John Kowchak feels cider has a lot of potential for experimentation, more so than its craft beer brethren.
”There is so much innovation, especially on the west coast, that has me interested,” the President and founder of Original 13 Ciderworks in Philadelphia said. ”I’m always looking at the new fruits other ciders are looking to infuse in their blends.
”The one concept that has me intrigued is tea- and coffee-infused cider.”
Kowchak said he is still battling the concepts that people have from drinking mass-produced super-sweet ciders.
“There is still a large contingent of people out there that turn their nose up at cider because they tried it 10 years ago and didn’t like it,” he said. “I do my best to battle these misconceptions by working with other local cideries to expand the awareness of cider.
“The more the cider market grows, the better it is for us all.”
Think of this as a checklist. We at Brewer asked cideries from across the country to share what they have added lately — be it business concepts, new equipment, or technologies — that they feel is unique to their growth patterns.
- Katie Greenfield, co-owner, Jefferson Co. Ciderworks — Fairfield, Iowa: “Our motto is ‘Never Dull’ innovation is important to keep your customers excited and happy. Quality control is imperative, purchase the equipment necessary for this and do not grow faster than you can maintain quality control.”
- Philippe Bishop, Alpenfire — Townsend, Washington: ”Recently it has been increasing the number of tanks we have and slowly upping our draft game with a rotating series of releases named Traditional Heirloom Cider (AKA THC). Each blend is different, as we bottle there is usually cider left over from the blends. That juice is blended again into our mix tank and creates another Trad. Heirloom blend. A great use of small batch-specific varieties let over from larger blends! Right now I see single varietals gaining traction and draft is always growing for us.”
- Tyler Butcher, co-founder, Kekionga Cider — Fort Wayne, Indiana: ”Things we have added or will add this summer include the following: additional seating, more taps, cider slushies, trivia night, live music, outdoor seating improvements. We also share a space with a catering company, which will operate a kitchen independently, to have nightly food service. The whole craft movement is exciting to me. It’s great to be able to get to know your customers and to know other vendors that are making great products as well.”
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