{"id":10352,"date":"2014-06-30T05:00:18","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T09:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=10352"},"modified":"2014-06-23T11:28:56","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T15:28:56","slug":"apple-ciders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/apple-ciders\/","title":{"rendered":"How About Them Apple Ciders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few people understand the challenge of changing the public\u2019s drinking preferences better than Greg Hall. Back in 1988, Hall\u2019s father launched a little Chicago brewpub called Goose Island. Hall joined the company, rising through the ranks to brewmaster. The late \u201980s and early \u201990s were still an embryonic time for craft beer\u2014there were no rules, only potential.<\/p>\n

The brewhouse became Hall\u2019s private lab. He fiddled with wild yeasts and barrel aging, devising such beers as Bourbon County Stout and Belgian ales that rivaled wines for dinner-table dominance. Under Hall\u2019s stewardship Goose grew into one of America\u2019s most influential breweries. So when his family sold the company in 2011, Hall sought a new challenge: cider. \u201cThere are so many similarities between cider [in 2011] and where craft beer was in the \u201980s,\u201d Hall says.<\/p>\n

\"Greg<\/a><\/p>\n

Hall knew cider desperately needed a facelift, much as craft beer had back then. At the time, sweetened alcoholic beverages such as wine coolers were wildly popular. In response, many companies rolled out candysweet hard ciders as complex as Pixie Stix. Yet as recently as 150 years ago, cider was America\u2019s favored alcohol. It was easily produced, and farmers could transform extra fruit into a financial windfall. As America industrialized, however, breweries began populating burgeoning city centers; ciders remained on the farm, far from customers. The deathblow was Prohibition. By the time it ended, cider was synonymous with apple juice. Hard cider? It was a seasonal specialty, only enjoyed in the fall. Hall wondered, Why not summer? Why not every day?<\/p>\n

To restore cider\u2019s standing and year-round worth, Hall looked to the coastal regions of France, Spain, and England, which have cultivated deep traditions of cider and cheese. \u201cThe two things that grow great with 40 inches of rain are apple trees and grass,\u201d he says, laughing. He decided to launch the cidery Virtue Brands in 2011 in Fennville, Mich. As with cheesemakers seeking fresh, high-quality milk, Hall sourced heirloom apples from Illinois as well as Michigan, which has more than 1,000 apple farmers, many small and family owned.<\/p>\n

At Virtue, Hall applies the same techniques of fermentation, blending, and aging that he perfected at Goose Island. He doesn\u2019t just press apples and call it a day, the way some cideries do. For example, the English-style RedStreak is fermented with three yeast strains, resulting in a dry, elegant elixir. Farm-made Norman ciders inspire Percheron, which is inoculated with wild yeast and fermented in used wine barrels, resulting in a rustic and lightly funky cider. And the terroir-focused Estate Series highlights apples from a single farmer. \u201cThere are so many paths that craft cider can take,\u201d Hall says.<\/p>\n

Thanks to cider\u2019s palate-cleansing acidity, one path leads directly to the cheese plate. With pairing, Hall recommends paying attention to contrasting and complementary flavors. For contrast, try pairing a zippy, high-acid cider such as a Spanish-style sidra with a sheep\u2019s milk cheese such as El Trigal Aged Manchego, or perhaps a high-tannin English cider with Montgomery\u2019s Cheddar (fittingly, the cows are fed apples). As for complementary flavors, think of mingling a stinky Livarot or barnyard-y Camembert such as Le Ch\u00e2telain with equally rustic Norman or Basque ciders. These types of ciders also excel with washed-rind cheeses. And if you favor a pungent blue such as Cashel Blue or Jasper Hill Farm\u2019s Bayley Hazen Blue, seek out a sweeter cider to create a rich and funky pairing.<\/p>\n

Given cider\u2019s easy fit with foods, it makes sense that Hall has found a home for Virtue at farm-to-table restaurants and craft-beer bars and shops around the United States. \u201cThe whole cider phenomenon is going nuts,\u201d says Hall, thankful for his chance to again reshape an industry. \u201cYou don\u2019t get to do this twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIVE TO TRY<\/h3>\n

FARNUM HILL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Summer Cider<\/em><\/p>\n

The warm-weather seasonal from New Hampshire\u2019s highly regarded Farnum Hill is golden and gorgeously effervescent, with just enough sweetness to balance out the acidity.<\/p>\n

FOGGY RIDGE CIDER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pippin Gold<\/em><\/p>\n

Blue cheese would be an ideal pairing for the Virginia cidery\u2019s unique hybrid. It unites Newtown Pippin hard cider with apple brandy, resulting in an intensely rich and fruity elixir that\u2019s best slowly sipped.<\/p>\n

SARASOLA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sagardoa<\/em><\/p>\n

Northern Spain\u2019s town of Astigarraga is legendary for its Basque ciders, and among the best is the sour-sweet Sarasola, which partners a tannic charge with tropical fruit and complex funk.<\/p>\n

VIRTUE CIDER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sidra de Nava<\/em><\/p>\n

The invigoratingly tart, intensely citrusy Spanish-style cider is, like fresh-squeezed lemonade, an ideal summertime thirst quencher.<\/p>\n

WANDERING AENGUS CIDERWORKS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wickson<\/em><\/p>\n

The Oregon release is made solely with Wickson apples, which lend a decidedly citrusy profile to the tart and bone-dry cider. It\u2019d go great with goat cheese.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Image by Christopher Elwell\/Shutterstock.com<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hard apple ciders aren’t just for autumn, and Michigan’s Virtue Brands is at the forefront of a revolution to prove it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"coauthors":[309],"class_list":["post-10352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cheese-pairings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow About Them Apple Ciders - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hard apple ciders aren't just for autumn, and Michigan's Virtue Brands is at the forefront of a revolution to prove it\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/apple-ciders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How About Them Apple Ciders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hard apple ciders aren't just for autumn, and Michigan's Virtue Brands is at the forefront of a revolution to prove it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/apple-ciders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-30T09:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Cider.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"368\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joshua M. 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