metalpeter - 02/11/11 17:28
Apple Cider is great Apple Juice not so much so it sounds like this might be a good place to start with Cider until I find the best one.......

heidi - 02/11/11 02:04
I liked this hard cider, but i'm finding most hard ciders to be disappointing in that they're more like champagne than cider. They're heavily filtered, which means it's really fermented apple juice. (The distinction between apple juice and apple cider is filtration.) I like cider to have stuff in it and be a nice toasty brown, which is not what you get with most commercial hard ciders. I'm open to recommendations! My fav is homebrew cider, of course. Yum yum yum yum with fond memories attached.

jason - 02/10/11 18:07
I can answer that, Peter. It's hard cider, not beer. Actually it's a very good hard cider, although I admit I don't try a bunch of them myself.

James - If you like sours, try Ithaca's Brute or Ithaca's LeBleu. I would say Brute is on the "less sour" side between the two - a sour apple flavor. When I had LeBleu (imagine what the fruit is - not very pronounced, however) it was all about the brett.

metalpeter - 02/10/11 17:01
Question? Original Sin Hard Apple Cider is that a beer that is apple cider flavored or is it a cider I guess this question is also about what it tastes like as well?

heidi - 02/10/11 15:26
I hated the La Roja - more than slightly reminiscent of Robitussin. A couple people really liked it. I liked the Gueuze a lot and would definitely try it again. It was my first time trying lambics.

Next beer club: March 9. The focus will be on stouts. Not my fav, but I'd like to explore that type in more depth.

jbeatty - 02/10/11 12:29
I'm doing my best to drink more lambics these days. My first Gueze was the Cantillion and it definitely was a totally different beer drinking experience. I guess the term would be "it's an aquired taste". At New Years My brother and I shared a bottle of Girardin 1882 Black Label which was the most Barnyardy beer I have ever had. I have a bottle of the Fonteinen Oude Gueze on hand just waiting for the right moment and right crowd to be opened.

I'm really curious what you thought of the Jolly Pumkin La Roja. I haven't really had a whole lot of sours other than Duchesse de Bourgogne which I loved.

jason - 02/10/11 11:37
Interesting, you tried the Schaerbeekse Kriek. Out of the three Lambics, that's probably the one that is going to be the most traditional representation of the style out of the three. It also uses the Morello cherries grown around Brussels that is traditional for a Kriek.

It's interesting you are trying out the sours. The most traditional representation of Lambic comes from Cantillon, with the taste not being sweet but sour, really sour. The Cantillon Kriek has cherry as sort of an accent flavor.

Gueuze is a different animal altogether. Blended lambics, no fruit added. Big boy and big girl beer. Given how sweet the Lindemans stuff is I wonder how that went. I've tried a few and they will pucker your freaking mouth up. I like the Lambics/Sours myself.

heidi - 02/10/11 09:49
The whole list with our group's score of each:
Abita Purple Haze 6.33
Original Sin Hard Apple Cider 5.44
Unibroue Ephemere (Apple) 6.99
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence 5.55
Southern Tier Choklat 7.88
Lindemans Kriek 6.22
Lindemans Gueuze 4.66
Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek 3.22
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja 4.66
Pearl Street Belgian Sour 2

My three top were Unibroue, Original Sin, and Gueze sour.

jbeatty - 02/10/11 06:58
Three Lambics in one sitting wow! I do love Ephemere! and anything from Southern Tier. What is the second from the left?

heidi - 02/10/11 01:04
Darn, there are only seven in the pic!

lilho - 02/08/11 12:33
happy belated bday lady. :o)

metalpeter - 02/07/11 18:32
Happy Birth Day LeeTee.............

leetee - 02/06/11 22:43
Thanks, guys! :o)

paul - 02/06/11 21:04
Happy birthday!!!

tinypliny - 02/06/11 19:52
Have a wonderful year ahead, (e:leetee)!! :-)

heidi - 02/06/11 15:47
(This is a not-so-subtle hint to (e:Matthew).)

tinypliny - 02/06/11 14:03
Trugding about in all that snow is a lot of exercise.

metalpeter - 02/06/11 12:31
the snow even though dark does look nice........