Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

During an icy January week, over 1,000 cidermakers, orchardists, and enthusiasts descended upon Portland, Oregon, for the 14th Annual CiderCon. CiderCon, which started in Salem, Oregon, with only a few hundred attendees, has blossomed into the world’s largest conference for the hard cider industry. Registration was 20% higher than the previous year, with attendees pouring in from 40 different states, including Alaska and Hawaii and Washington DC, and 14 different countries.

Despite the multi-day ice storm, with congregations initially limited to the Convention Center and lobby (I heard it was coined “LobbyCon 2024”), the energy remained high. In chatting with people, I learned that Kelsi Paul, Cidermaster at Taves Estate Cidery, was excited to meet new people and liked that the conference offered opportunities to learn about lots of different topics. CiderCon veteran Gidon Coll (founder of Original Sin Cider) found, “It was enlightening to witness the level of enthusiasm for cider culture in the Pacific Northwest.”

Cider Share, the American Cider Association (ACA)-coordinated industry tasting, featured dozens of cideries from all around the world. Quince cider from Italian cider maker Floribunda was one of the crowd favorites. Cideries from the Northwest were located on the perimeter of the hotel ballroom and inside there were several “islands” of tables. The Northwest Cider Association also coordinated an invite-only special preview hour of Cider Share for wholesalers, buyers, media and influencers to sample cider from throughout the Northwest region.

The conference formally opened on Thursday, January 18, with the ACA’s CEO Michelle McGrath welcoming us to her home city, and ACA headquarters. McGrath highlighted the continued partnership with the Cider Institute of North America (CINA), who coordinated the conference’s production track, aptly named “Making Amazing Cider.” Connecting with Consumers in an Age of Endless Choice was the theme of the conference, and McGrath talked about how cider is a regional beverage, with many cidermakers growing their own fruit. 

The three keynote speakers were multigenerational orchardists Kaitlyn Thornton (Tonasket, Washington), Randy Kiyokawa (Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Hood River, Oregon), along with cidery owner Lara Worm (Bivouac Ciderworks in San Diego, California). Each speaker expanded upon the discussion of the conference’s theme. 

Thornton impressed upon the attendees to understand “what is your why” and the importance of storytelling. Kiyokawa discussed embracing endless choice to connect to the consumer and drive growth and subsequent success of the industry. Worm focused on elevating education, accessibility and sharing stories with a wider audience. I agreed with Worm when she said that cider has more depth and staying power than anything else on the market, but cider is one of the few beverages where consumers quit the whole category if they find something too sweet or too sour.

Following these short presentations, Zoe Licata of Brewbound hosted a panel discussion, investigating the state of the hard cider industry with a selection of cidery representatives from around the country: Aaron Sarnoff-Wood (2 Towns Ciderhouse in Oregon), Casey Baxter (Blake’s Beverage Company in Michigan), Shannon Edgar (Stormalong Cider in Massachusetts), Caitlin Braam (Yonder Cider in Washington) and Eleanor Legér (Eden Specialty Ciders in Vermont). The panel shared their individual takes on the state of the industry. Sarnoff-Wood discussed how national grocer access and visibility is one key driver of growth. Braam acknowledged that smaller cideries also have growth and stock challenges, especially if they want to work with other small businesses. 

Legér, whose cidery makes less than 25,000 gallons each year, talked about how small cideries are focused on restaurants, e-commerce and following the trends of natural wine making. Another trend discussed were low/no and high-ABV ciders. Baxter opined that better-for-you lifestyles and occasions are driving these trends, and while Blake’s introduced a light cider five years ago, it was caught up in the hard seltzer wave. Edgar shared some barriers for the high ABV, or imperial ciders, and noted that when Stormalong introduced an imperial cider, it got some traction but was going to continue to require big marketing pushes. 

After the speaker sessions, McGrath announced that Reps. Earl Blumenauer (OR-D), who was one of the recipients of the 2024 Apple Advocate Award, and Mike Kelly (PA-R) introduced the Bubble Tax Modernization Act of 2024 (HR 7029) to the 118th Congress of the United States. This garnered resounding cheers from the audience! The “Bubble Bill” will amend a carbonation threshold disparity for lower-alcohol wine, cider and mead made with fruit. 

Sonya del Peral (Proprietor & Manager at Nine Pin Ciderworks) sat in on the opening session and she agreed that the industry needs to continue to educate consumers. She was interested in attending the low-ABV panel — like Blake’s, Nine Pin launched a low-ABV cider several years ago and is now revamping the product. I also sat in on “An Introduction to Low-ABV & Non-Alcoholic Cider Production” moderated by Dave Takush (Head Cidermaker and co-owner of 2 Towns Ciderhouse). The standing-room-only crowd illustrated that there is continued and growing interest in this trend. 

There were 37 other educational sessions across several categories, including Crafting Amazing Cider, Doing Better Business, Exploring Cider’s Flavor & Terroir, Growing Bountiful Apples and Selling More Cider. There were also 12 sensory sessions, including a tasting with cidermakers visiting from Sweden and Norway. 

My favorite panel was “The Burden of Burnout.” Focusing on one’s own mental health is something that is often overlooked, especially in an industry so many business owners/operators and their staffs have to grind it out to be successful. As Ellen Cavalli, co-founder of Tilted Shed Ciderworks, said in her “How to Stay Small” panel: “Someone needs to have a day job.” 

The panel, moderated by Katie Muggli, (Founder and Executive Director of Infinite Ingredient), and featuring Maura Hardman (Marketing & PR Manager for Seattle Cider Company), Ben Calvi (COO at Vermont Cider Co.) and  Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham (Director of Social Impact at the Brewers Association), talked about how important it is to recognize burnout and what leadership’s role is in managing their team’s burnout. 

Hardman noted how it is easier to see burnout in others, but you need to self-identify to take care of yourself. Calvi acknowledged that burnout is hard to address in a manufacturing environment and how challenging it is for leaders to have a sustainable and durable company. 

Jackson-Beckham, known by many as “Dr. J,” discussed how many small producers’ business models are built on burnout, and a real challenge is finding a way to make the numbers work without burning people out. Dr. J also talked about how marginalized groups often come into work feeling they have something to prove and are personally invested in being hyper- competent in their jobs, further exacerbating burnout. Muggli also provided several useful tips and strategies for burnout management (“The antidote to burnout is engagement”).

Several panels also discussed the value in educating consumers while also being authentic to yourself. Julie Rhodes (Strategic Business Consultant at Not Your Hobby Marketing) discussed knowing your market audience (“North Face couldn’t just market to everyone who didn’t want to be cold”) while also recognizing that market launches can take time. In several of the sessions, panelists discussed making your mark, finding effective partnerships and figuring out how to avoid the “beer-ification” of cider, especially with distributors. 

CiderCon always brings in new attendees, including the nine recipients of the Cider is For Everyone Scholarship, and this year the CiderSoms hosted the Newcomers Networking Session, sponsored by Maletis Beverage. There were also several other networking opportunities, including a BIPOC Cider Professional Meetup and an Orcharding Meetup where attendees exchanged apple tree scion wood.

I sat with first-time attendees Jordan and Lesley Zehner of Incline Cider Co. during the Friday lunch session. Jordan mentioned they’ve gone to the Northwest Cider Symposium in the past, and that they’d been having fun at CiderCon connecting with a different group of speakers, and hearing different perspectives from all over the world. Lesley found that the conference sessions had common themes of low/no ABV and consistent marketing.

Scholarship recipient William Santiago (a bartender at Crafted Concoctions), wasn’t sure where he would fit in at CiderCon, but by the end of the conference he had found his calling. Santiago found, “A sense of purpose of what I can do, and what I can bring both to the [cider] side and to the cocktail world, which is where I’m coming from. Being here gave me the opportunity to brighten my horizons, make new contacts [and] try some new flavors and cider styles.” 

CiderSoms has been involved with the Scholarship program since the start and it really warms my heart and excites me when the recipients leave the conference with this kind of energy and clarity. 

The ACA also welcomed their new leadership. Josie Mielke of Urban Orchard Cider Co. and Shannon Edgar of Stormalong were newly elected to the Board. Christine Walter of Bauman’s Cider was elected Board President, a role previously held by Legér for the past three years. Sarah Hemly of Hemly Cider was elected Vice President.

 Overall, CiderCon was an amazing time. We always love making this yearly cider pilgrimage to make connections with our cider family, get to see people in real life that we’ve only seen online, and welcome newcomers into the cider community. There truly is no place like the “Con!” Sean and I can’t wait to host you all next February in Chicago for CiderCon 2025.

