Last night I had the opportunity to sample a bottle of Lansdowne, the newest Artisanal Reserve cider from Minneapolis headquartered Crispin. This newest addition to the Crispin lineup is named after the Lansdowne Road Stadium, home to Irish rugby until it’s demolition in 2007. Crispin owner Joe Heron is a big rugby fan. The company even sponsors rugby teams.

Irish rugby is not the only thing Irish about this cider. Continuing the experiment started with The Saint, a cider fermented with Belgian ale yeast, Lansdowne is fermented with Irish ale yeast and finished off with organic molasses for a startlingly stout-like effect.

Lansdowne joins Honey Crisp and The Saint in the Artisanal Reserve series and should appear in stores in the next few weeks.

Here’s my notes:

Lansdowne
Crispin Cider Company, Minneapolis, MN & Colfax, CA
Style: Cider with molasses and Irish ale yeast
Serving Style: 22 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Malty, caramel, and butterscotch. Perhaps even a bit toasty. Fresh apple isn’t timid, but stays slightly in the background. Reminds me of the apple butter my grandma used to make.

Appearance: Light fizz. Murky amber. Remember to rouse the yeast to get the proper effect. Not especially pretty to look at.

Flavor: Autumn. Ripe red apples. Mostly sweet, but has a light, balancing, acidic tartness that prevents it becoming cloying. The molasses comes through strong at the start giving mouth-filling caramel and burnt sugar flavors. Raisins. The yeasty butterscotch from the aroma carries into the flavor, again reminding me of grandma’s apple butter. Big and full-flavored.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied and slightly viscous. The thickness is cut by a refreshing, spritzy carbonation. A touch of warming alcohol.

Overall Impression: Upon first smelling this cider I got a mental image of fall-colored leaves blowing in the wind. This cider screams autumn. Big, rich, and sweet with complex caramel, fruit, and butterscotch flavors, it is perfect for the light chill of October in Minnesota. To those who complain that Crispin ciders are too sweet, this one will seem over the top, as the molasses/burnt sugar sweetness is only barely balanced by the apple acidity. Those who are particularly sensitive to buttery diacetyl may not be crazy about this one. I am particularly insensitive to diacetyl and found it quite pleasant. Perhaps my favorite of Crispin’s Artisanal Reserve ciders.

A few days ago I posted about a Crispin Cider dinner I attended at A25. One of the highlights of that event was a pre-release sampling of The Saint, the new artisanal reserve release from Minneapolis based Crispin. I enjoyed it that night, but felt I should give it a proper tasting before writing more formal tasting notes. I know this is a beer blog, but many beer fans also like cider and this one is fermented with trappist ale yeast. Seems appropriate to me. Here’s my notes:

The Saint
Crispin Cider Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hard Cider with Trappist Yeast and Organic Maple Syrup
Serving Style: 22 oz bottle

Aroma: Fresh fruit. Tart apples and pears. Hint of bready yeast. Light cotton candy/herbal Belgian yeast phenolics.

Appearance: Color is light straw and quite hazy. Be sure to rouse the yeast off the bottom of the bottle before you pour this one. Forms a light head on pouring that dissipates immediately into nothing.

Flavor: Sweet red apple skins with hints of pear as in the aroma. Tart apple rides the sides of the tongue in the middle. Towards the end the maple kicks in and lasts long after the swallow. The maple sweetness balances the tart apple. The flavor is there but not overwhelming. Throughout the Trappist yeast gives very pleasant marshmallow/herbal/vanilla notes. Light alcohol.

Mouthfeel: Gently sparkling. Medium body but with a mouth-filling roundness. Smooth and drinkable.

Overall Impression: Quite delightful. An easy-drinking mix of tart apple and maple sweetness. Intriguing yeast-derived flavors set it apart from other commercial ciders. Puts me in mind of some of the funkier French ciders, but not quite. If you like cider and Belgian ales then give this a try.

Snowstorm be damned! Monday night I slogged through the mush to attend a Crispin Cider dinner at A25 Sushi & Saki Bar on Nicolette. When I heard about this event my first thought was how well cider would pair with sushi, and the pairings on offer confirmed my hunch. The intimate group in attendance was treated to four courses from the recently reconfigured and re-visioned A25 (formerly Anemoni Sushi) each paired with Crispin Cider or a custom Crispin cocktail devised by A25’s resident mixologist. Crispin’s owner Joe Heron was on hand to greet guests and answer questions. So as outside snow fell and cars were towed, we sat comfortably inside enjoying a great meal and great conversation.

Upon arrival we were greeted with a sneak preview of Crispin’s newest Artisanal Reserve cider, The Saint. I was told that this was the first public pouring of this new cider. The Saint is made from a blend of fresh-pressed apples with maple syrup added. The real kicker is the Belgian Trappist ale yeast used to ferment it. The result is a cloudy cider with moderate apple flavor and acidity. The maple syrup adds some balancing sweetness and subtle flavors while the Trappist yeast give a nice herb and spice phenolic edge. The yeast character is more subtle than you would find in classic Trappist ales, but it’s still enough to call this a “Belgian” cider. It was refreshing and fruity on ice, but I preferred it straight up for a more intense flavor. Look for more complete tasting notes for The Saint coming later.

