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July 14th, 2017

For the Kids: Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Cider

I've been on a cider kick lately. Thanksgiving always makes me think of cider because when I was growing up sparkling cider was the kids champagne. We would drink it out of the little glass flutes and feel like fancy grown ups. Even after I outgrew my braces and started drinking the hard stuff, non-alcoholic sparkling cider has remained a staple during the holiday season. Today I will review two sparkling ciders: Shop Rite's Sparkling imported Spanish cider, and Trader Joe's sparkling cider.

Shop Rite: Imported Spanish cider

   The Pour: Light amber with a gold tint to it. No head to speak of.

The Bouquet: Strong pear to the nose, there is a faint sweetness present as well like a caramel or nougat.

The Sip: Caramel apple, pear notes, with some spice rounding out the base. This was sweeter than ciders I remember having in the past. The first sip is a blast of apple sauce with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top, then it finishes to an apple crumble.

Mouth-Feel: Full-bodied. This is a heavy cider that lingers on the palate for a while. Carbonation is light to medium with soft smooth bubbles.

Overall: The sweetness makes this a great choice for kids on Thanksgiving as an after dinner digestif. I wish it had been more tart, but it was a solid sweet cider and a great option for dessert. Pair with pumpkin, cranberry-raisin, or strawberry rhubarb pies. This needs something with spice tartness, or both to balance out the sweetness.

Trader Joe's: Sparkling Cider

The Pour: Yellow/orange hue with slight head on a 45 degree pour.

The Bouquet: Spicy and tart. There is a distinct note of brown sugar on the nose.

The Sip: Bright notes of tart apples which mellow into a brown sugar sweetness. The tart apple is reminiscent of a baked Granny Smith apple pie with brown sugar and raisins. Finish is quick.

Mouth-Feel: Medium Body. Light carbonation.

Overall: Beautiful cider. Tart and sweetness are very well balanced. Nice easy finish will pleasantly not outstay its welcome, a trait which is more appreciated during the holiday season. This is a great choice for older children or as an alternative to sparkling moscato if you're trying to be good, but want to join in on the toast. This would go great with Thanksgiving dinner.

Cheers,

~William Millman

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Lagunitas: IPA Maximus

The Pour:  Light orange-amber, 2 finger ivory white head.

The Bouquet:  Earthy, piney hops, grapefruit, and pineapple citrus notes are prominent

The Sip: Nice bitterness from the hops and citrus. This is a very hop forward beer with herbal earthy pine hops. Malty sweetness which makes it a little bready.

Mouth-Feel:  Light carbonation, very malty for an IPA, super smooth. Full-bodied hops linger after swallowing.

Overall:  Beautiful. On the maltier side of IPAs that I've had in the past, but I really like this. This IPA has a very nice weight to it. Full-bodied earthy hops bounce around the palate while the malt anchors the whole package. Very easy drinking IPA.  Pair with a burger or pulled pork sandwich, or just drink it by itself.  

Cheers,

~William Millman

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New Holland Brewing Co. Dragon's Milk Stout

The Pour: Pours a dark, midnight black.

The Bouquet: Light notes of caramel, vanilla, roasted cacao, cream, and some woodsy oak.

The Sip: Creamy vanilla and sturdy oak from the bourbon barrel aging cozies up to your tastebuds, a faint roasted coffee note is present with a finish of almond and smooth silky chocolate.

Mouth-Feel: Smooth creamy, medium body, small bubbles with light carbonation.

Overall: One of the silkiest stouts I have had. This beer washes over the palate and embraces your taste buds along the way. Soft caramel softens the slight alcohol bite. The bourbon barrel aging really comes through in the bursts of vanilla. This is a great stout.

Cheers,

~William Millman

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"Ruffino was among the first wineries to rediscover the Chianti Superiore appellation, which forms the perfect bridge between simpler Chianti DOCGs and more complex, deeper Chianti Classicos. Wines under the current Chianti Superiore DOCG code are subject to stricter production standards than Chianti DOCG wines."

~The Ruffino Website

The Pour: This wine has a nice shimmer to it as you hold it up to look through it, with  a light eggplant color.

The Bouquet: Not a lot going on here. Earthy, some berry notes, and some sharpness.