Cheers!

• Photos: Brandon Buza

The post CiderCon 2024 Recap: Returning to Our Roots and Looking Ahead appeared first on Cider Culture.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo, Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

Brian Bolzan is Threadbare Cider House & Meadery’s head cidermaker. We first met Brian in Chicago at CiderCon 2023 and had a chance to get to know him better after spending a few days in Pittsburgh for the Barrel & Flow Fest. I was excited to learn more about Brian and how he got his start in cider. 

Malaika Tyson: How did you get your start into cider?

Brian Bolzan: I fell in love with fermentation from a pretty young age and grew really interested in homebrewing. I made beer at home for a really long time, and every fall I would make cider. My techniques started very minimally, like getting juice from an orchard, but that progressed to milling apples myself, or trying out different techniques with fermentation of apples and other fruit. A lot of my interests align with local geography, fruit varieties, agriculture and eliminating food waste. Being able to make those connections with people that are growing fruit was super-important to me.

What were you doing before working in cider?

My first job out of college was at a nonprofit kitchen incubator in Youngstown, Ohio. The concept was essentially helping small entrepreneurs start businesses around a food concept or a food product. I always had a strong interest in food production. My family tried to point me towards culinary school, but I realized that wasn’t something that I wanted to pursue. I ended up studying economics in college —  something completely different! But I wanted to use my knowledge and passion for ingredients and food to make an impact somewhere in the community and really found all those things with cider.

How did you end up at Threadbare?

I made the jump into professional brewing and working in a quality lab for a brewery. I then worked for Jack’s Hard Cider for three years. I learned a lot from the folks there and got a really good grounding for large fermentation, distribution, and managing a supply chain. I heard about Wigle Whisky Distillery opening [Threadbare] in Pittsburgh and interviewed over Thanksgiving weekend. I had a job offer that Monday and kind of uprooted our whole lives.

Threadbare is my dream job. I get to do what I love every day, which is great. We’re a pretty small, very tight-knit, production team. There’s three full-time people, myself and two others, and we’ve now created over 60 unique ciders!

What advice do you have for people getting into the cider industry?

First, I would say welcome and thanks for joining us. I think that the first big step to getting involved in cider is just putting yourself out there and looking to see what’s available. I think if I was getting started now in cider I would attend CiderCon, or enroll in a Cider Institute of North America (CINA) class. I was able to take an advanced cider and perry production course with Peter Mitchell at Washington State University. Even though I had been making cider for five years at that point, the class was a really transformative opportunity for me.

Also, go around and try cider. There’s so much great regional cider, so many styles and expressions, so figure out what you could do that’s unique to cider.

What is something that the cider industry as a whole should consider?

We need to address how we speak to our consumers. Their opinions are valid! We’re not a business if we don’t have drinkers at the end of the day.

At CiderCon 2023, a friend of mine said, “Be proud of everything you make.” And that really stuck with me because, regardless of what I make, it is my taste preference, we shouldn’t make anything if we’re not proud of it.

What are some of the ways you’ve reached your consumers?

We recently launched the Tree to Glass Cider House Tour and Tasting. We had eight people on our inaugural tour. It’s an intimate experience, with a tour and guided tasting. In the past, we would leave you with a sample at the end of the tour and say, “Now you can enjoy some cider.” But we learned that people want to feel more confident when they’re tasting cider, and by guiding them, letting them know that there’s not a right or wrong way to taste cider, and that all styles are equally valid, we’ve given our customers the confidence that they too can be an educated cider drinker. 

Are there any cidermaking pipe dreams you’re dying to make a reality?

Yeah, definitely. At the scale we work at we’ve never really been able to get a small-batch system off the ground. And sometimes when you work at bigger and bigger scales, you really don’t get to pick and choose as much of what goes in. I would love to find a way to have a little bit more room to experiment and let those experiments bear fruit in our tasting room with specific customers. I would also love to get our barrel program off the ground in a big way, like getting a lot more cider in oak barrels, and being patient and waiting to see what works.

Do you have a mentor in the industry?

Some of the people that have really helped me started in beer. The person who initially hired me at Flying Dog Brewery, Ben Chambers, had so many broad swaths of experiences in the industry. He really took a chance on me first and hired me into this industry 11 years ago. He was someone that really did help me to see that your first job or your first Ink link into the industry didn’t need to be your whole career trajectory.

Here in Pennsylvania, we’re a small but dedicated cider industry. Some of my peers that are cidermakers are Edwin [Winzeler] and Ben [Wenk] at Ploughman Cider, Scott [Topel] who used to make cider at Wyndridge Farm and Brian and Olga [Dressler] who own Dressler Estate. It’s been monumental for me to talk with them about common or different problems that we’re dealing with in fermentation, sales or any aspect of the day-to-day or big picture of this business.

I also look up to a lot of people, like Eleanor Leger of Eden Specialty Ciders or Autumn Stoscheck of Eve’s Cidery, who really laid the ground for us all. But the people that have really made this possible for me are those that are in the trenches doing it right alongside us and who have gone and started their own things, like the guys at Big Hill Ciderworks.

If you could have any superpower, what would you like to have?

That’s the hardest question you’ve asked all day! My superpower would be the ability to turn back time. I’m happy with all my choices in my life, but would like the ability to just enhance and do things better each time. 

To learn more about Threadbare, check out the cidery’s website, Facebook and Instagram pages.

• Photos: Threadbare Cider

The post Cidermaker Q&A: Threadbare Cider appeared first on Cider Culture.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo, Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

Ian McGregor and Orion Bellorado are the founders of Farmstead Cider, a Jackson Hole, WY-based cidery making ciders with Wyoming and Rocky Mountain-grown apples. I first encountered these folks at CiderCon in Chicago (’21) and I was excited to learn more from Ian about more, including how their ciders help with human-animal interactions.

Ian McGregor

Cider Culture: I’m not that familiar with cideries in the Rocky Mountain Region. What can you tell us about the region?

Ian McGregor: We are a budding  community, as we’re the only cidery in the state. There is a cidery in Idaho and one in Montana, too. I’m honestly itching for that to change. I love the community behind cider.

How did you get your start in cider?

I started out in wine making. I worked for a bunch of different wine cellars over six years and also worked in different vineyards and diversified farm settings, including managing a 100-acre farm for 3.5 years in Healdsburg, California. I was enthralled by the wonders of fermentation and growing things, but I was intimidated by the level of capital and competition in the wine industry. I also decided I wanted to be near family, so I moved back to Wyoming and started an organic farm.

Are there a lot of apples in Wyoming?

When I was growing up in Wyoming, I thought nothing grew here except for kale. But when I got back to Jackson, I started to notice crab apple trees growing everywhere I hadn’t noticed before. I also discovered all types of sweet apples that I didn’t think grew in Wyoming.

 Is that when you decided to start making cider?

Not quite. Initially I was really interested in seeing how different apples grew in this cold climate. Then my business partner, Orion, and his wife registered for (and received) a little basket fruit press in 2016 that would squeeze out maybe a gallon of juice. Both of our wives are from the northeast and have vivid memories of apples being part of autumn traditions. So in the fall, we found a few free trees and started pressing some apples. We did a couple batches of fermentations as well as a sweet cider, and had some low key fun with it.

Orion Bellorado and Ian McGregor of Farmstead Cider, photo by Ryan Dee/Sharp Eye Deer

Why did you decide to take your cidermaking commercial?

That winter we went to a dinner and the lead large carnivore biologist for the Park Service was also there. We brought some of our ciders and started talking about picking apples locally. The biologist told us that there was an issue with apples in neighborhoods all around Teton County. The vast quantity of apples in certain areas are a nuisance for the residents because the bears come and eat the fruit. They told us there was some funding for projects that help mitigate bear and human conflict. And since apples were one of the main contributors, there would be an opportunity for a grant if someone could pick and remove the apples.

That’s really cool. So did you get the grant?

Yes, it was a three-year grant that we received in 2017. When applying, we told them we could pick apples in the problem areas, and asked them to help us pay for the labor to do that. We also told them that we’d try to start a business that could create an incentive to have these apples removed without taxpayer money. While we didn’t get a ton of money, it was enough to harvest the first year and we hit as many trees as we could in all these different areas.

We got permission from landowners and harvested a ridiculous amount of crab and sweet apples from abandoned, neglected, wild and otherwise ignored trees and we officially opened for business in 2019. Over time, we’ve built a huge network of people whose trees we pick apples from who are also a great customer base when our summer tourism sales end.

