Dooryard 1131NJ (Bottles and Kegs)
We blended this still, dry Dooryard with our friends at Hunterdon Brewing, FHC’s New Jersey Distributor. On a rainy September weekend, John Hoyos, Drew Sewell, and Pete Martin came to Farnum Hill from the Garden State to taste with us, and to plan this Dooryard batch. It’s a New Jersey exclusive.
#1131NJ has a nose of ripe, sweet fruits, including apricot, peach, tangerine, pink grapefruit, quince, bittersweet apple, and melon. In the mouth, these fruits are joined by a bright acidity, and mild, broad bitterness. The mouthfeel is full, with moderate astringency. The finish follows the taste, with a bit more bitterness, and warmth. These guys did a good job.
The predominant apple varieties in this beauty are Wickson, Dabinett, Esopus Spitzenberg, Kingston Black, and Major, with a smattering of others.
We just made one pallet of bottles and a few kegs, available only in New Jersey (excepting a driblet at the orchard for lucky growler customers).
Dooryard #1131NJ won’t last long. Drink it if you can find it. (Nicole)
In kegs at the orchard (all drunk now)
In bottles and kegs for NJ distribution by:
Hunterdon Brewing, NJ
P.S. From the Cider Is Interesting Dept: Before and throughout Prohibition, New Jersey produced perhaps the finest and best-known ciders in the country. In the mid-19th century, about half the bottles labeled and sold here as imported Champagne were filled with — yes — cider made in the Garden State. In the “dry” years, a famous fluid called Jersey Lightning, distilled from — yes — Jersey cider, did much to address popular demand and undermine law. Jersey farm ciders could rise again: plenty of unpaved ground in the Garden State. We’d love to see that.
