Nordic farmhouse yeast: not just kveik for IPAs anymore! That’s because it was used to ferment Evergreen Farmhouse Cider, the first winter seasonal offering from Massachusetts’ City Roots Cider (the cider making side of Harpoon Brewery).

This cider gets the full sahti-like treatment, not only fermented with Nordic yeast but it was also conditioned on juniper boughs. I received cans of Evergreen from the cidery recently and was intrigued because I don’t believe I had tried a cider ages on trees before (beers, yes).

Here’s the press release that announced the farmhouse offering:

City Roots, a new craft cider brand that launched in the summer of 2019, is announcing its first-ever winter seasonal: Evergreen Cider. The new cider was made to help us celebrate the best of winter, but from the comfort of indoors and away from the winter city winds.

Evergreen Cider is fermented completely dry using a Nordic farmhouse yeast strain and conditioned on juniper needles, making it crisp and peppery with notes of citrus zest, winter herbs, and cold forest air. It comes in at 6% ABV, with 7g of carbs and 2g of sugar.

As a member of the New England-based organization 1% for the Planet, City Roots contributes 1% of all sales to nonprofit organizations that focus on urban sustainability. Since their inception in 2002, 1% for the Planet has helped direct hundreds of millions of dollars to environmental nonprofits around the world.

Evergreen Cider joins the brand’s year-round offerings, City Roots Original Dry cider – a crisp, delicious, all-purpose cider – and new City Roots Cider Spritz, a 97-calorie cider made with a little extra carbonation (almost like a hard seltzer).

I will also note the emphasis on the amount of carbs and sugar in this cider, which follows the current trend of lifestyle-conscious drinks we’ve been seeing lately.

Appearance: Crystal clear, golden yellow, bright and brassy. There’s a fizzy and ephemeral head with a nice sparkling stream of bubbles showing good carbonation.

Smell: Lightly rustic barnyard-ish/hay notes in the aroma, with tart, mellow apple flesh. Green apple skin; no hint of juniper that I can detect but it’s slightly herbal.

Taste: Quite dry, bordering on astringent, with hay, a touch of horse blanket, an earthy character that could be juniper, or could be apple skin-derived. There’s a crabapple-like dry tartness with an essence of “apple” and a hint of compost.

Mouthfeel: Dry and light-bodied, semi-petillant on the tongue despite the livelier appearance. Quite crisp in the finish.

Overall: An enjoyably dry cider with definite farmhouse, “barnyard” character. However I’m a little disappointed that the juniper was undetectable, particularly as that is a selling point in the description (and the name itself). In that regard it drinks fairly mild.