Is that why your slogan is, “Save Bears, Drink Cider”?

Yes. We are interested in the bear-human relationship; it’s mainly black bears where we live. We do have grizzly bears in Jackson and Yellowstone, but not in our actual town. But more and more bears have been able to expand their range as they’ve recovered well after previously being listed as an endangered species.

In 2020, there was a famous grizzly bear from Grandview National Park, Bear 399, who came out of her den with four cubs. She’s known in our area because she’s always lived so close to the town. She mostly stays near the park area, but sometimes wanders among traffic jams of people taking pictures of her. With four cubs, they learn to live on their own more slowly, and so with many mouths to feed, she expanded her range looking for food, not just hunting animals, but also hunting for fruit. In the fall of 2020, she came and brought her four cubs right through downtown Jackson. In the fall of 2021 she brought her cubs back into town and they were huge!

Everyone knew where she was and we were zooming around harvesting trees all over the place and trying to predict where she would be next. We never actually saw her, but one of the people who has a tree in an urban orchard sent us a picture of her shaking a tree with her four cubs all around it eating apples. When Bear 399 and her cubs came to town, our number of urban orchard signups doubled.

Since you’re community harvesting, how do you build flavor in your cider?

We figure out what brix and flavor attributes we want, and find those in the apples. We really got into learning about how to use crab apples because the bears forced us to harvest every single apple, not just the sweet ones. We started playing with all the different amazing crab apple diversity and it’s become our bread and butter to work with these overlooked fruits. We also identified some unique sweet varieties, like Yellow Transparent which was a common tree planted by homesteaders.

Do you use the same yeast strains for all your ciders?

At the very beginning we used champagne yeast. But it gets so cold here, that we found that when we used commercial yeast we had to heat the tanks and the equipment or the commercial yeast would shut down. We did a bunch of wild yeast fermentations and found they handled our 40-degree cellar pretty well. Even though fermentation was slow, the yeast wouldn’t struggle and kept ticking along. So since then we have become 100% wild spontaneous fermentation.

How many ciders do you currently sell?

We have between 7 and 10 ciders. When something sells out, we discontinue it. For example, we made a cider from a 130-year old orchard in Lander, Wyoming. We were able to get a really big harvest one year, but there hasn’t been much since and we just sold out in May.

We’ve named a bunch of our ciders after the neighborhoods in which we harvest, like the Kelly Street Cider. We also blend all bittersweets from different neighborhoods into our Bitter Local blend. Our Teton Pét-Nat has more of the dessert sweet apples and is a more accessible cider.

And all of the apples used for Farmstead Cider are from your general region?

We generally only work with orchards and fruit grown in Wyoming and in the Rocky Mountain region. We also started a little orchard of about 150 trees. I’ve planted a ton of diversity and we’ve grafted all sorts of different varieties. Last winter we had about 175 trees and 25 of them died from the cold and some others looked sad. We are still trying to find trees that can survive the winters which can get as cold as -20 degrees.

What rootstock did you graft the trees on to?

What a journey. During the first year, we had about a 40% success rate, and I learned a great deal about grafting. We used a lot of M-111 and Bud 118. The second year I did dwarf rootstock, which we will never do again. The trees only grew two inches!

Then I found a cool connection between the cider world and deer hunting. There is a guy in Pennsylvania at Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery who is interested in using apples to attract deer. He’s grown a ton of Dolgo seedlings and uses them as root stock to graft all sorts of wild trees he’s found in Pennsylvania. The Dolgo seedlings I’ve ordered from him have performed so much better than anything else we’ve used, which makes sense because Dolgo grows well in this area.

Last question! If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

I would want powers like Isabela Madrigal from Encanto, possessing the ability to instantaneously make flowers and plants grow.

To learn more about Farmstead Cider, and to keep up with bears, check out the brand’s website, and Facebook and Instagram pages.

• Feature photo: Ryan Dee/Sharp Eye Deer
• Other photos: Courtesy of Farmstead Cider

The post Cidermaker Q&A: Farmstead Cider appeared first on Cider Culture.

For LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, we’re sharing stories of queer-identified cider makers from across the country. Meet Hannah Ferguson of DOPE Cider House, via a Cider Culture article which originally published in April 2021. DOPE Cider House is now open at 460 E. Federal St., Suite B, in Youngstown, Ohio, holding hours Thursday through Sunday.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.\

Hannah Ferguson is a home winemaker and former assistant brewer in Ohio. When she opens her cidery later in 2021, her company will be the first black, female-owned cidery in Ohio. After reading a press release about Hannah leasing space from Penguin City Beer in Youngstown, OH to open DOPE Cider House & Winery, I was excited to learn more about her journey.

(The questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)  

Cider Culture: How did you get your start?

Hannah Ferguson: I’ve been a home winemaker for about 10 years, and I’ve always enjoyed craft beer. So while I knew how to make wine, I didn’t have any idea how to make beer. An assistant brewer position opened up at Modern Methods Brewery, and I worked with them for about two-and-a-half years. I am the only black female professional brewer in Ohio. But my passion has always been wine and cider. Over the summer of 2020, I collaborated with Sundog Cellars Ciderhouse & Winery, and a portion of the proceeds went to my LLC, DOPEbrands, to help me open my business. 

How did you decide on the name DOPE?

It’s an acronym that stands for Dwelling On Positive Energy. When I first started DOPEbrands, I was doing events, trying to bring open mic nights, poetry, spoken word and the like to people in their 30s. I knew that whatever my business would be, it would have to be dope, and the name stuck. I wanted the name to have a meaning, and my brother came up with the acronym.

Dwelling On Positive Energy is the vibe that my circle of friends and I give off. Cities have a lot of things going on, and people always have something negative to say about Youngstown, but we have a lot of positive things happening that I want to show in what I’m doing. 

Why did you decide to start making cider?

I started researching cidermaking, and I discovered making cider is the same as making wine, and that in Ohio, cidermaking falls under the wine license. Sundog Cellars also started as only a winery. They changed their business plan to start focusing on cider because the beverage is faster to produce than wine, and it is very popular right now. So while Sundog still makes wine, cider is their moneymaker. For me, starting with wine would take at least six months to produce, and it would also be dependent on the season for getting grape juice. My interest in making cider was also bolstered when I did the cider collaboration and researched how many black-owned cideries there are. [Editor’s note: not very many.]

Can you tell me about the collaboration cider?

We got the juice from Hays Orchard in Columbiana, OH. After fermentation, the base was just under 8% ABV. I wanted to give it a Miami Vice feel with a strawberry pina colada mix. A farm in Michigan makes a thick, concentrated strawberry puree that we added into the cider and gave it a beautiful color. We used other flavorings for the coconut and the pineapple. Coconut is a hard flavor to enhance, so we drank a lot to get the right taste. This experimentation is something that I think is a lot of fun, compared to making beer. 

How long have you been interested in opening up a cider house and winery?

It’s been about three years. Part of it has been trying to find a location. In Ohio, you can’t get any licensing unless you have a location. And once you have a location, you have to start paying your bills before you start making any money. As a small business, it’s already challenging to get capital, and when I found a couple of locations, there were some issues.

However, if you’d asked me five or 10 years ago if I would turn my hobby into a business, I would have said no. I was happy being the person who brings cool gifts to the party. But I want to see more people of color in this space and making cider. Also, seeing how many craft breweries were started by homebrewers let me know that I could bring this business to fruition as a home winemaker.

Is that how your partnership with Penguin City Beer came about?

Yes. Penguin City Beer found out what I was trying to do through word of mouth, and they reached out to me one day. Penguin City Beer had just purchased the ~33,000-square-foot Republic Warehouse in downtown Youngstown. They will use the majority of the warehouse space, but there is also a 1,500-square-foot office building attached to the warehouse that we are going to use for my production facilities and taproom. I am excited to break into the industry!

What style of ciders will be the first you plan to make?

I’m leaning towards the modern style, it’s aligned with my palate, and the ciders I typically drink tend to have adjunct flavors. However, I want to keep it mixed up and not just have one style and make ciders that attract different people and keep the board rotating. I do want to have flagship ciders. I believe that I’ll have eight taps, so ideally, I would have four flagship ciders and four rotating ciders. 

Do you also plan to can your cider?

Yes, it’s one of the first things I plan to do so that I can reach a lot of markets and distribute further than my surrounding area. A cool thing about partnering with Penguin City Beer is that they already have a canning line, and they are willing to assist me with getting the ciders into cans. Even though the doors aren’t open, a lot of people are asking me already for cider. It’s good, and I hope it continues.

