Cider and Perry
Today I dragged Elizabeth out to Eden (she still wants to move there and plant a garden) for a workshop on cider and perry. I’m not sure if the host is a member of the Niagara Association of Homebrewers (or the Sultans of Swig), but there were definitely some NAH people there as well, and the day was focused on making your own as well as commercial examples.
It started with a tour of part of his 50 acres of land. Yeah, 50 acres. That was pretty cool, especially to see an orchard in the making. Then we ate some great food and got down to business… tasting.
I’m still very much a novice when it comes to tasting, but I think I’m definitely whipping my palate into some semblance of shape. We started with ’spiked’ examples, and I was proud to nail the diacetyl example right off the bat. Of course, it tasted like the cider had a few tablespoons of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and three or four Werther’s Originals in it, but catching it at all is reason for celebration in my book.
While I’m not at all well versed in styles of beer, at least in my mind I think I identify more with British styles than American. I assumed it would transfer over to cider as well, but the British examples were my least favorites. Elizabeth and I liked a sparkling cider from Quebec the best, and in general I thought the sparkling examples tasted better than the stills. I assume that’s more because of being sparkling than a trend in quality, but it’s good to know for the future.
I had never had perry (fermented pear juice) before, so it was a good learning experience. They didn’t taste as much like pears as I thought they would, though the host pointed out that most people equate ‘pears’ with ‘Bartlett.’ Some had definite pear aroma and flavor, and one had a great balance of not being dry without being sweet. It seems like it’s fairly hard to find perries, so while any chance to try multiple examples of a style in succession is a great learning experience, I may not have this sort of chance again for a while (if ever).
The downside, of course, is that I’m going to take a sip of my next cider (which I really need to transfer to secondary) and say, ‘Oh god, that’s mousy!’