Cider Review: Woodchuck's Gumption

Lately, I feel like I've neglected my reviews of ciders that are easy to find nationally. That's not something I want to do, because these ciders do a lot to introduce people to cider. From a cider nerd standpoint, reviewing a widely-available cider is helpful for readers because reviewing something other folks have tried gives readers great calibration for how they can relate to what I notice in a cider and how I describe it. Try a bottle of Gumption and read this review and see how our notes compare. And if you try this, please comment!

First, my research. Going back, I'm seeing a significant amount of re-branding on the Woodchuck website. It says craft in many places and certainly seeks to reinforce a brand identity of authenticity, especially with the new slogan, "real cider from a real cidery." If you want to explore a bit, you'll find quite a bit beyond the rebranding at:

http://www.woodchuck.com

I've reviewed several of Woodchuck's ciders before: too many to list here, but I'll include a few of my favorites just so I can steer folks to the ciders I think are Woodchuck's best.

Dry Hop: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/11/cider-review-woodchuck-cellar-series.html

Belgian White: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/10/cider-review-woodchuck-belgian-white.html

Winter: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/01/cider-review-woodchuck-winter.html

This bottle of Gumption came to me from the fine folks at Woodchuck as a promotional sample.  Nevertheless, I assure you this gets the same consideration as the ciders I buy for myself. The primary difference for me is that is that when I get promotional samples, I can sometimes get additional information that I do not have access to when buying from store shelves. And I love information! 

Woodchuck tells me to expect this cider to fall between a semi-dry and a semi-sweet, with a medium body, light carbonation, dry finish, and a sweet apple aroma. Okay, I can watch out for all of these characteristics.

Gumption is Woodchuck's newest core cider, which means this cider is available year round and sold in more locations than many of the seasonal or limited release products. This is how Woodchuck describes it:

"Legendary showman P.T. Barnum once noted, “everybody drank cider-spirits called ‘gumption’.” Our Woodchuck GUMPTION™ celebrates the spirit of P.T. Barnum and those with the gumption to follow their own path. We pair the fresh juice of common eating apples with dry cider apples to bring you a bold and unique drinking experience."

Graphic design nerd that I am, I really like the vintage-circus-inspired packaging. But I'm more excited by the posibilities implied by the words "dry cider apples." Cider apples do not inherently make a cider any drier than a cider made from table fruit, but I could certainly go for a more tannic cider and a drier cider from Woodchuck.

Legendary showman P.T. Barnum once noted, “everybody drank cider-spirits called ‘gumption’.” Our Woodchuck GUMPTION™ celebrates the spirit of P.T. Barnum and those with the gumption to follow their own path. We pair the fresh juice of common eating apples with dry cider apples to bring you a bold and unique drinking experience. - See more at: http://www.woodchuck.com/cider/gumption/#sthash.p7R9i7jf.dpuf

Legendary showman P.T. Barnum once noted, “everybody drank cider-spirits called ‘gumption’.” Our Woodchuck GUMPTION™ celebrates the spirit of P.T. Barnum and those with the gumption to follow their own path. We pair the fresh juice of common eating apples with dry cider apples to bring you a bold and unique drinking experience. - See more at: http://www.woodchuck.com/cider/gumption/#sthash.p7R9i7jf.dpuf

Appearance: brilliant, copper, some visible bubbles

In color, this cider looks nearly pumpkin orange.  My notes include the word sunset, and I stand by that.

Aromas: ripe apples, soft, sweet

Gumption smells appley sweet and soft, very much as Woodchuck prepared me for it to smell. I'm not going to expect very much acidity based on these aromas.

Sweetness/dryness: Sweet!

Though I expected sweetness in this cider, I didn't quite expect this much. It is decidedly sweet, but I can taste the sweetness more initially after each sip.

Flavors and drinking experience: butterscotch, caramel, apple

The caramel and butterscotch notes really hit at first and mellow into apple.  This is not really much drier than any other Woodchuck cider, but there is a little astringence in the texture—moreso than in the flavor.  This is not tart or sour at all, but not so acidless so as to seem keeved like many french ciders. Lots of the flavors seem to hang out at end of the palate. It fits in well with the Woodchuck core cider lineup, because it has that initial burst of sweetness that many Woodchuck fans want, but it does develop into a more interesting texture because of that astringence.

As the photo shows, I had this with pizza. And I recommend that pairing. I think pizza and semi-sweet or sweet bubbly ciders going perfectly well together because of the interplay of breadiness, salt, cheese and sweetness and effervescence.