What do you consider the keys to your success so far?

The friendships and collaborations I made, starting in the beer industry. And not giving up, even though I’ve had a lot of letdowns in the past three years. There were many times when I was ready to quit and go back into the workforce; I used to work in higher and secondary education.

While everyone’s story is different, it is hard not being able to see people who look like me or that I could relate to succeeding in the industry. However, it’s never too late to find your true passion, and that drives me.

What will your taproom be like when it opens?

I’ve always wanted a coffeehouse feel with a happy hour vibe. I like to go to coffee shops, but sometimes I want to get an Irish coffee. The taproom will be welcoming for someone who wants to come in and read a book or log on to their computer. Very comfortable, laidback and comforting. It’s a bonus that I’m next to Penguin City Beer, as they will have restaurant hubs with different smaller restaurants on the inside. They will also have a full liquor license plus beer. We will also share an amazing outdoor patio space. 

When do you plan to open?

We are hoping for September 2021. There are a lot of renovations, and we need to get the equipment in. I ordered the equipment in early March, and that takes a few weeks to get in. Our biggest concern is the licensing in the state. They are very behind in the process, and it’s sad, as a lot of businesses need this licensing to open or move. I’m hoping they catch up really soon so that we can open on time. 

 What non-cider beverage is in your glass most days?

Right now, I’m drinking an Aldi sangria. I love it! It’s the best $4 wine you can buy. Usually, if I’m not drinking cider, it’s craft beer. I enjoy Rhinegeist Brewery. They make cider and beer and have some cool flavors.

To learn more about DOPE Cider House & Winery, and to keep up with Ferguson’s progress toward opening the cidery, check out the brand’s website, Facebook and Instagram pages.

• Photos: DOPE Cider House and Winery

The post Cidermaker Q & A: DOPE Cider House and Winery appeared first on Cider Culture.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

Ed note: Enjoy a tasting from Overgrown Orchards as part of the CiderCon 2023 Frank Lloyd Wright Tour in Chicago!

One of my law school classmates first introduced me to Stan Wash, founder of Overgrown Orchard, shortly after the cidery’s founding in 2017 (he graciously said we were the foremost cider connoisseurs he knew). Overgrown Orchard is based in Chicago and makes heirloom cider at its four-acre orchard in Gary, Indiana, using apples sourced from the Midwest. It’s been amazing to watch Overgrown Orchard’s growth over the years, and we are excited to share more of its story through this Cidermaker Q&A.

Stan Wash of Overgrown Orchard

(The questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Cider Culture: Why did you start Overgrown Orchard?

Stan Wash: Part of the reason our cidery exists is to fill a void in the conversation. For example, Chicago has many educated drinkers, and people have a vocabulary that allows you to have a nuanced discussion about alcohol. But when you mention cider, most people don’t have a good understanding. For us, we’ve been able to slot into the natural wine community that allows for conversation and exploration.

All of your ciders are in crown-capped 500mL bottles. Is that a format you plan to stick with?

The big push would be to go to cans, and there are a couple of driving forces behind that. However, we try to make our product look more and more like wine, and going to a can is risky because it gets away from the message we are trying to convey to consumers. 

We also stick with bottles because of volume. We are making 2,000-2,500 gallons right now, so if we moved to cans and dropped to can prices, we would sell out in a month. We work on vintage cycles — press, bottle and then label. That works for our bottle format, as we like the slower sales so that we can have products on the shelf. 

How do you make your ciders?

We don’t add to our ciders, with the only exception being our coffee cider collaboration with Dark Matter Coffee. So, as a result, we have very few “dials” we can use to tune the cider. Since we are putting out six SKUs a year, a lot of thought is put into how you can differentiate when you have a similar apple base. 

One of those “dials” would be the selection of apples along with using wild fermentation. We barrel-ferment the cider using mainly white wine, red wine and calvados barrels.

When you age a cider in a pinot noir barrel, it’s almost like an adjunct in that [the liquid] picks up some of the pinot characteristics and provides a distinct flavor profile. Cider is also fragile and delicate (especially when there is a lower ABV), and adding more robust flavors (like oak chips) can overpower the apple flavors. We are lucky to have a good relationship with our barrels, and they give some unique flavors linked to the barrel’s microbiome. 

Can you give an example of how barrel-aging has played a role in the ciders you produce?

Our Joujou (a blend of heirloom cider apples, including Cox’s Orange Pippin, Reine des Pommes and Dolgo Crab) and Gris Gris (a blend of heirloom cider apples, including Cox’s Orange Pippin, Esopus Spitzenburg and Hyslop Crab) are similar on paper, but flavor-wise, they couldn’t be more opposite. 

Gris Gris is like floral champagne, while Joujou tastes like a lambic or an off-color wild ale. They both sat in calvados barrels for the majority of the time, but we have one set of 20-year-old calvados barrels that have some real funk in them, and we did some open-top fermentations. But going back to the “dials,” the only thing we changed in there was a slight variation in the barreling, and the ciders went in two opposite directions. That is one of the fun things about cider: You can make very minute changes, and they can have an enormous impact on the resulting beverage.

How does the combination of wild-fermentation and bottle-conditioning affect the resulting product?

If you are wild-fermenting, you have all these different yeast strains competing, and some of the strains are tapped out at the end of fermentation. So when you come back and add sugar to bring the strains back to life, some can’t be revived, and others are just not as robust, so bottle-conditioning may take six months (instead of a couple of weeks). During the process, you have a strained yeast working really hard, which may produce different esters and phenolics in the cider. So bottle to bottle, you get variation. Some bottles may end up with more carbonation, and some have different flavors. I embrace those differences, but it is just an added level of complexity in educating consumers because no two bottles may taste the same. 

Since Overgrown Orchards’ ciders are vintage-based, is there something different you are exploring this year?

We have 40 beehives in our orchard, and I have so much honey. I drink mostly Champagne, and there is a Champagne house called Lelarge-Pugeot that makes a champagne, Bises, that uses a honey-based tirage, and has sweet caramelly notes. A tirage is a solution added to the still base cider to create the secondary fermentation (i.e., carbonation) in the bottle. We add some sort of sugar solution into our ciders so that the yeast comes back to life, eats the sugar, and produces carbonation. Traditionally I always use cane sugar, but I decided to use orchard honey instead. I just opened the first bottle (which has been bottled for two-months), and it’s exactly what I’m looking for. Also, this is another way to differentiate between a narrow band of ciders. 

What are some of the challenges you’ve encountered?

Identity. If you pick up Joujou, Gris Gris, or a cider from another producer, the average consumer would have no idea how it tastes. It would be like if all beer was labeled “Beer,” and you didn’t know if you were buying a stout or an ale, and therefore didn’t know what to expect when tasting it. 

If you drink one of our ciders and have been told it’s akin to Champagne (i.e., Gris Gris) and your mind locks into that zone, you’re all in for what you get. However, if that’s not what you are expecting, then you’ll be unhappy. For instance, someone once reviewed our cider and said that cider tastes like Champagne but rated it 2 out of 5 because it wasn’t how they expected cider to taste.

Who do you think is your average consumer?

Someone who doesn’t like beer but who already drinks cider and then tries one of our ciders and really enjoys it.  

Are there any challenges that have been unique to the pandemic?

No longer having the opportunity to have face-to-face interactions with consumers. We used to do many pours at small wine shops, and the average shopper would have a pretty good vocabulary for wine. Half of the people we interact with would be excited and know a few things about cider. The other half were the ones who said they don’t like cider but do like wine. Those face-to-face interactions allowed us to use some of the wine vocabularies to talk about the cider and help build infrastructure on where some ciders fit, and now that consumer has a means for accessing the beverage. 

Is there anything else you want to explore?

If I had the time and money, I would be interested in exploring distilling. I think making brandy is the neighbor of cidermaking. I’m not interested in making brandy per se, but I am interested in making vermouth and other aperitifs. In general, American alcohol culture doesn’t have the same aperitif culture as some European countries. There are beverages in these cultures that are lower ABV sippers, that are usually floral, aromatic, and herb-based, almost like an alcoholic tea. A lot of these are blends of fortified ciders or wine. This expansion would also be on-brand for Overgrown Orchard because it fills in the conversation.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what three things would you bring with you?

Netflix and a functional vineyard — I can spend my days tending to the grapes and making wine. And the Will Shortz crossword puzzle collection.

To learn more about Overgrown Orchard, check out its website, Facebook, and Instagram pages. Overgrown Orchard ciders are available for purchase throughout Chicagoland (see retail locations here). Contact Overgrown Orchard at info@overgrownorchard.com.

