Cider Week VA Preview: What You Can Expect from Cider Week Virginia 2018
Richmond has been put on the map lately for all of our breweries that have popped over the years. However, we’ve become a city (and state) with so much more to offer. That’s what Cider Week VA celebrates.
We had the pleasure of getting a little taste of what to expect from Cider Week Virginia 2018, which is coming up from November 9-18, 2018. Here’s what’s going down.
What’s Cider Week VA?
Cider Week VA is a time to highlight our Virginia cideries. Each day there are PLENTY of events, from cider and cheese pairing, cider-making classes, tastings, dinner and more. You can find events in every part of Virginia.
Check out a few highlights of Cider Week events in Richmond:
Cider Making Class at Courthouse Creek Cider on Monday, November 5 (a little warm-up to the week)
Sly Clyde Cider Tasting at Union Market on Friday, November 9
Blue Bee Cider and Cheese Pairing at Blue Bee on Wednesday, November 14
Steal the Glass Night at Shyndigz on Thursday, November 15
What Cideries are participating in Cider Week VA?
TL;DR: A lot! Here are a few that we were able to preview for you.
Busky Cider: The preview was held at Busky Cidery down in Scott’s Addition. Right when you walked in, you were greeted by a large bar FILLED with Busky taps. They had really interesting flavors, like Lemon Shandy, and more typical flavors.
My suggestion is the dry hopped cider.Courthouse Creek Cider: Courthouse Creek recently joined the neighborhood and opened a Scott’s Addition location. Their new pour house features a live beehive! For the tasting, they brought the Rustico, which is a deliciously dry cider, and a blackberry lavender.
My suggestion is the Rustico.Sly Clyde Cider: What’s great about Cider Week is getting to taste cider from outside of Richmond. Sly Clyde is a beachy cidery from Hampton Roads. We tasted four beers from Sly Clyde: a dry hopped cidery, ginger lemon, blackberry mint and their submersive.
My suggestion is the blackberry mint (it’s incredibly refreshing).Potter’s Craft Cider: Potter’s is located a bit over an hour away from Richmond and packs some interesting flavors. We got to try the grapefruit hibiscus, farmhouse dry, cider nouveau and watermelon saison. I’m about to make a suggestion, but know that it was a hard battle between the grapefruit hibiscus and watermelon saison (their fall flavor).
My suggestion is the watermelon saison (not as sweet as I was anticipating).Bryant’s Cider: Bryant’s Cider made quite an impression on us with for unique ciders to taste:
Unicorn Fuel: The name made me want to sip, but the taste me want to chug. It’s a beautifully fun cider with rose and hibiscus.
Chaider: Chai tea is my jam, so let’s just say a chai flavored cider is my dream in a bottle.
Hell Hop: A dry hop cider (which if you can’t tell yet, I like dry things and hops).
The ‘Ol Lady: Sparkling dry cider with ginger.
Hopefully this isn’t a secret that I’m outing, but Bryant’s Cider is hopefully going to be opening another home in Richmond, which means more deliciously distinct ciders.
My suggestion is Chaider because of how spicy and special it is, but the Unicorn Fuel and ginger were pretty amazing too.Castle Hill Cider: Pro Tip: Check out the labels for a scale on how dry to sweet the cider is from Castle Hill. We got to try both the Celestial and Serendipity.
The Celestial is a bit dryer, so it’s my suggestion!Blue Bee Cider: I’ve tasted all of their cider before (a lot), and it’s a glorious, wine-like cider that is perfect for every occasion. It might even be THE first cidery I’ve ever been to. And it’s the cider Cazey and I shared on our friendship date.
My suggestion is the Charred Ordinary, a dry old-fashioned cider.
Definitely check out some events in your area across the state and get-to-know some local cideries. Cheers!