The Sip: Light bright-red cherries, some strawberry, and finally earthy currant. A tinge of vanilla on the back end.

Mouth-Feel: This is a very light bodied wine. It has a quick, crisp finish, and doesn't linger.

Overall: Very easy drinking. Instantly makes your mouth water for the next sip. The light body makes it the perfect aperitivo, or "pre-dinner" wine. I would take a couple bottles of this along for a sunny Sunday picnic with salami, mozzarella, and good olives. This also pairs well with pizza, any kind of pasta with red sauce, and

Cheers,

~William Millman

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The Pour: Pours an resiny orange-amber. 1-Finger creamy white head which disappears moderately quickly, leaving a flecking lacing.

The Bouquet: Herbal, citrusy hops. The herbal notes are that of bright pine. Citrus are orange and faint lemon.

The Sip: The hops are herbal, not overpowering but very much present from the beginning through the finish. The bitterness in the hops shines through as lemon, orange, tangerine (I believe the tangerine comes from the sweetness of the malt), a little pineapple,and pine.

Mouth-Feel: Light to medium body with small sharp bubbles.

Overall: This beer makes me yearn for the beach, the warmth of summer. It is an excellent IPA. Those of you out there who claim to dislike IPA should try this. The maltiness balances the hop bitterness beautifully. Drinks like a session ale, but with the bounce and body of an IPA The tropical hops whisk you away for a mini vacation. 

Cheers,

~William Millman

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Saucony Creek's Maple Mistress

The Pour: Pours a honey-brown, rusty amber. 2-finger Ivory white head, slow-fading with light lacing.

The Bouquet: Smells slightly sweet with caramel, brown sugar, and full-bodied spices.

The Sip: Beautiful sweetness, very powerful but not overwhelming Brown sugar and nougat, with a smack of pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice). There is a warmth to the taste of the Maple Mistress, it tastes like a belgian style with a beautiful mix of bready malts and the kick from the spices. Tastes in between a pumpkin pie tart and pumpkin bread. The maple syrup is present in the sip in its oaky qualities, warm sweetness and mellowness throughout.

Mouth-Feel: Has small light bubbles. Medium body.

Overall: By far and above my favorite pumpkin seasonal. This brew was a pleasure from when it splashed into the glass to the last sip which lingered, cuddling the taste buds. This beer is the perfect post turkey-dinner beer.

Cheers,

~William Millman

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For the First beer review of this blog, I decided to go with the Sweet Baby Jesus Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter out of Du Claw's Vats in Baltimore, MD (http://www.duclaw.com/).

SBJ is famous for putting the Du Claw Brewery   on the map in a big way.

First of all, don't let the "Chocolate Peanut Butter" moniker lead you to believe that this is an overpoweringly sweet beer.  I did not anticipate liking this beer, and was very pleasantly surprised.

The Pour:  SBJ pours a "dark chocolate" brown hue with a caramel tan head.  There is a nice lacing that occurs throughout the drinking experience.

The Bouquet:  SBJ is a very aromatic beer.  There are heavy tones of caramel, roasted malt and coffee, as well as a roasted nut smell.  The roasted nut smell was more reminiscent of fresh almond butter than peanut butter.

The Sip:  Starts with a smooth, slightly sweet chocolate and coffee.  The roasted malt is very much present while not being overpowering or distracting from the overall experience.  To put it in musical terms, the malt is the kick drum in this rock song of a beer, it adds a great foundation and everything sort of swirls around it but it is not the main focus for the person enjoying this beer.  The malt is also responsible for this beer having a toasted oats quality to it, something I found very interesting in my experience with the SBJ.    The peanut butter doesn't hit you until the finish on the first sip, but is more present as it opens up. Again, it reminds me more of almond butter than peanut butter.

Mouth-Feel:  Not an overpowering carbonation, but this beer definitely has some bounce to it.  It isn't a super thick/heavy beer which I find nice.

Overall:  This beer is very, very good.  Through my conversations with people I have found that some people think that with a heavier body the SBJ would make the perfect dessert beer.  I think that this is misguided.  To me, this is the perfect breakfast beer. Sitting at a comfortable 6.5% I could see enjoying it with a BLT on wholegrain portuguese roll, or with some maple oatmeal or gluten free-pancakes on a hazy November morning.

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