• Photos: Overgrown Orchard

The post Cidermaker Q & A: Overgrown Orchard appeared first on Cider Culture.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

For Women’s History Month, I want to highlight some of the amazing women cidermakers and cidery owners I’ve met throughout the years. In this Q&A, I speak with Elizabeth Ryan Hudson of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider, who goes way, way back in the industry. In fact, she’s been in business for 25 years! So much has changed over those decades, and to speak with her is to dive into the fascinating history of the US cider community, from its nascent stages to the present day.

(The questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Elizabeth Ryan, founder/owner of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider

Malaika Tyson: You are one of the first commercial cidermakers of this generation in the US. I can only think of a few women who started making cider when you did. How did you get your start?

Elizabeth Ryan: I made my first barrel of cider in 1980 when I was a student at Cornell University, with apples from the University’s orchards. I have a degree in pomology and I was always interested in cider, which was a de facto non-existent beverage in the 80s. Even though I had taken winemaking classes, there was nothing about making cider. Cider had all but disappeared from the scene, except, maybe once in a while, you’d run into a bottle of French cider. One of the reasons for this is that there were a whole set of laws that inhibited the production of cider in New York and nationally. 

I eventually went to work as vineyard manager at Benmarl Winery. Later, I bought an orchard on my own and my then-boyfriend said to me, “I’ll have nothing to do with it.” When he said I had to choose between the orchard and him, I chose the orchard. Eventually he did come around, and we got married, had a kid and eventually divorced. That first orchard (Editor’s note: Elizabeth now runs five farms) had a great array of what I call classic New England cider apples, like Baldwins, Russets, Gravensteins and York Imperials. 

All that time, I was one of the few woman apple growers, and I was pretty used to going to meetings and maybe there’d be 400 or 500 people in the room and there’d be 10 women. In many ways there were lots of gender issues and gender bias, even in my own farm family.

When did you decide to make cider commercially?

In 1995, I got very serious about making cider. I started randomly calling people in England and I remember it was a dollar a minute back then. I called the director of tourism in Somerset and I asked if they still sang to the trees, which is the Wassail tradition. She told me to call Richard Sheppy, a legendary multi-generational Somerset producer, who was very traditional and didn’t even use yeast. I cold-called him and he was adorable and lovely to me. I asked, do you still sing to the trees? And he said, yes. And then I asked, “When are you doing it?” And he said next week. 

So I got on a flight to Somerset in the middle of the winter and attended my first Wassail. There were over 500 people at this amazing ceremony that started in pitch blackness and ended in a huge bonfire and copious quantities of cider. I remember leaving thinking that these were my people, and wanting to establish these cider traditions in the US. 

When I came back home, I formed a company named La Pomme Sauvage, the wild apple, and our trade name was DBA The Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider Company. I took Peter Mitchell’s course, I started making hard cider and I got a license. I had set a very high bar for us in terms of what I wanted our cider to be: best-in-class, incredible, complex and delicious. And to reference European apples and styles using American apples.

Did you have any initial supporters after you got started?

Yes, a friend, Hillary, who was another woman who had also gone to Cornell. She was the daughter of a well-known restaurateur, who owned Windows On The World and the Rainbow Room. Hillary worked with me to set up a local food hall and several farmers markets. It turned out she couldn’t technically be a partner because of tide house laws, but she supported the roll out of my first cider, Maeve’s, which has about 2% residual sugar. It’s our most approachable cider, it’s not made with bittersweets and bitter sharps and it is designed to be made from incredibly good New York State apples.

After rolling out your ciders, how did you get the product in front of people?

I went and raised some money and eventually I did a private placement, but I didn’t know what that meant. Hillary and I just fumbled our way through it. She was a great co-conspirator, although pretty quickly she was swept into her family’s restaurant business. But the one thing that happened that was extraordinary was that early on Brooklyn Brewery heard about what we were doing and they said they wanted us in their portfolio. And I also started getting phone calls from legendary people in the industry. Fritz Maytag (former owner of Anchor Brewing Company) called me and he said to me, “I just had your cider and you girls are really onto something. It’s really amazing and I want to support you.”  

The guys at Bulmer’s Cider drank it and they said, “Very good. This is exactly the kind of cider that we think no one in America will ever drink.” We knew we could prove them wrong, so we kept chipping away and, and since then, it’s been a long saga of, of getting larger, getting smaller, getting larger, getting smaller, getting larger, getting medium, getting little and relaunching. 

When we launched our cider officially in 1997 we got a full-page story on the front page of the food section of The New York Times and did a trade-only launch at Windows on the World with 300 trade attendees. We had a draft line and speciality cocktail, with the recipe printed on stationery. All of this was a whole new world for me because I was a farmer.

Why did you start to self-distribute?

I did want to be a bigger producer. We invested in a six pack line and were partnered with a beer distributor. However, there was a lot of pressure on us to produce more mass market ciders and new flavors. To do that, you have to produce the ciders quickly, something we are unwilling to do. So our focus is still direct marketing, we don’t even have a cider club. I primarily sell my cider in 25 famers markets and at the tasting room. 

What has been one of the most challenging aspects of running a business?

As a woman farmer and producer, it’s been accessing capital. The agriculture credit system is incredibly conservative. After my divorce, farm credit called my note and actually came to the farm and sat with me in my living room to tell me that my farm was worth a lot of money and that I couldn’t run the farm myself. So they were calling my note to “take the farm off my hands.”

Their argument was that because I was divorced and my husband was on the mortgage, that I couldn’t handle what running a farm required. I told them that I’m the one who went to Cornell, I’m the one who has a degree in fruit production, and I’m the one who’s actually been running the farm and the only way they would get me off the farm was through the front door in a box. It was a long journey convincing them, but I kept the farm. When I bought Stone Ridge orchard, I needed to raise a couple million dollars, and I couldn’t and that was hard.

Now, when I see all these new women producers, it blows my mind. I go to CiderCon and I meet these young women; it’s fascinating and thrilling to see that, and also to see the growth in consumption.

Have you noticed production trends with cider?

I watched cider back in the nineties disappear from the shelves. We were overwhelmed by other beverage categories. In 1996, I formed an international trade association: the North American Cider Makers Association. We worked to get legislation through and we succeeded in getting the taxes lowered. It was not easy, but we managed to actually get it under the radar because we were such a small category that lowering the taxes from a Senate scoring point of view was non-consequential.

We made the argument to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy that the tax cuts would stimulate production and would save farms and support farmers. And to lower taxes it meant it wouldn’t take much to have production double or triple and consumption quadruple, and that the states will make more money in the end.

In addition to financial incentives, there is an intimate relationship between what you’re legally allowed to do and growth in an industry. The New York State Cider Association (Editor’s note: Elizabeth is a founding member) and other cidermakers, like Steve Woods, worked hard to change many of the archaic post-prohibition laws. I don’t think many people understand how terribly difficult this work was, how slow it was, or how many trips to Washington we had to make trying to find friends and allies. We opened a dialogue with lawmakers about the problems we were having and they worked with us collaboratively to slowly come up with some solutions.

After we started to solve some of these problems, production was stimulated. In my opinion, it was a trickle and then an explosion in cider production.

If there was one business strategy you could implement to better the cider industry what would it be?

If there were one goal, the goal would be to get more people with educated palates drinking cider. When you go to England, France and Spain, cider is an everyday beverage and it is unbelievably affordable because people and producers are subsidized in certain ways on the backend, at the front end, and in between. There is all kinds of support for agriculture and supporting local farmers embedded in a lot of those countries. So, I think our price points are a little bit of a barrier, but yet there’s also a lot of value in these cider apples.

You’ve managed to survive two disasters: September 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yes, September 11 had devastating impacts on New York. It was a little bit like COVID, but in different ways. Lower Manhattan was closed from 14th Street, all the small restaurants downtown closed, many to never reopen. We had some investors at the time and I offered to buy everybody out for a dollar.

The last two years have also been very challenging and my focus has been staying in business. We support a core staff year round of thirty people and their families. I was determined that we weren’t going to lose anybody if they wanted to stay. The cider operation and the farm are so co-mingled and integrated with each other, that it’s almost hard for me to separate them. The growers are the people taking all of the risk on the front end and I personally put most of my support to my colleagues who are farmers.

I think by the end of this year, we’ll be back in several wholesale markets, but everything is very fragile. I was lucky. I got some SBA money and while we posted some fairly massive losses, we also had some significant gains. We had a very strong fourth quarter.

