A Flowery Song

Background: Yes, it’s another cider from the folks that brought you Newton’s Folly. According to the website, this is made from a blend of Granny Smith and European cider apples.

Nose: Slightly appley.

Taste: Lightly effervescent, fairly dry with a nice malic tartness and decent apple flavour.

Overall: Light and refreshing, but there’s not much to it.

Background: Bottles claims it to be “The Hefeweizen”. We shall see.

Appearance: Crystal clear, no trace of suspended yeast. Nice pale orange colour with gold highlights.

Nose: Oranges.

Taste: Spicy wheat and citrus.

Overall: Not picking up any real yeast character (the “hefe” part of a hefeweizen), and overall it seems bland and uninspired. Easy to drink, but just as easy to forget. (I am wondering if they either modified the beer or there's a significant amount of bottle-to-bottle variability, since several reviews that I'm seeing mention significant haze.)

Background: Courtesy of those wild folks at Magic Hat Brewing, every time you grab a beer you can be reminded to vote in the upcoming election. The label says that this is “A beer to provoke political discussion” and exhorts you to “Get out and VOTE 11.04.08″ (half a moment–that's today!) Well, every time you grab a beer, you can be reminded of the warm fuzzy feeling you had after voting in the recent election. Oh, there's also a blurb for HeadCount. Magic Hat's website is a piece of Flash-infested shite and the bottle doesn't say, so I'm guessing it's supposed to be a standard American lager.

Appearance: Pale gold body, dense white head.

Nose: Grassy hops, grainy malt.

Taste: Toasty, grainy corn and a solid herbaceous hop presence. Hints of caramel and spice round out the flavour.

Overall: Surprisingly nuanced and flavourful. Not really my cup of tea, but I can definitely see people liking it.

Background: From American Hard Cider Co. in Vermont. A sparkling cider.

Appearance: Crystal-clear body coloured a deep coppery orange.

Nose: Acidic apple character displays some mustiness.

Taste: Lightly sweet front, mild tannins and medium acidity heading into the finish. Slight fruity esters and a mild generic apple taste.

Mouthfeel: Light and crisp with medium carbonation. A bit of astringency on the finish.

Overall: Not bad at all. Very refreshing, with a good balance of sweetness and tart acidity. Straightforward and well executed.

Background: Varietal cider from Vermont.

Presentation: Green stubbie, pours a slightly green-tinted clear. 5% ABV.

Nose: Green apple and a light earthiness.

Taste: Slightly sweet; crisp granny smith flavour with mild tartness.

Overall: Clean, light cider. As a cider it's not very impressive, but it's certainly quite refreshing.