Finnriver Cider Flight of Fancy at Saraveza During Oregon Cider Week

The fifth annual Oregon Cider Week returns June 16 – 26, 2016 and Finnriver Farm & Cidery will present Flight of Fancy on Thursday, June 23rd at Saraveza Bottle Shop & Pasty Tavern. Join local Finnriver Cider’s National Cider Ambassador, Jana Daisy-Ensign as she presents a lineup of ciders that lean towards the funky side from 6:00 to 9:00pm.

Flight of Fancy will be an evening that will explore the fruits of Finnriver’s small batch sour program and its takes on contemporary ciders where it pushes the envelope on the creative side. Jana and other Finnriver ambassadors will share the story behind these rare cider offerings and will share six unique, artisan craft offerings presented in a mix of bottle and draft formats during the event.

Here’s a rundown on the six cider offerings for Flight of Fancy along with descriptions provided by Finnriver Cider.

Featured Specialty Bottles

Finnflusseweisse 6.5% abv
An idea was born from a bartender serving a Berliner Weisse style beer with a shot of Finnriver Brandywine (Raspberry or Black Currant) as the fruited syrup, per the traditional service of the style. We began with the tannic pomace of bittersweet apples, along with fresh organic apple juice, added lactic bacteria, Berlinerweisse yeast and a touch of rainwater to capture the wildness of the dripping Doug Firs we hold so dear. We let this ferment and mature for 6 months to dryness, then added new lactic and fresh juice to get it alive and tart all over again. What you taste is ‘keg conditioned Berliner Weisse inspired’ cider. Strong lactic twang, high acid achieved from low acid fruit. Dry, and nutty from the yeast cloud, but not ‘tannicy’ bitter from apples as that felt untrue to the form. Our dry and twangy Finnflusseweisse brings a version of apples gone Champagne of the North.

Chimacum Kriek 6.5% abv
A tribute to deep Belgian roots that crafted fermentation culture 300 years ago. This bottle is also a tribute to the restoration of the creek that runs through both of the Finnriver locations, the water from this creek waters our orchard; this creek is in our apples. Beginning with organic apples, we added cherries that were too ripe on the trees, a little split and sweet from days of Yakima sunshine at Tonnemaker Hill Farms. Lacto, Pedio and Bret worked their magic from September to April. Tart, tangy, puckering, lingering sweet dark cherry. The twang comes from the life after the tree and the oxidized depth from the life before the ferment. Here is a bottle conditioned, soured, sweet dark cherry, cider. Here’s to you Chimacum Creek! May your salmon swim far and your eagles eat well.

Berry Barrel Sour 6.5% abv
Our Barrel Berry Sour is a combination of pear and apple wines fermented in barrels and steel tanks then combined. Once blended, we reached to a famous finishing technique from the Belgian beer world called Lambic. Historically, a fermented sour beer ‘gueuze’ is fruited with the brewer’s choice of fresh fruit. This fruit ferments on top of the beer and adds a fresh and sharp fruit profile to the nose and palate. At Finnriver, we added 30 gallons of barrel aged blueberry wine (and a touch of fresh blueberry) to a blended tank of soured cider (our gueuze) and let the resident yeast/bacteria finish their life on berries. This last fruit pushes our sour cider on to a form of cider lambic.  Bottle conditioned, disgorged to clear the yeast and then pasteurized to hold the final sweetness. The result being slightly sour, stupendously deep blueberry, tart, tannic and truly tangy.

Featured Specialty Draft

PearWood 6.5% abv
A blend of bittersweet apple wine made from Farnum Hill juice, blended with Organic Washington Granny Smith and Pink Lady, which has undergone a malo-lactic ferment creating a different mouth feel and new acid punch. Finished with a fair bit of oak and organic pear juice to sweeten and lend a bit of fancy. A limited release of our contemporary pear cider with depth, complexity and wood.

Black Stave 6.5% abv
A special edition of our well-loved Black Currant Cider, farm crafted with organic Washington apples, fermented dry, stave aged for depth and then married with an oaked, funky currant ferment. A deep drink of the density of currants. A limited release of our award winning, contemporary dark fruit cider made with wood.

Hopping Through the Forest 6.5% abv
Finnriver’s Hopping Through the Forest, a special release crafted for the hopped cider lover made with Organic Washington Apples, Organic Cascade, Comet, Magnum and German Hallertauer Hops, Doug Fir tips, Grand Fir tips and a touch of organic cane sugar. Bright and crisp up front– clearly citrus peel notes with herbaceous edges, a resinous finish that lingers as a true bitter.

Saraveza
1004 N Killingsworth Street
Portland, OR 97217