America’s craving for cider is reaching a fever pitch, as a new generation of cider makers takes lessons learned from the craft-beer revolution and experiments with a wide range of flavors and styles. Dry-hopping, wild yeasts, and barrel-aging are all fair game for new-school makers, so Heather Vandenengel went off to explore the creative side of making cider.
Downeast Cider
Launched by friends during their senior year of college, Boston-based Downeast Cider is redefining what New England cider can be—inspired by fresh juice and drinkable like a beer. “When we started this company, the inspiration for the cider we made was based on sweet cider that we were getting from the farm,” says Ross Brockman, co-owner of Downeast with his brother, Matt Brockman, and Tyler Mosher. “We wanted to make a hard cider that has the characteristics of fresh juice.”
That means that, compared to a more traditional, dry, sparkling cider, they do a few things differently. They chose an ale yeast for their flagship cider, Original Blend, because they prefer the smoother and rounder mouthfeel and finish. The juice, supplied from an orchard in Stow, Massachusetts, is made from a blend of dessert apples (McIntosh, Cortland, Red Delicious, and Gala) rather than traditional cider apple varieties. Original Blend is unfiltered, lightly carbonated, packaged in 12-ounce cans, and weighs in at 5.1 percent ABV.