Fox Barrel Hard Cider

The more you drink it the better it gets.  Fox Barrel is one of those brands that I always seem to see when I'm in the cider isle.  The label is boring, so I have put off buying it until now.  The first time I drank a bottle of Fox Barrel cider a few days ago, I didn't smile once.  I was unimpressed with its flavor, and found the cider to be as boring as the label on the bottle.  I would have left it at that, but I purchased a six pack so now I have to drink all of them.  I'm glad I waited a few days to write the review, however, because this time around it isn't so bad.  I am comparing Fox Barrel cider side-by-side with Hornsby's Amber Draft, and I can still undeniably say that Hornsby's Amber draft is horrible.  Nonetheless, Hornsby's Amber draft has helped me to keep everything in perspective.  

On first taste it is apparent that Fox Barrel cider is on the dry end of the spectrum.  It has a good amount of dryness.  The problem is, aside from the dryness there is not much flavor to speak of at all. A bit boring and bland.  On the other-hand, there are no foul flavors like Hornsby's has.  Thats worth something in my book.  The alcohol taste in Fox Barrel is downplayed, which I think is a good thing, even though the alcohol content of each drink is a substantial 6.0%.  

Would I buy Fox Barrel Hard Cider again?  Probably not, but thats because it's so unremarkable, not because it's really that bad.  Also, I paid over $7 dollars after tax for the six pack, which makes this cider a bad value when compared to the other brands I have reviewed.  My girlfriend says that she tried Fox Barrel's Hard Pear cider over the weekend, and enjoyed it.  We have similar tastes when it comes to these kinds of things, so I'll take her word on it.  Hopefully its more entertaining than the apple variety.  I give Fox Barrel Hard Apple Cider a 6 out of 10.  

PS.  I just dumped the bottle of Hornsby's I opened for this comparison down the sink.  

Price paid $6.99 for a six pack

ALC 6.0%

Ace in the Hole

The review of Ace brand ciders will come shortly.  For now, let me just say that they are my favorite so far.  Ace in the Hole has Ace ciders on tap, which is awesome.  Also, it happens to be in Sebastopol, just a short drive from my house.  I have wanted to make it out to Ace in the Hole since I first tasted Ace cider, so last night I got my friend to drive me over there so I could drink my fill (more on this later).  

The first thing I noticed about Ace in the Hole was the physical size of the building.  I had expected to see something small and dusty like I imagine a cider mill to be.  But I was wrong.  The building was two stories high with plenty of room inside, and  a large area for outdoor drinking as well.  Ok, so it wasn't cozy, but thats not exactly why I wanted to be there.  Cider on tap is why I wanted to be there, so I headed over to the bar right away.  This is where my experience went from awesome to a 6 out of 10.  The barkeep attempted to fill my pitcher, but the tap went dry.  I was shocked, but my shock was turned to disappointment when I saw the barkeep open a few bottles of ace cider and just pour them into the pitcher to top it off.  If I wanted cider from bottles, I could have just gone to the store and bought them.  Well that was shitty, but on the upside I now had a pitcher of Ace cider at my disposal.  Well this didn't go as well as planned either.  The Ace cider I had ordered, the Honey Cider, is delicious, but hardly dry at all, just sweetness.  I love it in small bottled quantities, but drinking it from a pitcher, however, I quickly discovered that its just too much sweetness for one man. Or more than one man.  I couldn't bring myself to order a second pitcher as I had planned to do, so we ended up leaving after the first.  Oh well.  

Would I return to Ace in the Hole again?  Possibly.  But I'm not sure its worth the drive out there just to get one or two cups of cider, which is all I now know I would want to drink in one sitting.  But it had a nice feel to the place anyhow, and during a hot summer day it might be just the thing a guy like me needs.  But for now, because of the way things unfolded last night, I am forced to give Ace in the Hole a 6 out of 10.