This is a part of a continuing series of Q&As with members of the cider community from across the US. Brewer Magazine will share business and personal insights from Cidermakers, Owners, Managers, Sales Directors, QCQA and others each week to help you get to know each other better in the industry and learn more to better develop your own brand.
John Knisley, owner, Tallgrass Cider — Madelia, Minnesota
BREWER: How have recent challenges in your position helped make you better? What were those “pain points” and how did you solve or adjust to the issue?
KNISLEY: One of the pain points is that we are all so busy — but we are all pretty open with communication and try to avoid any unnecessary conflict. If you have something to say its best to say it rather than fester.
BREWER: What has been your cidery’s most recent accomplishment and how is it going to improve your business going forward?
KNISLEY: Sales were up 50% in 2022, then we improved sales by 60% in 2023 — we are hoping to keep that trajectory going. But besides money — all four of us are family, still love each other as family, and are fortunate enough to spend a lot of time together. We have also moved towards doing entirely Wild fermentations. Our organic orchards have strong yeast strains and we love to use that and have not used a commercial yeast in three years — that’s also part of the story — the terroir of the orchard is sometimes underdiscussed.
BREWER: How did you start in the industry and why do you still want to be a part of it?
KNISLEY: We started back in 2012 by making home cider and kept making more and more each year. Finally in 2019 we decided to get licenses in order to start packaging and selling out ciders. We love growing fruit and making cider and how that piece of the operation fits into the whole farm operation – there is a synchronicity that we all seem to enjoy.
BREWER: What are you sippin’ on right now from your cidery that you really enjoy?
KNISLEY: I really enjoy our Batch No. 4 — semi-sweet, cold crashed to retain the sugars from the apples — it’s great on a hot day and a good balance between sweet and dry. Single varietal cider.
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BREWER: Be it in styles, ingredients, production ideas or sales & marketing techniques, what are some recent industry trends that you’ve tried or are excited about trying this year?
KNISLEY: We don’t typically follow industry trends — we make good cider that we like and hope others share our appreciation.
BREWER: What are some adaptations to business practices in the industry that you’ve observed over these past few years, and how has your cidery adjusted to stay competitive?
KNISLEY: I don’t know really — we are who we are, we are nice people, make good cider, we hope that’s enough.
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