Locust Cider Brewery - Oppo Reivew
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Four years later, I'm happy to say that my love for cider has spread throughout my social circle like a plague, the infection growing stronger and stronger with every tangy concoction imbibed. What once was a very personal love that my IPA-crazed friends could not understand, has now worked it's way into the forefront of all of our drinking habits! Hooray! (please drink responsibly, etc...)
Case-in-point, yesterday I was asked to come along to a new cider house in the middle of the day. Yes, you heard right. Public day-drinking in the Covid-era.
Now, as a red-blooded American 3 parts patriot and 1 part bald-eagle, I couldn't in good conscience pass up this opportunity to kickstart our flailing economy. Oh no. If tossing back pints is what is required of me in these troubling times, than with God as my witness I'll step up to the plate and do my civic duty! Nobody will ever say I'm not willing to sacrifice for my country, dammit!
Friend in tow, we make it through the ghost town that in years past had been an epicenter of human interaction. Ye Olde Redmond Towne Centre, home to hundreds of shops and restaurants. An outdoor mall. Oh, the hubris! Truly a relic of a bygone age...
Masks up—glasses fogged—we carried on, a stubborn refusal to check the mall map keeping us out in the cold as we double and triple-backed until finally we arrived at our destination.
Locust Cider!
A beautiful front Faschia pulled us in, warm and inviting as we stepped over the threshold. Success.
Believe it or not, at 12:35pm on a Thursday, we were the only guests!
First up, pints! As a relapsed lover of all things Sour (curse you Oregon oppos) the blackberry sour beer caught my eye, wallet—and lastly—the approval of my taste buds. Quite good. Powerful blackberry flavor, with plenty of bite. For reasons that I can't quite articulate, we decided to sit outside in the bitter cold as we chatted. At one point the bartender came out and as she was closing the front door, made a point that she was not kicking us out, she was just freezing!
Anyways, one round down we moved onto flights. $20 for 6 4oz pours was palatable, even if the cider was anything but...
Are you feeling a speed review? Because I'm feeling a speed review.
3...2...
1...
SPEED REVIEW
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Watermelon. Cloying, too sweet yet oddly light on flavor?
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Blackberry Sage. Quite good! Tangy fruit at the forefront, backed up nicely by a more complex herbal aftertaste.
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Session Berry. Like a fruit-based soda that had been left open for a day.
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Cold-pressed. It was... A drink? Very light in flavor and ABV. Almost no bubbles. Nothing stood out. A standard cider that can't compare to better standard ciders.
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Honey Pear. Better than the last few, still not particularly interesting.
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Peach Ginger. I'll be honest. I just shot this one back as we were ready to move on to the next location.
Go figure, the best drink at the cider house was a sour beer.
I wouldn't go back to Locust. It took another friend to help me figure out exactly what it was that made their ciders so unappealing, but once she put her finger on it it was like a light bulb went on in my head.
Of course, it was so obvious!
All of their ciders are flat. very flat. Almost no carbonation to speak of, which to me is a style that only benefits the heavier ciders. Take Canada's Sea Cider, a small brewery that plays around in the 9-18% percent ABV range. They also avoid adding much carbonation, but with their beverage strength, the carbonation choice lends itself to an almost whiskey-like flavor underneath the cider. There is a density to their drinks, if that makes sense. You don't want the bubbles, just as you wouldn't want a full-bodied red wine mixed with soda water. In short, for the right style of cider, low carbonation works!
Locust on the other hand, does not work. Maybe someday I'll buy a few cans and try carbonating them myself. I've got a funny feeling that the Watermelon cider would go from barely drinkable to a summer favorite with some extra bubbles, but until then.... I can't in good conscience reccomend this brewery.
Here's something I do reccomend. Canadian oppos, you owe it to yourself to try some Sea Cider. For everyone else... Keep an eye out! I occasionally find the stuff in fancier grocery stores!
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This is good alcoholism.
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Yes, we make some decent alcohol around BC. Taking a gander Sea Cider isn't very far from either Victoria BC or Swartz Bay being in Saanichton, make a trip in the future!
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@exage03040 as soon as the borders open, I'm there!
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@aestheticsinmotion Depending on what you have planned, there's also a very good distillery in Sidney, just to the North: https://victoriadistillers.com/
Also if you hit up Victoria proper and like burgers: https://www.chucksburgerbar.com/
I went there when they used to be near the airport. Some good old USA sized portions there. Be hungry.
