Category: Beer Style

Follow This Rainbow

I’m a sucker for anything tropical. Pineapple, mango, coconut-scented sunscreen—GET IN MY BELLY. And as a foodie, I also love herbaceous flavors. That’s why finding this Rainbow Seeker Pineapple + Sage Hard Cider by Blake’s Hard Cider Co. had me thanking the alcohol gods in the aisle at Garfields.
Bright colors on the can = bright flavor inside. I have to admit, on the first sip, all I tasted was your typical apple cider. Delicious, not teeth-rot sweet, but not quite as dry as I typically like, especially after an afternoon of picking up rain-splattered dog poop and mowing the lawn.
Once I remembered I was writing an article and not just farting around and drinking, I let myself experience this semi-sweet cider. That’s when the pineapple flavor revealed itself to me like a shy lover.

Moment of honesty: I was raised on canned pineapple. I love my mother. She’s nearly infallible. But this and microwaveable bacon may have been her only two mistakes.

But this. This little can of ROYGBIV is nothing like canned pineapple. The pineapple is natural, real, and subtle, more of an undertone lending bright acidity than a main player, and it gives this gluten free cider that fresh-from-the-Jewel-produce-section flavor.
The sage? Nowhere to be found, I’m sorry to say. Maybe someone with a more sensitive palette can pick it up, but I can’t taste it, and it kind of breaks my heart.
At 5.5% ABV, beer bros would call this a “sessionable” cider. This zesty little can ain’t gonna slam you to the floor, which means you get to drink more than one. Hell, you can drink more than three and probably be ok to sensibly text your ex. Try it.*
Rainbow Seeker is part of Blake’s Hard Cider Co.’s Kinder Cider Series, which partners with nonprofits to give back to communities. This psychedelic colored can touts the company’s partnership with the Human Rights Campaign.

As a millennial (deal wit’ it), I like products that support causes. I like buying products from companies that support others’ wellbeing. And more than anything, I like knowing that my drunk is helping out our LGBTQ community. That means I’ll definitely be trying the rest of Blake’s Hard Cider’s collection.

*Chicago Craft is not liable for any text messages leading to the breakup of a current relationship or .

Katie O’Shaughnessy
Foreign Correspondent, Ciders

Duck, Duck, Gose!

http://Chicago-craft.com

After sifting through a sea of stouts, IPA’s and sours, we find ourselves looking for something new. This frothy cross-roads may not only take us on a boozy adventure, but ultimately leads to something reborn from history…

The Gose beer.

Think of it as a slightly salty take on a sour with a low ABV. Some people love this brew, others say it tastes like sweat. But we say give it a try, I mean, where is your sense of adventure? Welp, some Chicago area breweries have been mixing this into their brews as of late and people are noticing. They do add a small percentage usually, as the original brewed in the 13th century might not be your (or most of the world’s) thing.

The Original? Well it began it’s salty beginnings in Goslar, Germany around 1265 by a one armed monk named Rohan. Rohan had a a river near his home (the Gose river) that had an unusually high salinity. He used this water and a 50% grain bill of malted wheat and the concoction took off. Goes breweries popped up all over the area and by the 1800’s Rohan was rich… and very dead. By 1945 and the outbreak of WWII, his Gose was also buried. The country was nationalized and closed all the gose-style breweries. But in the mid 50’s some inventive soul found the recipe in a sock drawer and it started again. Then that guy died and gose once again died.
In 1980 it started up again and ceased in 1988, probably because in 1988 people only drank 4 different beers. (outrage!)

20 years later came the American craft beer movement and brewers were scrambling for ancient recipes and once again our gose popped up. This time it was diluted with other beers, to make it a bit more palatable.

The first time I tried a gose it was almost 100% gose and I wanted to die, much like Rohan. But now it’s being used in creative ways and is worth a shot. It’s sessionable and unique. The slight salinity compliments the brew, much like pretzels, beer nuts or arguing about politics.

Off color Brewing’s Troublesome, Revolution’s No Pun Intended, Noon Whistle Guava Nose Smack, Founders Green Zebra and others are formulating Gose variants. Toast to Rohan and give them a try!

(Rohan and the 1265 date was totally made up, however everything else was factual, but less fun)