Last week I was visiting with my cousin, Erik,who has come back to Michigan after several months travelling the country on motorcycle. We were at my normal watering hole when we decided to go next door to a place that I would pass regularly (it is next door to the bar that has served as my second home since turning 21) and I would always make plans with myself to go in but never would.
Anyway, after a few drinks and dinner, Erik and I headed next door to Liberty Street Brewing Company. Walking in, we were greeted with some old fashioned blues music (it was winning me over already) and a dark, but cozy atmosphere. We settled in at the bar and looked at their modest selection of beer. Erik ordered their IPA while I tried some of their cherry apple cider. Both were good and had polished flavors that are not normally typical of the local micro-brews that I have gone to as of late.
The IPA was nothing to get particularly excited about, don't get me wrong, it was really good but had nothing to set it apart from the IPAs I had been drinking for a while other than it was made less than thirty feet from where I Was sitting.
My cider, on the other hand was something to get excited about. Having worked for seven years at a cider mill and taken a stab or two at making hard cider, I can attest to the fact that a good batch can be hard to come by, especially when taking the risk of ruining the balance and adding other flavorings. The cider had a nice red color (close to a Shirley Temple) and the perfect amount of carbonation. Drinking it was very satisfying, not as dry as other ciders and not too fizzy. The mouth feel was very close to a semi-dry champagne. The finish was a little tart compared with the initial taste of things, but not so much as to take anything away from the drink.
Overall it was a good first impression of what this little pub can do.
I would give the Liberty City Brewing Company's cherry cider a 3.5/4: it could use a slightly better finish, but I would definitely recommend it.
I'll hopefully be going back there in the near future, I'll keep you posted.
