Mountain Goat Two Step Apple Cider

Mountain Goat:  A big hairy animal that’s never gonna fall over. Two Step: a ballroom dance in duple meter, marked by sliding steps. Together, some how, this is going to make a cider? Ok what ever floats your goat.

Mountain Goat was one of the early names in the craft in Australia. Launching their first brews in 1997. It’s rare in Australia for a Nu Skool brewery to be this well established and not be gobbled up by a multinational mega-brewery. Environmentalism is at the core of their brewery. The place is covered in solar panels. The office walls are made out of beer boxes.

Then a few years back they launched a cider.

“We just felt that a good, fresh cider made with 100% real Victorian apples (i.e. no concentrate) seemed like it fitted in with the ethos of the company and sat well with the beers we were brewing and selling. There was no blinding light or epiphany. It’s the only one we’ve produced and we’re pretty committed to it!”

Two Step is a tried and tested mix of dessert apples namely Gala, Granny, Jazz, Jonathan and Golden Delicious apple. No sugar, no concentrate and gluten-free. Good to see brewers don’t need to put malted barley in everything.

The Nose

Upfront the Mountain goat is sweet and grassy bordering on earthy. It’s a deep perfume, surprising for its light straw colour.

The Taste

The moment it hits your tongue the Two Step is brilliantly sweet. As quickly as it hits, the sweetness disappears into a burst of bold soda bubbles. The finish is very crisp when served cold. Over all juicy and just a little something that reminds me of a light beer, maybe it’s the slight bitterness in the tail end.

Final Thoughts on Two Step Cider

The Two Step is a cider by brewers, think it of it somewhere between a light lager and a saison ale made with apples and your on the right track.

The Two Step dances on the edge. A hit of bitterness is just enough to keep it interesting. In terms of how to drink this cider, it sits at the other end of the spectrum to last weeks’ cider by Maggie Beer.  This is squarely aimed as a session cider. At 5% it’s strong enough without getting carried away. You wouldn’t try and pair it with anything more complicated than a packet of sweet chilli chips from a torn open bag shared with the boys at the pub.

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