CIDER HOUSE RULES | PORTLAND, OREGON

rev. nat THE CIDER PASTOR

of Portland, oregon

Back behind Broadway Toyota in the neighborhood of Eliot lies a hidden paradise for cider connoisseurs. The Pastor over this paradise is named Nat West, or Reverend Nat, as he is sometimes called, and God Almighty, Hallelujah, can he brew some great cider! Can I get a cheers!... I mean, Amen!

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JONAS LARSSON

The June sun is at its most dehydrating mood here at Portland’s Cider Festival. We go in and out of the tents that are pouring up ciders with every imaginable taste. Hydration, yes. Delicious, most certainly. Dizzying—okay so it isn’t just the sun here that’s making me dizzy, it becomes apparent quite quickly that these ciders pack a punch. Like a kid buying booze for the first time I ask, “What’s like the average percentage of alcohol in cider?” I mean, I am genuinely curious, I really want to know, partly because I am getting enchanted by these elixirs and their taste profiles, but also cause I gotta focus on work here too. – Well it all depends, but probably around 9%, the answer coming from Abram Goldman Armstrong, a leading profile in Portland’s cider world. Armstrong looks more like a Scottish soccer Hooligan then the typical American West Coast guy. He is the driving force behind Cider Riot (now closed down), an anti-fascist bar and cidery

Cider Riot feels familiar to me, reminiscent of a classic English style cider. A lot of the ciders are flavored with different types of fruits and or berries, resulting in a glass of pure deliciousness, albeit dangerous in large quantities. I begin to just take small sips and samples—must stay

DELICIOUS, MOST CERTAINLY. DIZZYING—OKAY SO IT ISN’T JUST THE SUN HERE THAT’S MAKING ME DIZZY, IT BECOMES APPARENT QUITE QUICKLY THAT THESE CIDERS PACK A PUNCH. LIKE A KID BUYING BOOZE FOR THE FIRST TIME I ASK, “WHAT’S LIKE THE AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF ALCOHOL IN CIDER?”.

focused– although I could have easily taken down a liter of this stuff. Delicious, but dangerous.

We end up running into a strawberry blonde haired guy with a great beard—Reverend Nat (Rev Nat for short, as he is called by the faithful). The Rev Nat West is the man we came here to see. He is the owner and creative mind behind a forward thinking cidery, boasting its own tap room and located in the lovely Eliot, a neighborhood in the northeast part of Portland. We have a formal meeting lined up in the coming days, so Nat gives us directions for the location of the meet. – Nice of you to swing by, we’ll see each other then at 1813 NE 2nd Ave. It’s a block north of Broadway, between MLK and Williams, behind Broadway Toyota. I nod with each direction, playing it off like I know exactly where he means, but probably come off more as a National Lampoon, the infamous Clark Griswold in pursuit of Wally World. Luckily we have our friend Laura to help show us the way.

REV NATS HARD CIDER On Nats’ homepage (reverendnatshardcider.com) you’ll find the following snippet, a look into the story of Rev Nats, “Reverend Nat is a single-minded cider evangelist and craft beer revolutionary who searches the world for superior ingedients to handcraft the most unusual ciders that no one else will make.”

Of course, this grabs our attention. Two days later we search out Nats’ place. Quite a bit back behind Broadway Toyota, pretty incognito and hidden away, when suddenly we stumble upon it– there it is, Rev Nats Hard Cider, housed in a brick and mortar single story garage, painted up in a grayish green paint. The big garage door is wide open, and the Smiths’ “How Soon is Now?” warms up the space where a few patrons are already working their way through an eclectic cider assortment. We are eagerly greeted by Rex, a nine year old Dachshund who has brought his mom and dad out for a cider or two.

– Tastes good? I ask to Rex’s Dad – Nat is the best, there is always something new and exciting here, he smiles back.

Nat appears from behind the large stainless steel tanks and barrels. He looks a bit worn and tired. Hey man, how’s it going? – Pretty good thanks, I got my seven hours of sleep, you all should have been here last night, there was a great block party, the whole street filled with art, bands, and people.

We would have been delighted to attend, but alas, we were already booked up exploring other parts of Portland’s gastronomical gems. Portland is really great in that sense, there’s always something going on, and each and every part or neighborhood of the city has its own perfectly unique local culture.

CIDER HOUSE RULES Nat beckons for a colleague to bring over a flight of ciders. While we sip and work our way through these 10 different, I mean very different tasters, Nat describes how it all began. – ”Back in the day” cider was a big thing, especially in the New England States. The British brought over the tradition, but it silently slipped away and disappeared. The reason? The Germans arrived and brought with them beer and it took off. Cider was forgotten. Agriculture played its role in that when grains became the main crops, it was realized that one of the best preservation methods for them was to make whiskey and beer, so we started dinking more beer and more whiskey. Then came Prohibition, a real nail in the coffin for cider. Apple trees were chopped down, making space for other crops to be grown.

But, around the 1980’s things began to happen. Locally produced agriculture as a movement, began to gain traction. Exactly like with wine and the concept of terroir— taking into consideration all of the natural environment

Nat West became a Pastor as a joke, but the moniker stuck. Cheers, Reverend!

Abram Goldman Armstrong is a leading profile in Portland’s cider scene.

Refreshing, crisp, and high gravity at 98 AMERICAN TRAILS9% ABV! Yes sir, I will have another! SUMMER | 2021 Hi my name is Rex, and I aint no beer dog. Cider baby!

