Samuel Smith Old Brewery Organic Cider

“Great apple presentation throughout. A bit sweet on balance, lingers on the tongue with light floral spicy notes. Clean, bright, and pleasingly effervescent. Simple apple sweetness with just a touch of tannins. Very accessible and drinkable.”

**Aroma:** “Raw apple juice and sweet apple-blossom notes on the nose are backed up with light peach/almond, red caramel apple, plum, cotton candy, and red wine notes.” **Flavor:** “Red Delicious abounds. There’s a noticeable alcohol heat and nice tart acidity. Simple apple sweetness isn’t cloying, and the esters really push through—grape, peach, a little pine- apple. Light marzipan with a moderate tartness to balance, but definitely leans sweet. A touch of oaky astringency adds depth and interest. Finishes soft with a very mild touch of alcohol. Strong carbonation is very effervescent.” **Overall:** “Sweet and fairly simple apple with an interesting fermentation charac- ter and complexity from layers of apple and dark fruits expressing throughout. Tannic red wine-like character is a very pleasant counterpoint to the red apple character.”

__Aroma:__ “Dried apricot, red fruit, cherries, raspberry. Perfumy and floral with moderate apricot sweetness. It almost smells fuzzy. Maybe a bit of sweet breadiness in the background. Some sour notes.” __Flavor:__ “Apricot, peach, cherry, raspberry. Far sweeter than expected, without the tartness common to apricot beers. Finishes with a drying sensation and a touch of tartness, but the sweetness lingers at the back of the palate. Sweet apricot juice taste jumps out and overwhelms the underlying beer. Little hops bitterness or malt qualities make this straightforward.” __Overall:__ “The fruit character is nice, but the sweetness is confusing and makes me think that the beer was back-sweetened. The fruit balance is about right, but it is too close to being cloying to drink much of it. I miss the supporting beer qualities.”