Woodchuck Dark and Dry 802 Draft Cider

Name: Woodchuck Dark and Dry
Date: 06/20/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: clear amber, viscous without legs,
Aroma: sweet apple aroma with a light tartness,
Flavor: sweet apple flavor, caramel sweetness, touch of tartness, dry finish,

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 9/20
Rating: 2.5/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **/4

8/12/08 From the bottle. Aroma is almost malty, with caramel, but not cloyingly sweet. Apple character is much more muted, with only faint tartness. Appearance is almost copper gold with a low white head that emerges with time, rather than fading away. Flavor is fairly complex for a cider, with an almost dark fruit kind of character, caramel sweetness and a kind of earthy champagne carb note that’s tough to describe, but helps. Mouthfeel is medium/full bodied with a medium carb texture and and slight sourness tang. Overall, this has a nice balance of familiar and complex elements to keep it still approachable.

Pours light amber with white head that dissipates quickly. Aroma of sour apples. Tastes like tart apple juice. Light to medium body with average carbonation. Ovedrall I thought this was pretty good.

I only discovered recently that one can rate ciders on ratebeer. This got me thinking for a minute - they are different creatures, after all, and it is hard to really compare a beer to a cider. They sometimes taste very good together, tho. Beers are heavier and more complex overall, but I have always enjoyed cider as well as beer. This is one of the better ones. It has a nice, copper-gold color and a mild, winey aroma. It is not that dark, but it is dry enough. Woodchuck is available in New England and NY, but it is hard to find good hard cider in many parts of the USA.

pours a caramel color, hardly no carbonation. Not as sweet as the Amber, but still very good. Too bad I’ve only found it at one store in town or I would buy it more often.