If You Like Cider, You're Going to Love North Country

Shane Carley

Brewery Name: North Country Hard Cider
Type of Cidery: Retail Cidery

Location: 3 Front St, Lower, Rollinsford, NH. In classic mill town fashion, the roads can be a little tough to navigate, with a lot of unexpected one-way streets. Basically, enter the complex of buildings and go down toward the water on the right side. You’ll see the sign for the taproom there.

Website: http://www.northcountrycider.com/
Facebook: North Country Hard Cider
Twitter: @NChardcider
Instagram: @northcountryhardcider

Background: Deep down, I always knew I’d be the first to write about a cidery. Living in New England, you can barely take two steps without stumbling upon a new and exciting place making hard cider. Enter North Country, a unique little cidery tucked away in the rural mill town of Rollinsford, NH. North Country first grabbed my attention when I saw one of their growlers marked “Squash Cider” in a grocery store. My interest was piqued, but I assumed they would chicken out and just spice it with nutmeg and cinnamon--basically treating it like a pumpkin cider. But no. North Country roasted a boatload of squash and added it right into the recipe. The result is like nothing I had ever tasted, and wound up being unexpectedly delicious. To date, it might be my favorite cider I’ve ever had. Needless to say, after such a surprisingly amazing experience, I knew I’d have to make a visit to the taproom.

Growlers: Yep. You can buy and fill growlers in the taproom, and North Country has a small selection of bottled ciders available for purchase as well. ​

The Ciders: North Country had more than half a dozen different ciders on offer when I visited, and I was only too pleased to try all of them. Among those that I tasted, these were the ones that stuck with me the most:

• Bitter Brothers Blend - This cider has a sweet, green apple flavor on the front end that is tempered expertly with a little bit of bitterness on the back. It’s like biting into a Granny Smith apple. I’m actually upset that I had this cider first because I think it was my favorite of the bunch.

 

• Bitter Brothers Bourbon Barrel - Although I love bourbon, I didn’t like this version as well as the standard Bitter Brothers Blend. The bourbon flavor is a little too present: it’s the sharp flavors that make the original so delicious, but this puts a bourbon umbrella over the whole thing and mutes too many of those elements. I probably would have liked this more if I had it first.

 

• Hopshire - Hopshire is a delicious cider dry-hopped with Mosaic hops. It’s fascinating. The aroma on this cider is incredible--thanks to the hops, if you blindfolded me I might have thought this was beer. Even the flavor profile supports that, and if you told me this was a gose I honestly might believe you.

 

• Wulf Kitty - Wulf Kitty is flavored with tart cherry, tangerine zest, and ginger. Honestly, I had very high hopes for this cider, but there just isn’t enough tartness from the cherries for me. I was hoping for some serious pucker here, but it winds up tasting a little bit medicinal instead. That said, I don’t want to allow my personal preference for sours to color your impression: this is still a delicious cider.

 

• Winter Rye - Aged in rye whiskey barrels, this is a damn tasty cider. It has a nice woody character from the barrels, and it actually comes out tasting pretty boozy, which is rare for a cider. It’s a treat to drink, and a nice departure from a lot of standard cider offerings.

 

• Cranbarrel - Aged with cranberries, this is another cider that didn’t quiiiiite deliver on the amount of tartness that I wanted, but nonetheless wound up being one of my favorites. I love cranberry cider. The cranberry always adds a nice, slightly sour element to drinks, and the cider itself tamps down the bitterness usually associated with the fruit. This is a delicious seasonal cider on its way out, and I look forward to trying it again next year.

Vibe: I love the vibe here. I happened to visit on a rainy day, which was unfortunate because they have a nice little outdoor area that would have been nice to enjoy. The cidery is located on the shore of the Salmon Falls River, in the old mill town of Rollinsford. It’s an absolutely beautiful area (although the streets can be a little maze-like), and I recommend visiting on a slightly less monsoon-y day than me if you want the full experience.

The inside of the taproom is gorgeous as well. Exposed brick and beautifully finished hardwood are everywhere you look, and a nice big window gives you a great view into the pressroom. There are board games scattered around the room to keep you entertained, and even though there isn’t a whole lot of space, it doesn’t ever feel particularly cramped. North Country makes really nice use of the limited seating area in a way that encourages patrons to talk and interact with one another (this is particularly true if you happened to bring a friendly dog with you).

The staff was really friendly, and we enjoyed talking to the woman behind the bar as she explained the different ciders to us. I visited alongside my girlfriend, who has a gluten allergy (tough luck dating a beer blogger, huh?), and they were extremely knowledgeable about which ciders would be safe to drink (as you can probably guess, the answer was mostly “stay away from anything barrel-aged”). We could see more staff in the back, busily bottling beers and preparing the next batch of ciders for kegging and distribution.

I talked about it already, but the thing that really draws me to North Country is the creativity they show in their ciders. The squash cider I mentioned above might be the single best cider I’ve ever tasted--and it’s definitely the most creative. Throw in a whole host of different barrel-aged ciders and flavor profiles that range from pleasantly savory to extremely tart, and it’s clear that this is a cidery that knows how to operate across a broad range of styles--and do them all well.

Dogs: Yes. There a handful of dogs in the cidery when we arrived, and we had a great time playing with them while we worked our way through the enormous tasting platters we had accrued for ourselves.

Price ($ to $$$$$): $$. Shockingly affordable considering the quality of the cider you’re getting...not to mention the enormous tasters.

Food: No food here. The taproom is purely for enjoying cider.

Final Thoughts: My palate for cider isn’t nearly as refined as my palate for beer, but you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy the offerings at North Country Cider. Just the opposite, in fact--they offer so many different styles of cider across so many different flavor profiles that this might actually be the perfect place to go if you’re looking to figure out what sort of cider you like best. There’s something for everyone here, and I can’t recommend visiting North Country highly enough.

-- Shane

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