What are takeaways that you would have for someone who’s looking to get started in the industry?

You have to ask yourself who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish in a whole life and business sense, and how can you keep that as you grow your business?

Steep yourself in the traditions, get out there and talk to people, learn and be humble.

Be patient, although it’s hard when you’re under financial pressure and you’re under pressure to take shortcuts.

Don’t quit your day job. I quit my day job, but if you have a day job, it gives you a lot of options because it allows you to kind of take the time and grow at your own pace.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what three things would you bring with you?

I would bring some seeds, a musician, and matches.

To learn more about Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider, check out its website.

Find Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider‘s tasting room at Stone Ridge Orchard 3012 Route 213, in Stone Ridge, New York.

• Feature photo: Erica Berger
• All other photos: Courtesy of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider

The post Women Making Waves in the Cider World: Elizabeth Ryan of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider appeared first on Cider Culture.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

For Women’s History Month, I want to highlight some of the amazing women cidermakers and cidery owners I’ve met throughout the years. I was able to chat with Talia Haykin, owner and CEO of Haykin Family Cider, located in Aurora, Colorado, just 12 miles west of Denver. She and her husband Daniel founded the company in 2017 and opened their taproom in February of 2018. Haykin Family Cider specializes in single varietal ciders, which are carefully crafted with no adjuncts or added sugars.

Talia Haykin, co-founder and ownewr of Haykin Family Cider

(The questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Malaika Tyson: How long has Haykin Family Cider been open?

Talia Haykin: Five years. I was thinking about it last night while I was lying awake with my 3-month-old baby. It’s crazy.

Was it always your plan to start a cidery?

No! Cidermaking was always just going to be a hobby. We were making cider because we enjoy drinking it, but then we started winning awards. We won at Franklin County Cider Days, and we won at GLINTCAP, including best-in-class. Some people approached us and said we should start this business. We told them no, but they were insistent. A second couple also came to us and encouraged us to start the business. 

So without them, would you still be making cider just as a hobby?

Absolutely. Starting a cidery is expensive and it takes a lot of time. I had a full-time job prior to starting this business. While we are investors in Haykin as well, we wouldn’t have been able to fully personally invest. So without those investors telling us to start a cidery, we probably would have continued to be amateurs and participate, but I don’t think we would have progressed to where we are now.

What is something that people don’t think about when starting a business?

People have asked me, “Should I start a business?” And I tell them not to start a business for the sake of starting one. They have to be passionate. Starting a business is not a fun experience, it takes a lot of work. I’m doing taxes, bookkeeping, HR and payroll. That’s not why you start the business, right?

We started Haykins because we loved cider and found something that was interesting, different and unique, and we wanted to make it on a slightly larger scale than we could do in our basement. We stick to that, and our whole ethos was always making the type of cider we enjoy to drink, which are ciders that have similar profiles as sparkling wines. 

How long did you keep working before making this your full-time role?

We started planning the cidery in 2016, and at the time I was a chief marketing officer for another company. The company had a management shift, and I decided I didn’t want to stay there. So I left my full-time job in 2016, but I had a full book of freelance clients that I was working for. I continued the freelance work when we opened in 2018, and I was doing the majority of the administrative side of this business. It was tough balancing that with a full book of clients.

I was slowly whittling down my clients, but I still had one really good long-term client. In January of 2020 that client decided to sunset and I transitioned to working full-time for Haykin in March 2020.

What do you think is your secret to being able to stay open during the pandemic?

Oh, probably just insanity. We’re just crazy enough to keep going. I think part of it is that we approached this as a hobby business. We didn’t put all of our eggs in that basket and when the pandemic hit, I’m really thankful that Dan (Talia’s husband and Haykin’s Founder & Cidermaker) was still working as an investment advisor.

So when all of a sudden our tasting room was shut down, it was nice to know we could still put food on the table for our kids. I don’t want to say we didn’t take any chances, but it was like being able to put ourselves out there a little bit more.

What is your business model?

We have like three business sides. We have wholesale, which then gets retailed, the tasting room, and online direct to consumer sales. I think we’re up to 80 or 90 accounts locally. Shutting down the tasting room was not cool, but I think probably the biggest challenge for us with the pandemic was we’re in a lot of fine dining, and they were hit really hard and were shut for a lot longer.

And they opened back up, they weren’t taking many risks, like bringing in new products or bringing in a lot of products. Liquor stores that would place orders for three or four cases at a time were ordering one case monthly. Nobody wanted to hold a bunch of inventory that they owed money on. Now that we’ve come on the other side, all of the restaurant staff has turned over. So it’s sort of like starting all over with our fine dining and re-educating.

However, when we’ve been added to tasting menus, we’ve seen a lot of movement of that product in the tap room. We’ve had diners come straight from the restaurant and order a case of the cider they just had. Those diners may have never picked up a case of our cider before, so it’s helping change the perception of cider.

How are your cider club and direct-to-consumer sales going?

It’s amazing. It’s really what has made it possible for us to continue through the pandemic.  Knowing that we had 200-plus people that were going to take a shipment at set time intervals really helped our bottom line. However, it’s also challenging, because the way our club is structured is that we need 18 unique releases every year.

So while we had bought a lot of apples in 2019 and had a lot of inventory going into 2020, we weren’t able to just completely stop buying juice and buying apples because we needed to create these unique releases for the club. So it shifted our business model. Before, we were doing big batches, releasing to the club and then releasing to the public. We’ve now shifted to club-only smaller batches.

What goals do you have for the business? Like over the next five to 10 years?

When Dan and I started the business, neither one of us had ever started a business before, nor had we been in the alcohol industry. After a year or two, we realized that you have to think a little bit bigger, you have to think about the broader, bigger picture. We did a lot by faith. For example, we brought an architect in and we said, here’s our end goal of what we want the space to look like and how do we get there?

I would hope that we could build our space to create a bigger tasting room, more of a destination, and be able to host bigger events. Another goal of ours is to work on more out-of-state distribution; right now we’re distributed in two states other than Colorado and we are going into Utah. I don’t ever see us becoming this huge regional or national cidery, we’re going to stay boutique, but I would also love to at least have doubled the club size in five years.

Do you pay yourself?

No. While I am gaining some equity as an investor, I haven’t received a paycheck yet. When you start a business, you’re not usually thinking about, “When do I pay myself?”, but rather, “How do I pay off debt?” and making sure your employees are paid. That is the most important thing to us, being able to pay our employees a living wage and providing insurance for them. We are also in the process of paying off the building and all the stuff in our building. 

If you had one business strategy that you could implement to better the cider industry, what would it be?

I wish the cider industry was as organized, cohesive and well-funded as the wine industry. I’m sure they feel that their industry is stratified significantly, but I feel like the cider industry is so diverse and so stratified. Like you have everything from a $1 can of cider to a $40 bottle of cider. 

What pieces of advice do you have for someone getting started in the industry?

There are really good people in this industry that care about the industry as a whole and you should meet those people. There is an all-boats-rise mentality, which is incredible. 

There are a lot of really un-fun things you have to do when you start a business that nobody really talks about, including how time consuming or difficult all those things are. So definitely talk to people who’ve opened this type of business before you start one.

I would say there’s really incredible stuff hanging out in regional places that you would never expect and to keep your mind open to all types of cider while you’re traveling, try to find really interesting things that aren’t being shipped or distributed nationally.

If you were stuck on a desert island with three things would you take with you?

A Kindle full of books, a really comfortable mattress, and lots of cider.

To learn more about Haykin Family Cider, check out its website, Facebook and Instagram pages.

Find Haykin Family Cider‘s tasting room at 12001 E. 33rd Ave., Unit D in Aurora, Colorado; phone: (720) 242-7292.

• All photos: Courtesy of Haykin Family Cider

The post Women Making Waves in the Cider World: Talia Haykin of Haykin Family Cider appeared first on Cider Culture.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

For Women’s History Month, I want to highlight some of the amazing women cidermakers and cidery owners I’ve met throughout the years. I was fortunate to have a conversation with Gretchen Esbensen of Shoal Draft Cider/Annapolis Fermenting, based in Annapolis, Maryland. Esbensen, who has been in business for just one year, makes fresh ciders in fun names like Booze Cruise and High Tide Haze. Here, we learn more about her start up story, and get some good advice for prospective new business owners. 

(The questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Malaika Tyson: How did you get your start?