The first course was sea bass with black bean sauce on a bed of bak choi. This paired excellently with the first Crispin cocktail called Original Sin, consisting of Crispin Brut, Ketel One Citron, lemon juice, diced ginger and ginger simple syrup. This concoction was another highlight of the night for me. I ordered another at the end of the meal. The wonderful floral, citrus and ginger flavors of Original Sin brought out similar spicy ginger notes in the black bean sauce. The fish was nicely prepared and attractively presented.

Course two, a sashimi sampler with Crispin Honey Crisp, was the best food of the night and the best pairing. The plate was beautifully arranged with an assortment of very fresh sashimi. The light carbonation and acidity of the cider cut the fat of the fish, while the vinous sweetness and body was bold enough to stand up to wasabi.

The third course was crispy pork tenderloin paired with the second Crispin cocktail called Intelligent Design. This course was the least successful in both the food and the pairing. While the pork tenderloin wasn’t bad, it didn’t stand out like the previous dishes. The presentation was uninteresting, just the sliced tenderloin on a white plate with a small timbale of white rice. Had I not known it was “crispy” pork tenderloin I’m not sure that’s how I would have described it. Again, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t at the same level as the other dishes. Similarly, the cocktail, consisting of Honey Crisp, lemon juice, Plymouth Gin, honey water, and Parfait Amour orange liqueur was tasty, but not as seductively delicious as the first and it didn’t do all that much to complement the dish.

Desert, a sweet rice and cheesecake roll with a cider, honey and ginger reduction ended the meal on a high note. The fried roll had just the right amount of sweetness and the reduction was like a caramel apple dipping sauce drizzled on the plate. It worked very well with the Honey Crisp cider that I had left from the earlier course.

I was lucky to sit at a table with Joe Heron so we spent the evening talking cider and beer as I tried to tease out what we can look forward to from Crispin. He hinted at more experiments with yeast and revealed that they are opening up several new markets in the coming weeks. The best bit of news for me stems from Crispin’s recent acquisition of the Fox Barrel Cidery in California. Fox barrel produces three wonderful ciders, a hard cider, a pear cider, and a black currant cider, that I tried on recent trips to the Bay Area. Joe says we can look for these great products becoming available in the Twin Cities in the coming weeks.

A great crowd at the Cedar Cultural Center.

A nice crowd gathered at the Cedar Cultural Center last night for the Zipp’s Spring Beer Tasting event. Part beer festival, part charity fund-raiser for the Cedar, this event brought together distributor, importer, and brewery reps in a showcase of over 100 regional and national beers. $20 bought your entry and included a tasting glass and all the samples you could consume. There was also a silent auction with proceeds going to support the Cedar Cultural Center. The auction included lots of beer swag, like glassware, t-shirts, and hats, along with biking paraphernalia and even a bike. Zipp’s did a similar event last fall that was not nearly as well attended. It was great to see so many people turn out to taste good beer and support a great cause.

I focused my tasting on beers that I had not yet tasted and I must say there were startlingly few. I ran through that list in fairly short order. There were a couple of standouts both on the good side and the disappointing side. By far the best beer I tasted all night was Flashback, an imperial brown ale from Boulder Brewing in Colorado. This beer is currently only available as the mystery seasonal beer in the Boulder sampler pack. It has a luscious caramel and toast malt profile with a backbone of light roast. The malt is balanced by nice resinous hop character and medium bitterness. I would gladly drink a pint of this. I went back for seconds and thirds of this beer. Another beer that I liked was the Big Red Imperial Red Ale from Southern Tier. This is another balanced beer with rich caramel malt and citrus/pine hops and nice fruity notes. The bitterness is restrained making for an easy drinking beer even with the high alcohol.

The biggest disappointment of the night was 2009 from Lagunitas. All hop flavor, with too little bitterness and too little malt, this was like drinking a lightly sugary, watery glass of orange-grapefruit juice. I like the beers from Lagunitas, but I’ll pass on this one. Another disappointment from an otherwise great brewery was Mom Hefeweizen from Rogue. A hefeweizen brewed with ginger and coriander, this to me was a so-so wheat beer with overwhelming ginger and a little bit of soapiness. I wanted more wheat. I wanted more hefe.

The real pleasant surprise of the night was Crispin Cider from right here in Minneapolis. They were there with three varieties of natural apple cider. The Brut was the best of the three, tart but with a mellowing sweetness, full of fresh apple, vanilla, and vinous fruity flavors. The lighter Original and even the 3.2% ABV Light were also quite tasty. I have only recently learned to like cider, but I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up a six-pack of Crispin.