In the last couple of years of craft beer, there has been the trend of Milkshake IPAs. Doug Will of 2 Fools Cider explained to Brewer how he would like to see his Chicagoland cidery start a trend in the cider world by making a Sherbet Cider.
The three varieties — raspberry, lime, and orange — debuted at the taproom on January 26.
Launching the idea led to learning a new slew of words and techniques, Will explained.
”I’ve been doing a lot of research — which consisted of bothering my brewer friends — especially the head brewer of Emancipation Brewing,” he said. “The cider world doesn’t have these terms. Lactose sugar? Maltodextrin? Should we add this pre- or post-fermentation? How much to add? It’s been an interesting experiment but our first iteration turned out pretty well.”
Will said he did not know how expensive lactose was.
“It’s not cheap,” he said, adding that they used a combination of syrups and natural flavorings to create the Sherbet-style ciders. “Manufacturing a large batch might be a huge hit in the Illinois market though.”
2 Fools used its dry cider as the base of the new Sherbet Ciders.
“That way we could control the sweetness from the lactose,” Will said. “Our ciders at 2 Fools are typically not too sweet. I think that’s a common misconception about ciders. Hopefully, we can create a buzz and make a trend!”
The cidery already leans into a craft-beer crowd with dry-hopped cider made with Cascade and Amarillo hops to make a cider version of an IPA, while also adding pineapple and blood orange to promote a version of a Hazy IPA.
”A stout cider is an issue we have yet to tackle,” Will said.
Will said they plan to gauge consumer interest over time and at the taproom along with working on honing in the flavors and haziness. Should it go well, a can release could be the next step.
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