Gretchen Esbensen: I made cider as a basement experiment, usually only making one or two batches in the winter. When the pandemic started, all of my travel for work ended, and since I was stuck in my house, I started making cider more frequently. I started getting pretty good at it and I liked my cider more than some I had. But, cidermaking was still a hobby.

I quit my job in the summer of 2020, and by that October I needed something new and needed space to figure it out. After hiking in New Hampshire for two weeks, I came back to a cider that I started before I left. That cider was more than just palatable, it was great!

I remembered how I’d made it and got super-serious about perfecting that recipe. By January 2021, I had  incorporated my business, and made my first sale in that July to a dive bar near my house.

Where did you make your first sale?

When I was in the process of refining my recipe and making sure this was viable, I made a lot of cider and delivered growlers to my friend’s houses. Some of my friends happen to also be general managers at bars, so on my first day of sales, I actually already had pre-orders from four different bars.

Do you think that if the pandemic had not happened that you would have even considered making cider full-time?

Nope. I would be in international consulting for science and engineering. And I wouldn’t have blue hair. [Editor’s note: Gretchen has very cool blue hair]

How were you able to establish your business so quickly?

Part of the reason I was able to get started so quickly was because I didn’t need a physical location. I don’t have $2 million rolling around to build a facility and build out a taproom.

A taproom also means the financial liability of having to buy all of the equipment and the building, as well as establishing the working parts, like employees, facilities and operations, accounting and grounds management. Unfortunately, when you look at the business side of cider and take the romance out, what you have is a biochemical engineering plant.

All of the fermenting and canning I do is contracted. So I don’t have to worry about sourcing or buying apples or juice. I work on the recipe and send it to a lab for analysis and use that information to develop parameters of success. Those parameters are in the contract that I have with the fermenter. I’m not picking apples they use, but the resulting cider does need to adhere to those parameters. It ends up being about half dessert apples, and half cider apples.

I pay a flat fee for all these services. It’s definitely a model that comes from the beer world.

Do you have a team yet?

I operate pretty leanly. Because all the production is done by the contract fermenter, I function as a wholesaler and distributor. I did just hire my first part-time salesperson, and hopefully she can make it into a full-time position. I’m also trying to find a good bookkeeper and accountant.

It’s challenging to keep in compliance with both state and federal laws, but I’m lucky because in the eyes of the Federal government, I’m just a distributor.

What’s been your biggest expense so far?

Marketing and branding. I can use Adobe Illustrator all day long, but I can’t start from a blank slate. So I hired a graphic designer that specializes in craft beverage design. While I spent a lot, I would highly recommend people invest money there. It was important to me because I wanted to launch a professional-looking product on day one. 

Were there any challenges that surprised you?

Getting tap handles! I ended up having to make them myself because when I got the idea in my brain, I couldn’t find somebody that could make them in less than eight months. I purchased thick acrylic, but the people who made the acrylic didn’t have a drill press or a way to put in threads, so I used my drill to make the holes and I also put on the metal threads. It took about six months, and the process is documented on my Instagram page. 

I was also quoted a really high price for the tap stickers, so I bought a Cricut [a custom sticker and label machine] for $200. And let me tell you that it has been endlessly helpful. It paid for itself on day one.

If you had a business strategy that you could implement to better the cider industry, what would it be?

Cider agents, like an artist’s agent. Somebody that already knows all of the right people, like key distributors, and are willing to advocate for you. I think it would help all sides of the industry, both from the large distributor side and from the producer side. I do think it’s probably a job for someone who previously worked for a large distributor. 

What pieces of advice do you have for someone getting started in the industry?

You can’t do this stuff without going a hundred percent all-in. If I still had my full-time job and tried to start this, the way I’m doing, no one would believe my commitment.

It’s going to cost three times more than you think.

You’re never ready enough. So you might as well just do it now.

If you were stuck on a desert island and you could only bring three things, what would they be?

Sunscreen, my sailboat, and a knife.

To learn more about Annapolis Fermenting/Shoal Draft Cider check out its website, Facebook and Instagram.

• All photos: Courtesy of Shoal Draft Cider

The post Women Making Waves in the Cider World: Gretchen Esbensen of Shoal Draft Cider appeared first on Cider Culture.

[This article was originally published in November of 2020]

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of being on a panel with Michelle Foik, one of the founders of ERIS Brewery and Cider House as part of Chicago Cider Week. Michelle, and ERIS’ other founder Katy Pizza, had been in the brewery and cidery industries for several years before they launched ERIS in an over 100-year old Masonic temple and Korean church in the Old Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. Since opening in 2018, ERIS has become a neighborhood destination for both cider and beer drinkers. We are excited to share more of ERIS’ story through this Cidermaker Q & A. 

ERIS Brewery and Cider House co-founder Michelle Foik

(The questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Cider Culture: How did you get your start in the industry?

Michelle Foik: I’ve worked in hospitality my entire life. My mother and uncle owned a hotel and restaurant in Wisconsin Dells. I started my career with 10 years at Goose Island Brewery, then three years with Revolution Brewing, with a focus on starting the pub and manufacturing brewery. Then, I was with Virtue Cider for two years and part-time with Anthem Ciders. I have also had the privilege to organize the CiderCon tasting seminars for four years and have been the head Steward for the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition (GLINTCAP)

ERIS, being founded by you and Katy, is unique to the industry.

In the first year, a little was discussed about us being a woman-owned and operated business. However, since then, we’ve embraced our background. As a result, our branding now includes label tackers with “Made in Chicago” and “Woman Owned Operation” [A 2014 Auburn University study found that only 29% of women represented brewery workers.]

Owners Michelle Foik (L) and Katy Pizza (R) during the construction of ERIS

How did you and Katy decide on the name “ERIS”?

Eris is the Goddess of Chaos. We pondered so many names and this one worked, because Katy and I both have very chaotic lives and the building was lending itself to a restaurant, brewery, ciderhouse, special events room and an outdoor patio.

The legend of Eris is that she was upset and jealous when she wasn’t invited to the wedding of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis. To cause trouble, Eris snuck into the wedding and threw a golden apple into the room with the words “To the Fairest.” Because several of the goddesses believed they were the fairest, chaos ensued. ERIS Brewery and Ciderhouse is the one who dropped the golden hop apple into the brewery industry and said, “Not only are we women-owned and operated, but we are also going to be creating hard apple ciders.” 

ERIS has been around for a couple of years and has become a neighborhood favorite. Do you have any expansion plans?

We do, but they are on hold. Our initial plan for this year was to work on the building to build out the special events space, but then COVID hit. So, to help the business, we decided to start selling canned ciders.

You’ve always offered howlers and growlers. Why did you decide to pivot to cans?

We always planned to can some of our products, but we didn’t think that we had enough space for it. Coupled with the shortage of brown glass after COVID hit, we decided to give it a try. Middle Brow Beer Co. helped us out, and we did the first batch with Van Van Mojo [mosaic-hopped blueberry cider] in 16-ounce bright cans and put a sticker on the front. In the first two weeks of selling those, we sold over 200 4-packs. So while the cans don’t have the same margins as the howlers or growlers, we are selling more cider at one time, and it’s a better way to store and share the product. 

Was anything changed with the cider production when you went into cans?

In addition to getting the mechanics of canning right, we also had to tweak the production, as well. In a large serving tank, we know how much malic acid [order to adjust acidity] and sulfites to add so that the product doesn’t change in the tank. In a can, you don’t have as much control, and the remaining yeast or smaller changes can alter the product. So we’ve made quality-control adjustments to ensure that when a consumer opens the first can, they will get the same product when they open the second. 

Did you make any changes when you decided to go wholesale?

Yes, we decided to go with 12-ounce cans, but even bigger is the change in business strategy when you decide to go wholesale. Since we have a full-service restaurant, our marketing is strong in relation to what we provide our guests — food, tasting, and education. Therefore, when we entered into the wholesale market we wanted to make sure our products would be in store accessible to those guests. Additionally, wholesale requires working with the wholesaler, including traveling to where the product is sold, and putting effort into making the sale. There are a lot of different producers putting things in cans. Trying to get the wholesaler to notice you and believe in your product can be challenging at times. However, while it’s a little more difficult than selling at ERIS, I do think it was the right move, as there was an audience of consumers who were waiting for it. 

What ciders did you decide to start canning for wholesale?

We started with our Pedestrian [Dry Cider] and Blush. Pedestrian is one of our most popular ciders, and it is also the breakthrough cider in the middle. So if you’ve never had cider before, are looking for a nice dry cider, or are more of a wine drinker, Pedestrian is what you would want to try. We also considered that we could put Pedestrian at a price point where someone would be willing to try it. For the Blush, we went with black and tart cherries and added to the apple base, and ended up with a cider with ripe, sweet and tart cherry flavors. After getting the cans off the ground, we started to notice that consumers and stores wanted additional offerings. 

