Beer and Cider
Story by Paije Maas | Photos by Emma Ward | Design by Emma Stark
The bar doors make a small squeal of joy as you and your friends enter. The music is hoppin’ and the people are boppin’. The wall is lined with eight taps and a chalkboard lists over 13 specialty beers and ciders but how are you to choose?
A night out with friends is supposed to be a time away from your stress. It is a time to laugh, a time to dance and even a time to unwind. There comes a moment when you are faced with the only obligation of the night, “What can I get started for you?” These words can reflect how your entire evening will pan out. Will you pick a beer or cider that tastes amazing right off the bat? Or will you choose one that makes your face look like an elderly british woman from historic dramas, pinched and dissatisfied.
How do you know which beer or cider is best for you?
“I would go in with an open mind. You are going to notice that your palate will change over time,” Tyler Witthuhn, the founder of Pretty Fair Beer in Ellensburg, says. “I started loving blonde ale’s and now I am into whatever funky flavors I can find.”
He recommends finding three or four beers or ciders that are completely different from each other. This could be an all-American lager, a dark beer that has more “roasted coffee flavors,” and then of course, Pretty Fair Beer’s most popular New England IPA which gives off “floral juicy flavors.”
Matt Armstrong, the owner of Dark Moon Craft Beer, suggests that ciders are always a great option to start with because they are not filled with the bitterness of beer and still have the juicy flavors. As far as beer is concerned, he suggests some of the fruity or more classic beers.
You want to make sure you are dabbling into a wide range of flavors so you can answer the question, “Do you like bitterness?” and “Do you like sweetness?”
Bitter vs. Sweet
Rikki Wells, quality control specialist at Iron Horse Brewery, recommends the flight option. “The no-brainer would be to go to a brewery and get a flight so you can try it all.”
She recommends thinking about what kinds of flavors you enjoy in your food dishes. Perhaps a summer salad with cranberries and walnuts with a balsamic dressing.These are tastes that many people’s palates have experienced, so to give off some of the same flavors you could choose a cranberry cider or a Belgian whit.
If you are more into the backyard barbeque smoky flavors, a stout would go perfectly with your food because their similar roast flavors will complement each other.
When it comes to finding the perfect flavor for you, it could be beneficial to know the ingredients and the process each beer and cider goes through. This may help you make judgments just by looking at the type of beer.
What’s in the drinks?
According to Witthuhn, beer has four main ingredients: grain, water, hops and yeast. The grain used is malted, meaning it has started to germinate after sitting in water and having the sugars extracted. After the sugars are extracted it is then boiled to stabilize them.
Witthuhn says that from this point, “we add hops which will add the bittering agents or flavors.” After flavoring, it is time to begin a process called fermentation.
Witthuhn explains fermentation is when the yeast creates CO2 and alcohol. Since each beer is different, during the fermentation process more hops can be added to create juicier flavors and aromas. The beer-making process is a gratifying yet technical job.
When creating beer, breweries use about seven gallons of water per gallon of beer. With respect to the amount of fluid used, this is a huge number. Witthuhn says that he and many others would love to see a shift into a more environmentally friendly way of crafting beer, but that will take time.
“There are certain companies like Sierra Nevada Brewing Company that has it down to 1.5 gallons of water to every gallon of beer infused and that is a big deal,” Withuhn says. When it comes to making beer, you have choices on what flavors and ingredients you add to it, but with cider, “you get what you get.”
“With cider, they will get the apples, they will be cleaned and pressed and the liquid from that is just the liquid. You can’t change what the gravity of it is,” Wells says. The flavor in cider is all from the different apples used.
Even though apples are the sole ingredient in cider, you can add various other ingredients such as pineapple, mango or even peach.
Fall Spread
Similar to fashion, beer and cider trends tend to change seasonally. What is popular and available in the summer may change come fall and winter.
Owner of Dark Moon Craft, Matt Armstrong suggests that if you were to try out a flight that is in season, anything pumpkin or Oktoberfest (which is usually a heavier lager) is a perfect start. These beers are going to be “a reddish amber color and not too dark but not too light”.
Wells suggests that since it is the peak of the harvest season, a fresh hop IPA would be a great addition to the fall spread. A cranberry cider would be perfect for around the holidays. You could match it with your Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing.
