Moon Hill-Red Apple cider deal fermented for years
Photo | Brad Kane
Rick Walton
Moon Hill Brewing Co. in Gardner is not only partnering with Phillipston Red Apple Farm for a brew yard and some summer fun, but is also looking to make some hard cider using the farm’s apples. In an interview with WBJ, Moon Hill Owner and President Rick Walton called the new commercial product venture the natural progression of the brewery’s partnership with the orchard.
Have you ever made a cider before?
Our brewer, Ryan Daigle, and I have both been avid home brewers and so have also made lots of home ciders. We have used wine, beer and champagne yeasts with varied and interesting results. We love cider and look forward to putting forward a great commercial product in partnership with Red Apple Farm in Phillipston.
What are the logistical challenges of making cider?
Cider is a bit like wine making. It is necessary to be super clean, use the right yeast for your style, use apples to suit your style and then add sugar as necessary to strengthen it. Of course, no sugar added is often a great move and produces a clean, crisp hard cider with a modest level of alcohol (say 5 percent ABV). Cider, like wine, doesn't require any boiling, like beer does, so it requires less equipment. You press the apples, kill wild yeast, then add a pure strain of yeast and, optionally, sugar. What then follows is a process of variable length in which the hard cider is guided along the way through fermentation, conditioning and carbonation.
Will this mean more jobs?
You bet. It will mean an expanded operation at the Red Apple Farm and more personnel on the brewing side. We will have to build or convert a building to this use too, which will engage local contractors.
How much longer does it take to brew a barrel of cider compared to beer?
Cider and beer actually have very comparable production times. Those times, if you take into consideration the incredible variety of ingredients available today, can vary wildly. Some ciders are great fresh, much like beers such as Witbier or Hefeweizen. Another cider you may want to have a little fun with and age it in an apple brandy barrel for a year. Both sound really good to me!
Is this a natural progression of a craft beverage maker?
I can only say it is a natural progression for us. Craft beverage makers are out there fermenting all kinds of things. The three main areas of fermentation are brewing, hard cider and wine making, and distilling. They are all very interesting to us lovers of making fermented products. Our path is leading to hard cider because of a neighborly collaboration with our good friends the next town over at Red Apple Farm in Phillipston. The Roses, Al and Nancy, have taken apple farming to the next level by incorporating an incredible family farm experience into their operation. They have hay rides, a country store, ice cream, barbecue, festivals and now the Brew Barn collaboration with us at Moon Hill Brewing Co., where we pour a collaboration apple ale called Rick & Al's Apple Ale and numerous Moon Hill beers
How long have you been looking to step into the cider game?
Al Rose and I started talking about it more than five years ago. I had already made lots of hard cider in my basement, and Al had lots of apples for sweet cider and wanted to put a portion of those towards hard cider. We looked into the idea, agreed to meet regularly, and then got sidetracked somehow until this summer. When the Brew Barn idea came up, we started discussing, in earnest, some rather long range plans involving beer and hard cider. This time the idea has legs, and we are moving forward.
Is cider booming alongside craft beer?
It seems like it is being discovered like craft beer was years ago. I would say hard cider is having its heyday right now. I recently took a wonderful trip to Michigan, along the lake and near Grand Rapids and discovered a niche of cideries and wineries. They've really got it going on there. It was so much fun to visit and sample. This United States is just popping with entrepreneurial spirit in the “Making it local” genre. Things are getting smaller and more wonderful. And hard cider is making a break!
Is there an expanding market for beer drinkers turned off by the heavy IPA craze dominating the field?
The IPA craze is a rather permanent situation. It has its limits: Certainly growth has tapered a bit, but it's really good beer. Good brewers have a knack for using hops in ways that accent and complement the malted barley base of beer. I was more of a malty beer guy until I started sampling our own hoppy beers and became rather hooked on them. So, with me, as a sample of one, I'd say the IPA craze is safe, but there is so so much room for innovation in other directions too. Sours and goses and saisons, to name just a few, are all well-represented in the craft beer world now, and the number of interesting styles continues to expand. You might say craft beer is growing as much sideways right now, as it is upwards. And that is very exciting to be a part of. But to answer the question: Is there an expanding market for beer drinkers turned off by the heavy IPA craze? Maybe a bit, but I think there are just as many, if not more, getting turned on to IPAs every day as are being turned off by them.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Staff Writer Zachary Comeau.
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