman Farms was first homesteaded by Elizabeth Bauman and her teenage sons, Stephen and Leo. Stephen eventually married at the cider apples on their Gervais, Oregon, farm, with the barrels in their barn fermenting the goods into hard cider. His great granddaughter, Christine Walter, armed with a degree in biochemistry from Lewis & Clark University, revived her great grandfather’s hard cider operation, taking advantage of the family farm history spanning five generations, her work ethic growing up on the farm and modern-day cidermaking methods. She opened Bauman’s Cider Company in 2016, honoring Stephen Bauman on the cider’s branding. This year’s Bauman’s Fresh Hop Cider revolves around fresh Centennial hops from Crosby Hop Farm in Oregon offering citrus notes.
Yonder Fresh Hop Vantage
6.5% ABV
Yonder Cider’s Vantage juicy, tart, semi-dry cider is heavily dry hopped with Citra fresh hops from Bale Breaker Brewing for big pineapple candy aroma and notes of grapefruit zest plus lychee.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
