Flavors of fall

The fall season in Bloomington brings to mind beautiful views of the changing leaves, cool mornings with crisp air and, of course, fall drinks. Seasonal ales, Oktoberfest beers and warm cider all appear in autumn.

Not surprisingly, there are a number of places around town that cater to these autumnal tastes. Oliver Winery, Upland Brewing Company, Musgrave Orchard and the Bloomington Brewing Company all offer seasonal drinks.

Wine

Oliver Winery, just a short trip north of town on State Route 37, carries Beanblossom Hard Cider during the fall months. Paul Mui, who has worked at Oliver Winery for 7 1/2 years, described this wine as fresh, crisp, made with all Indiana apples and lighter than most draft ciders.

“In the fall, we add mulling spices to the wine, such as cinnamon and nutmeg,” Mui said. “We add a little bit of honey and heat the mixture in a crock pot. This process really gives the cider that fall flavor.”

Another seasonal wine available at Oliver is the Marechal Foch Nouveau. This wine comes directly from Oliver’s own vineyard, Creekbend. Mui explained that it is the “marechal foch” red-wine grape that is used to make this wine, and “nouveau” means young, new or fresh – appropriate since all the grapes used to make it were harvested in 2008.

Mui described the wine as tasting light and fruity. It has a light body, with plum, cherry and cranberry flavors. It’s similar to the French Beaujolais Nouveau, he said, so named because it is made in the Beaujolais region of France.

The winery plans to release the Marechal Foch Nouveau in late October or early November. Mui said the winery will have a small number of cases of it, and it will be sold from the release date until it sells out, probably around February.

“Both of these wines are really good with the foods that you serve at Thanksgiving, so this makes them really good for fall and even throughout the holidays,” Mui said.

Beer and ale
    
Seasonal beers and ales are another fall staple and can be found at both Upland Brewing Company and the Bloomington Brewing Company.

Upland released its Oktoberfest beer, a light amber lager, in mid-September. Head brewer Caleb Staton, who has been with Upland for four years, described this beer as having a smooth, malty sweetness and a slightly bitter finish.

“It’s a Bavarian style lager – we brew it with all German malt hops and yeasts,” he said. “It has a strong hops profile and a robust malt profile. It’s the closest to traditional German Oktoberfest we can get in the U.S.”

The Oktoberfest lager is the brewery’s best-selling seasonal brew and is also available in bottles and kegs at other establishments in Bloomington.

“We have it on draft now, and we will carry it until it runs out,” Staton said. “It doesn’t usually last past the end of October. We’re doing pretty good on it for now, but towards the end of the month it will get low.”

Beginning Oct. 18, Upland will offer its second fall season brew, called Schwarz. Staton described it as a black lager, another German style beer. It has a light and refreshing flavor with a pitch black color, he said. 

The brewery will host an event Oct. 18 to release the Schwarz.
Another upcoming brew from Upland is the Winter Warmer, which will be released in mid-November. Staton described this brew as a barley wine-style ale with close to nine percent alcohol-by-volume.

“It’s a big strong beer, a hefty beer. It helps you warm up when it’s cold out,” he said.
If those aren’t enough seasonal ales, Bloomington Brewing Company offers a few more.

According to the BBC’s Web site, two beers that are available now include the Vision Weiss, which has a fruity, rich yet light flavor with hints of lemon and banana. The other beer that is available now is the B-town Brown Ale. This ale is similar in taste to Newcastle, but has a fuller body. The brewery is currently offering its last batch of both these beers.

A new beer for the season is the Java Porter. The BBC expects to release this brew in about three weeks. As the name implies, it tastes like beer with a little coffee in it. According to the brewery’s Web site, the BBC will host Oktoberfest from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14 through Thursday, Oct. 16.

Apple cider
    
In addition to warming brews, the fall season wouldn’t be complete without apple cider. The Musgrave Orchard offers fresh-pressed cider throughout the season, from late August to January.

Amy Hamilton, who owns the orchard with her husband Andy, described the process of making apple cider.

“We chop the apples, never squishing them, and make them into a kind of apple sauce and then we gently press that sauce to get the juice out,” she said. “It’s the old traditional way of doing it, called the ‘cloth and rack method.’” 

Hamilton said they never squish an apple in the process because when the apple seeds are smashed, it releases the cyanide and makes the cider bitter.

She said the orchard uses whatever apples are ready at the time. This makes each batch completely different from the previous one. Even if the same kind of apples are used two days later, that cider will taste different from the previous batch because those apples had two extra days to ripen.

“We have our own flavor and own design. We mix tart and sweet apples for our cider because when you press them together, it makes a nice blend,” she said.  
The orchard offers a sweet cider for the time being, but Hamilton has plans to offer hard cider in the future.

“We are in the process of getting permits and preparing for that,” she said.

Between the hard cider and wines offered at Oliver, the seasonal ales and beers at Upland Brewing Company and the Bloomington Brewing Company, and the fresh-pressed apple cider at Musgrave Orchard, everyone can have a chance to enjoy the tastes of fall.