If you haven’t heard of the Craft Brew Alliance, let us educate you. It’s a group of craft breweries – Red Hook Brewing, Widmer Brothers Brewing and Kona Brewing Co. – that merged together under one roof with the goal of creating quality beer while introducing new brands to the scene. This spring, the CBA made a bold move into the cider world. And they brought their hops with them.
The Square Mile Cider Co., the newest brand thought-up by the CBA, launched in April with two cider varieties: Original and Spur & Vine. The Original is your classic American hard cider (nothing we haven’t seen before). But the Spur & Vine is what’s got us intrigued. It’s the original recipe with an added special ingredient: Galaxy hops. For those of you clueless about hops, Galaxy is an Australian hop with a strong citrusy flavor. The cider is fermented from three different kinds of apples and then combined with lager beer yeast and the Galaxy to create a seriously unique taste.
Cider with a hoppy beer taste? Sign us up. Right now Square Mile is only available in Oregon, Washington and California but the plan is to roll it out nationally. We’re definitely going to give this a try.