Tap Handle #230: Vermont Hard Cider Company - Woodchuck Granny Smith Hard Cider

This is a really cool tap. I had wanted one, but many that I had found were beat up (it gets damaged easily) or were too expensive. I finally obtained one in great shape. The label on it had come off, but I found it and re-attached it. This is a great tap that isn't made anymore - Woodchuck taps now feature a piece of fruit on a log.

Woodchuck Hard Cider was founded in 1990 in Proctorsville, Vermont as a winery that produced a variety of apple wines as well as a hard cider. Vermonters are sometimes called “woodchucks” and so they changed the name of the cider to Woodchuck. The early bottling line consisted of equipment dating back to the 1940’s and broke down frequently. Every label had to be applied by hand and every keg was hand-filled. By 1996 they were selling over half a million cases, and to expand, their operation was moved to Springfield, Vermont, and the new place was dubbed the Green Mountain Cidery. They added several more ciders based on ingredients such as brown sugar, granny smith apples, pears, and raspberries. Facing near bankruptcy in 2003, they were purchased by Green Mountain Beverage, and renamed Vermont Hard Cider Company. In 2012, they relocated the cidery one more time to a $20 million facility in Middlebury, Vermont. In October of 2012,  Irish beverage company C&C Group agreed on Tuesday to buy Vermont Hard Cider Company, for $305 million. (Note: C & C Group also owns Bulmers, Magners, and Gaymers cider companies, and if you remember back to this post, C & C Group also bought Hornsby's in 2011).

Woodchuck Granny Smith Draft Cider is made using 100% Granny Smith apples. This cider has a mouth-watering flavor that is tangy and tart, with just a touch of sweetness. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 2.77 out of 5.

Woodchuck Cider Official Website