What are the next ciders you plan to can?

We plan to release “Van Van Mojo” in November to market it for Thanksgiving. However, there is a can shortage. Luckily, because we are small and we only produce about 160 cases at a time, I’ve been able to work with someone else who has 12-ounce cans to spare. We also have a custom offering option where we can provide branded cans.

So it sounds like the canned product has been a great extension to your offerings?

Yes, we’ve already seen some traction in the local liquor stores, especially in the independent stores. Since those stores are small businesses, they want to support other small businesses, and they were the first ones to start selling our product. It’s also interesting to see the areas where our sales are growing. We started selling Pedestrian and Blush in the middle of July, and now we are finally getting the pull-through that I’m happy with. 

The ERIS Brewery and Cider House team

How do you differentiate your ciders from others?

Being a modern cider company, we want to entice the senses and differentiate through our new offerings, particularly the use of botanicals and fruit. There are so many ways to create a memory, but your nose is one of the first places that memory will be created. Van Van Mojo has blueberry and mosaic hops. If you look at statistics, hopped ciders don’t sell as much as what people think, with a lot of those ciders appealing to craft beer drinkers. However, Van Van Mojo is our number-one seller because of the blueberry and the aromas. Another new offering, Peach and Bong is a peach and basil cider that we also plan to put in cans. 

If you were stuck on a desert island, what three things would you bring?

First, it has to be a desert island that has apple trees. Matches, a water filter pitcher, and music. 

To learn more about ERIS Brewery and Cider House, check out its website, Facebook, and Instagram pages. As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced closures across the country, ERIS’ menu, ciders and beer are available for curbside pick-up.

Find ERIS Brewery and Cider House at 4240 W. Irving Park Rd. in Chicago, Illinois; phone: (773) 943-6200.

• Photos: ERIS Brewery and Cider House

The post Cidermaker Q & A: ERIS Brewery and Cider House  appeared first on Cider Culture.

Malaika Tyson is one half of the blogging duo Cider Soms, which was started as a way to introduce wine-lovers to the world of cider. Created along with her husband Sean, the “Soms” blog seeks to uncover and explain the complexities of ciders in a fun way.

Cider Soms Malaika and Sean Tyson at CiderCon 2022

Upon entering the opening session of CiderCon 2022, I was greeted by an energetic chant of “We are Cider! We are Cider!” led by Eleanor Leger (owner of Eden Ciders and president of the American Cider Association Board). 

Her rally cry reflected the energy seen throughout the conference. After a fully virtual CiderCon in 2021, the American Cider Association chose Richmond, Virginia as the conference’s host city in 2022. The 12th Annual CiderCon, which took place February 1–4, sold out for the second time in its history, with over 800 attendees from 36 states and the District of Columbia. 

While Thursday was the official kickoff, more than 150 people joined the tours offered on Tuesday. The first overnight tour trekked to the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, with other tours exploring the Virginia apple-growing regions of Albemarle County and Nelson County. 

There was also a tour of Richmond-based cideries and a tour of the historic Jackson Ward area of Richmond – once known as Black Wall Street.

Wednesday’s events included the Certified Pommelier exam, an advanced second-level designation of the Certified Cider Professional program geared toward beverage and hospitality industry professionals. Over 30 people sat for the challenging test! 

The CiderCon Cider Share

The Cider Share, one part cider tasting and one part happy hour, is always a crowd favorite at CiderCon. This year, it had a different look and feel with two sessions, each featuring 30 producers in a large airy ballroom. The Cider Share is a great way for new producers (like Shoal Draft Cider and Yonder Cider) to introduce their ciders alongside established cideries. 

No matter how many ciders we try, the annual Cider Share always introduces us to something new. This year, one specific highlight was the four wonderful wild-fermented ciders we tasted from Willow Oaks Cider, which is from Middleton, Maryland. 

Diane Flynt of Foggy Ridge Cider, a James Beard finalist and the first licensed cidermaker in Virginia, was this year’s keynote speaker. She kicked off the speech with a discussion on the complicated history of Southern apples and cider (“…the Southern orchard is grafted on the trunk of a Cherokee apple tree…”) and the lessons that modern growers and cidermakers can learn from that history.

This acknowledgement that the origins of cider in America included contributions from Indegionous people, enslaved Africans and Black Americans was also highlighted in a session led by Tiffanie Barriere, an influencer and educator who has been awarded with some of the beverage industry’s highest honors.

Barriere, whose session was titled “400 Years of American Alcohol: Cider, History, Cocktails and More,” explained how cider, spirits, etc. have been gifted to us from people in other countries, or slaves brought to this country, and how the beverages have evolved in the US. Along with the history lesson, we also had two amazing cocktails made with Potter’s Craft Cider.

Making the cider industry equitable and inclusive for all is something that the ACA is passionate about. This was expressed in the equity pledge launched at CiderCon, as well as in two sessions that directly addressed building a more inclusive cider industry. 

Day Bracey of Barrel & Flow

Day Bracey, founder of Barrel & Flow (formerly Fresh Fest), discussed how he and his team built one of America’s most inclusive brew festivals and key initiatives, including collaborations with Black brewers and local artists.

And a CiderCon favorite, Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham of Crafted For All and the Brewer’s Association, covered a variety of practical pipeline development strategies to help cider business successfully increase the breadth, depth and diversity of its pool of qualified job applicants.

There were also several new and revived meet-ups throughout the week, including CiderCon Networking for Newbies, which brought together over 60 first-time attendees and gave them an opportunity to network with board members. 

I had a chance to catch up with first-time attendee and Cider Scholarship recipient Hannah Ferguson, owner of DOPE Cider House and Winery. I interviewed Hannah back in April and was excited to see her attend CiderCon. 

“As a first time attendee, I felt like a sponge! LOL. I was prepared to network and absorb as much as I could,” Ferguson says. “I felt very welcomed by the cider community and left feeling less alone, feeling more confident as the date for DOPE to open gets closer. I’m excited for next year, the date’s already in my calendar. Thankful I got the opportunity to attend.” 

We (CiderSoms) hosted CiderCon’s first-ever BIPOC Cider Professional Meetup, and Pomme Pride hosted its first meetup for LGBTQIA+ cider industry professionals. The NY Cider Association also hosted a pop-up tasting.

Despite long nights of connecting with new and old cider friends, conference goers were up bright and early to engage with the fantastic slate of speakers. One of the many benefits of CiderCon is the opportunity to learn from industry leaders and several of the sessions we attended ran over, due to thoughtful (and sometimes a bit nerdy) questions from the audience. 

Thirty-seven workshops were presented over the course of Thursday and Friday. These sessions were broken into eight tracks: apples and orcharding, cidermaking, flavor and terroir, sales and distribution, marketing and trends, better business, legal and compliance, and history. 

While we couldn’t attend them all, some of the highlights included: 

• Creating Consumer Excitement with Food Pairing Suggestions (“The perfect food pairing in the one that is perfect for you.” –Jennie Dorsey)
• Tasting and Terroir of True Crabs Non-Malus Domestica Apples (“It’s like drinking a sparkling Lambrusco.” -Dan Haykins)
• Introductory Palate Training, led by Darlene Hayes. This session provided first-hand experience of how acid, tannins and sugar affect flavor and texture differences. 
• Wild, Clean & Free: Wild-Fermenting, Without the Flaws, led by Christine Walter, an educational deep-dive into traditional and pét-nat processes while producing a cleanly fermented sparkling cider.

Instead of the Grand Tasting from CiderCon of years past, after the final Friday session, attendees spread out around Richmond to attend Richmond Meetups, part of Richmond Cider Days, an unaffiliated list of cider events sponsored by the Virginia Association of Cidermakers. We capped off our CiderCon by visiting local Richmond cideries, Blue Bee Cider and Buskey Cider.

Even though CiderCon just wrapped up, I’m excited for next year (which will be in our backyard). Looking forward to connecting with all my cider friends at CiderCon 2023, which will be held in Chicago, Illinois from January 31 through February 3, 2023.

• Albermarle Cider tour: South Ciders
• Jackson Ward & CiderCon workshop collage photos: The Cider Jawns
• All other photos: Courtesy of The Cider Soms

The post Virginia is for Cider Lovers: A Recap of CiderCon 2022 appeared first on Cider Culture.