WILK Friday BeerBuzz – 14 Sep 2012 Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin w/John Matson

It seems like just a few weeks ago, but back in Nov 2011 we featured three different ciders on the WILK Friday BeerBuzz.  Our guest was Woodchuck President & CEO Bret Williams and our ciders were Woodchuck Crisp, Amber and Winter.  The ciders were great and it was an amazing contrast to be able to sample them all side-by-side.  For anyone who may still think all ciders are the same…try the Woodchuck blends and you’ll see they are each very unique.

A few weeks ago mybeerbuzz.com broke the news that Woodchuck would be bringing their famous Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider to Pennsylvania.  The story is here from just a few weeks ago, and much to our pleasure, the Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider was in the studio today for us to sample.

I was really curious to taste a pumpkin cider, and I’ll admit I had a lot of preconceived notions about what it would taste and feel like.  It just seemed to me that cider and pumpkin didn’t seem to be a natural combination…but boy was I wrong.

Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin is a wonderful balance of fall pumpkin flavors and the light dryness of a traditional cider.  As Woodchuck states, “This is not a pumpkin spiced cider. This is a cider born from real pumpkins. When that natural pumpkin character is balanced against a crisp apple backdrop, the resulting cider is truly one of a kind” and I’ll agree with every word.  This is a really nice blend and a really tasty cider so be sure to try it for yourself before it’s all gone.

It was a lot of fun talking to Woodchuck Cider-Maker John Matson today.  John really knows a lot about the process of making and blending ciders so he was a really interesting guest.  It was also very exciting to hear John explain that Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin was never available in PA prior to this year because the ABV of 6.9% was too high for PA law.  We should all be thankful that Bret and everyone at Woodchuck brewed two entirely different batches of their Private Reserve Pumpkin this year.  One at 6.9% ABV and another batch at 5.5% ABV for PA and Tennessee.

Be sure to get out and try Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider as well as the rest of their great line-up of ciders TONIGHT @ KRUGELS!!  Look for Woodchuck Private Reserve & Amber BOTH ON DRAFT, with some cool giveaways from Woodchuck @ Krugel’s Georgetown Deli & Beer tonight!.  I’ve found some new favorites and I suspect you will too.

Thank you to John Matson from Woodchuck
, Nancy, John & Joe for yet another fun Friday.
The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together.
As always you can ef=”http://fridaybeerbuzz.com/”>check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE