Navigation
Texas Keeper Cider teamed up with Austin Brew Garden and Brewery (ABGB) for the first release of their co-op collaborative series, Co-op Saisonniers!
Craft beer isn’t my only love; cider comes in at a close #2! At times, I’ll find myself “beered out” or craving something lighter, this is when cider comes to my rescue.
Austin isn’t quite the land of cideries, but boy, are we lucky to have Texas Cider Keeper nearby! They were one of the first places I visited when I moved here back in June, and I fell in love with both the Cider and the people making it.
Once I heard about this release just a few weeks ago, my main goal was to get my hands on a bottle of this collaborative drink! Now that I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a bottle, let’s dig a bit deeper into Co-op Saisonniers:
Co-op Saisonniers 411
- 8.1% ABV & 11 IBU
- Available at Central Market locations in Austin. Texas Keeper Cider also hangs out at Mueller Farmers’ Market on the weekends and has been selling Saisonnier by the bottle and cup.
- Apple juice boiled in ABGB’s kettle along with Madarina Bavaria hops.
- Fermented, aged, and bottle at the cidery
Appearance: 5/5
Beautiful! Everything about the appearance is perfect. A light golden color with a thin white head that disappears quickly. The bubbles continue to crawl and crawl up the sides of the glass, almost like champagne!
Aroma: 4/5
Definitely, great marks here. Barely noticed any aroma from hops. Instead, there’s the wonderful smell of apples and citrus.
Feel: 5/5
Very bubbly, lots of carbonation! Hits you sweet, but is quite dry and fresh at the same time.
Taste: 5/5
INCREDIBLE. I couldn’t believe that this was 8.1% ABV considering how sweet it was. But apple juice is used in this process and I think that must be a contributing factor. In regards to sweetness, this cider has a low IBU (11), which just makes it all that much better in my opinion. With the Mandrina Bavaria hops from ABGB, you get a ton of citrus character, a little pinch of spice and hints of that saison yeast.
Overall: 19/20
All around, this is a wonderful cider and it has been earning wonderful marks over on Untapped. I don’t know if I was drawn to the bright characters dancing on the bottle or the collaborative effort from two Austin legends, but Texas Keeper Cider’s new Co-op Saisionniers is a hit either way.
What other collaborations have you seen between beer and cider?
disclaimer: yes, I know this isn’t technically a beer review, but oh well! I did it anyways. Apple juice was boiled with hops to make this cider. So it’s not a stretch!