This post is a part of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I will be trying a new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out Grown-up Travel Guide and his #grownupbeerdiary, where Andy Higgs came up with the diary format in use below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.
Day 134: May 14, 2015
Diary entry:
Castles. Castles. Castles.
We spent the entire day today chasing castles.
There are more than 75 castles in the Loire Valley, including many that were inspirational for the castles at the Disney theme parks around the world. It was our goal to try to see as many as we could squeeze in!
Today we wound up visiting more than 15 castles (the list we wanted to visit today was 5, and we hit 4 of those 5)! Some were very impressive such as Chenonceau, and others unfortunately undergoing renovation, but it was a fun day chasing down the brown chateaux signs for random castle detours throughout the day.
Finished off the day watching the sun set over the Loire, with Ambois as the backdrop, having some meat and cheese and a glass of local wine.
The Beer:
Name: Cidre Breton Brut Reserve
Style: Cider
Producer: Cidres Kerisac
Alcohol content: 4.5%
Bottle size: 0.25l
Purchased from: Snack kiosk at Château d’Ussé.
After a day exploring the French countryside, I felt the most appropriate beverage for the evening would be a local cider, for which I found this example at the snack bar of the first castle we visited. I saved it for later in the evening after we got home, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I chose the Brut, the dry cider, as opposed to the sweeter editions which I imagine would have tasted more like some of the sweeter ciders I’ve had from Ireland.
Commercial Description:
Since 1920, the Guillet institutions develop Kerisac cider from cider apples from orchards in Breton. They are renowned for their taste and their aromatic power, finalized by a slight hint of refreshing acidity.
