I'm not a cider fan, but you'll see here why I'll sometimes review ciders in this day and age - thanks Laurissa at Section 6 Brewing in Brandon, thanks to her I have bought more cider in the past six months than I have in the rest of my life, and that's including the period where I wanted to like cider in 2005 but I just couldn't enjoy it at all. I'm planning on a "Sampling Western Manitoba" series where I sample a product or two from every single brewery/cidery/winery/producer in Western Manitoba to hopefully see a boost in the craft beverage industry tourism industry - I've been evangelical about Manitoba craft beer for close to 20 years now, so you know I'd love to see a boost in the Western Manitoba tourism industry - we have a lot to share but we never really promote it off compared to other regions of Canada. Pilot Mound's Wooden Gate Cider has done an amazing job promoting Western Manitoba with showcasing that a very cold region of Canada can not only grow apples and other fruit really well, but also turn it into some of the best cider in all of Canada. I forgot to mention - I hear they have a really good wood fire pizza, so you can't go wrong with a sampling of cider with a piping hot pizza!
Today's sampling was meant to be part of the "Sampling Western Manitoba" series, but I've been having troubles doing the series, mostly from my health, so I decided the first sampling in the series won't be part of the series but as its own review, as this cider is no longer available at most Liquor Marts, so it didn't seem fair to review something that isn't even available at the time of publishing. I fell in love with this cider because it was in a pretty-looking clear Stubby bottle - I absolutely love Stubbies so I was excited beyond belief that any beverage producer would still have a product in a Stubby in this day and age.. I've harassed breweries to do beers in Stubbies, but we will likely never see the return of Stubbies in the craft beer scene again.. so for now, this is the most excited I will ever be about a beverage container for a very long time.
Description: A l’il sweet, a l’il sour. L’il fruity takes up its much deserved space as an easy to drink, bright and crisp cider. This mixed prairie blend offers medium carbonation with notes of fruit punch and sour candy. Wooden Gate’s Pride cider in all its unfiltered, mixed Manitoba berry glory. we are excited to share that a portion of all proceeds from this Pride cider will be donated to Rainbow initiatives throughout the Pembina Valley Region. 5.2% ABV
Ingredients: Apples, Raspberries, Sour Cherries, Saskatoons, Chokecherries, Sugar, Citric Acid
Appearance: Deep cherry juice body, clear, a light amount of carbonation when I opened up the bottle
Aroma: Nice, sweet, a bit tart. Notes of raspberry right from the beginning, a bit of a tartness from Manitoba apples, tart cherries, and a very subtle hint of Saskatoon at the end. It's sweet, tart and has a bit of bite to it, so far.
Taste: All the flavours rushed at the same time - there was the apple sweetness/tartness to it, sour cherry presence, a bit of Saskatoon, and especially raspberry to it. It leaves a bit of an acidic aftertaste at the end.
Overall Thoughts: It's got a definite sweet and sour/tart balance to it. The apple presence gives of a sweetness (not crab apple like I'm used to), tart yet very sweet raspberry sweetness, a slight bite of Saskatoon. Each sip I take I feel like each of the flavours comes out, but the apple sweetness is probably the most dominant. I'd love to see more beverages of all kinds in a nice Stubby now days..
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