Rating: 5.12/5

Angry Orchard The Muse by Boston Beer Company/Samuel Adams is a 7.7% ABV Apple Cider aged in French Oak Barrels.

Label:
THE LEGEND OF
THE MUSE
The Muse is the newest addition to our Cider House Collection. Inspired by the festive nature of slightly sweet Demi-Sec champagnes and sparkling wines, the Muse is bubbly and effervescent. It is made from traditional culinary and bittersweet apples and aged on French oak. The Muse is sweet up front with a juicy apple aroma and bright acidity, and slightly drying on the finish with a lingering sweet apple note. The French oak adds a subtle wood impression, imparting notes of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and hints of vanilla.
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Many have known the Angry Orchard series to be pretty unique in terms of good hard ciders. I have not done any reviews from them but I have done dozens of great Samuel Adams beers. Today I bring forth a Cider that really caught my attention and I really wanted to bring it forward for a nice review. I got this one at Bevmo! In the city of Walnut California while visiting a friend of mine. There are 2 other variants aside form this one (Scarecrow and Iceman) but I may do those in the future. For now, let us dig deep at craft cider and see what this one is all about. Cheers!

Aromas:
Apple cider, chardonay, champagne, oak, vanilla, cinnamon, caramel, flan hints, clove spice, plums, white raisins, allspice, nutmeg, wine grape hints and funky brett hints.

Flavors:
Red apples, sour apples, peach, wine grapes, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, biscuit bread, nutmeg, cherries, herbal spice, white raisins, plums, chardonay, champagne, honey, sourdough bread hints, hazelnut hints, baked apple pie with pecans.

Aftertaste:
Sweet apples, oak , wine grapes, vanilla and cinnamon linger momentarily. No alcohol in the taste, light body, very easy to drink despite the fact that it gets moderate at times and should be sipped. Very crisp and refreshing as well.

Overall:
This is a great cider for sure and it does exceed some expectations to the level of good ciders. You can tell this is not the usual cider as some of the complexity not only makes it go toward that natural state of natural apples but give a push into very nice flavor spectrum. There is some level of tart but it is more sweet than tart. I would highly recommend it as it is very good, but the price may kind of push you away ($14/750ml). Don’t worry though, if you do decide to get it enjoy and you will find some really nice things.

Anime Corner:
Vocaloid Gumi was used in this pairing not only to pair with the colors of apples and the label but the very definition of a Muse. Like the daughters of Zeus, they became an inspiration and represent the artistic traits and the sciences. Vocaloid Gumi is a Musician type of bot like Hatsune Miku so in essence, she is the Muse, Art form and science! As you can also see, the aspect of the beer calling it Effervescent & Bubbly, surely is depicted in the second picture as well.

Sources:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SUKWXDgE90k/UyUvXqSH8DI/AAAAAAAAFII/-EiraoXK4dA/s1600/VNLIVES.NET-Headphone_vocaloid_Headphone_girl_megpoid_gumi_anime_girls_1800x1024_Size_Wallpaper_2560x1600-1127.jpg
http://blogs.c.yimg.jp/res/blog-38-d6/kkky0502/folder/485437/25/11483425/img_0?1399720740