I know...Halloween is over.



While we put pumpkins on our porch for Halloween, we put them in pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I figure I can continue the search for the perfect pumpkin brew. 

 

This weeks contestant is Woodchuck Reserve Pumpkin Hard Cider.

 

First, a disclaimer.  I am not unbiased in this one...Woodchuck Hard Cider, made in Vermont, is without a doubt my favorite domestic hard cider.   When I was stationed in Connecticut, I started drinking Woodchuck(made in Vermont), and....yeah, it remains the standard to which I hold hard ciders, and only two have matched/surpassed that standard(both made in England since you asked: Strongbow which matched the standard, and Woodpecker which is The Best hard cider I have ever had).

 

 

 

So...the bottle is orange...and the cider itself is much more of an amber shade then Woodchucks' normal Amber Cider is.  As the pumpkin...Woodchuck describes the Reserve Pumpkin Cider as having a pumpkin finish...and rally, that's about it.  It's incredibly subtle...so subtle that my said she would almost say it tastes more like peach than pumpkin.  You can just tell at the end that there is something other than the normal Woodchuck apple flavor.  As a result, I would say the Woodchuck Pumpkin tastes almost 98% the same as their base cider...making it far and away the best 'pumpkin brew' I have had.