HE SOURCED HIS APPLES FROM WHEREVER HE COULD, FROM THE NEIGHBOR TO HIS FRIENDS. THE FIRST BATCH THAT CAME OUT OF NATS’ BASEMENT WAS 2,000 GALLONS (7,500 LITERS). NAT THOUGHT IT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO LAST HIM AN ENTIRE YEAR. AFTER ONLY TWO MONTHS IT WAS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT.

in which a particular wine is produced. In 2000 things seriously started to take off. – We are actually one of the oldest of the new cider producers in the whole country, and we only started in 2011!

IT STARTED WITH THE NEIGHBOR – I started making cider when my daughter was born, so it’s easy to remember. She’s 15 now, so it has been that long. – My neighbor had a big apple tree and I would pick up the apples that had fallen into the yard on my side of the fence, from there came the natural thought process, ’Hmm I can probably make alcohol with this’ so I consulted with Google and found cider! Though at that time I barely knew what cider was. I knew there was something out there that existed and it was called cider, but the first real cider I ever had was one that I made.

Nat made cider at home in his basement for a few years. When his daughter was 7, he started making cider more professionally. “Mainly because I was getting out of my job as an IT consultant.”

He sourced his apples from wherever he could, from the neighbor to his friends. The first batch that came out of Nats’ basement was 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters). Nat thought it would be enough to last him an entire year. After only two months it was completely sold out. – It was then that I had to make the decision if this whole cider business would become something more than a hobby or not. Well now we have been here for 7 years and in 2011 we made the tap room.

Nat and his gang put on several evets, the biggest being: “The Nightmarket” the block party that we had just missed. People who have never had a drop or taste of cider before in their lives show up, although maybe that’s not always their main motivation for coming, because there is also art installations, goats, axes, and eventually yea most people try some cider and like it.

– I overheard a conversation in line, this guy said, “I have never tried cider.” his friend replied telling him: “Ok, you are going to love it!” Those kinds of things are cool to hear.

THE CIDER PASTOR OR MAD SCIENTIST? – I don’t make cider in the traditional way that say, someone makes wine. Apples don’t work like grapes, they don’t carry a distinct taste just because of their local growing conditions so to say. Rather, I make cider that fits varying taste profiles, food pairings, all sorts of variations that comprise the different tastes we all have. In Portland, we drink just about anything, ha ha! People here are genuinely curious and dare to try new things.

Nat says that they work in a similar way to the brewers in the craft beer scene. They have for example a base cider, which then goes through different variations by adding new elements of flavors. – Here we have four different tastes which are all based on number ”6”, pointing at a glass on the flight of ciders between us. Six is the base cider, seven has hops added to it, eight is flavored with orange and mint, while nine we’ve added passion fruit, and ten is actually been flavored with the chewy candy Swedish Fish and magic!

Nat explains that they even have blends, were they blend different kinds of apple varieties together, but it isn’t really the apple that matters in the taste, it is much more the other ingredients and especially the yeast, that impart the most flavor into a cider.

Certainly no lack of creativity here. Inspiration and techniques from other countries are incorporated, like for example the natural fermented cider Sidra Bravo. A Spanish-inspired cider which is sour and funky, with just the right amount of vinegary taste to it in a classic Spanish style.

Every summer Nat makes a limited summer cider. Last year’s variation, “Viva Le Pineapple” became so popular

Rex’s human hangs out and samples some new ciders. Top left: Freya Stark, was an explorer and travel writer, an inspiration for the name of one of the ciders from the ‘Prophet Series’

Queen Of The Mist is in the ‘Tent Show Series’. These are the experimental ciders made in small batches.

More flights, time for takeoff. Please fasten your seatbelts and keep your trays in the upright position Cider Riot's Abram Goldman Armstrong and his cider.

that it remains a permanent fixture in the house selection. This means that they need of course, a new summer cider. – There is a Thai restaurant that cures kumquats in salt, these kumquats are brined in salt, rubbed in it, and packed away for curing for I don’t know how long. They are then served in a glass, covered in soda water and ice, and drank with a straw. It is absolutely fantastic, like drinking a Margarita. It’s a taste that is just so cool and unique, and was my inspiration for last year’s summer cider.

Nat gets a lot of his inspiration from food, and as such, tries to find appropriate food parings for his ciders, he explains enthusiastically: – We always start with a small batch, one barrel, to test and see if it works or not. It’s a good way to learn. Then we roll them out into the tap room and let them loose on the bar patrons. This is one of the great pros of having a bar in a garage. People drink whatever is put in front of them, just glad and excited to try something new that we have brought out. That’s the best judge panel you can have. We are selling an experience, not just a cider.

´WHY PASTOR? When Nat talks about his ”Prophet Series” we have to ask where the name Reverend, Rev, has come from. He goes on about how he sometimes loses himself in the rabbit hole of Wikipedia, and how he like to read about people who challenges the norms and conventions of the world around them. In particular he found Freya Stark, an explorer and travel writer of the early 20th century. Inspired, Nats gave one of his ciders in the “Prophet Series” the name Freya Stark.

I can’t hold it in any longer, I have to be blunt. “Why Rev?” He laughs. It is not the first time he has gotten this question. – It’s easy to become a pastor in the USA, it’s just some forms and paperwork filled online. A couple of friends were going to get married and they wanted me to be their officiator, thinking it would be hilarious if I was a pastor, as I do not have a religious bone in my body. So I did the paperwork, applied, and got my title Reverend and the name has just kind of stuck. When the cidery started coming online it was only natural that this fun nickname be used for the brand, Rev Nat, it’s a good name, and people remember it.

On our way out, Pastor gives us a final verse – It’s magical to make alcohol. Oregon even has its own state yeast, we know that it is important for us, it creates lots of jobs.

Amen to that!

Ciders going through an aging process in old, repurposed oak bourbon barrels.