Bard, 2017, 11% ABV
750ml/375ml
We're calling it still, it's somewhat perlant. Semi dry. Luscious fruit. Way more body than you would normally expect from a cider. To make this cider we boiled down juice on our maple syrup evaporator and let it ferment in barrels for 2 years. It's 2/3 Gray Pearmain, a Maine native from Fairfield, and 1/3 wild pippins from Newburgh. The cider is a tribute to Sean Miller, who is a great friend and the official Orchard Bard of Rocky Ground. The label is one of his collages. Some people have said that it is the best cider they've ever had.
Stark, 2018, 8.0% ABV
750ml/375ml
A single varietal, sparkling cider made with naturally grown Stark apples from the ancient trees at White's Orchard Farm in Frankfort, ME. Juice pressed from the fruit of a 100+ year old trees. Stark is an heirloom from the 1860s. We had so much of it, we thought we'd try it as a single varietal cider. We're glad we took the risk. Low acidity, pétillant naturel*, soft bubbles, and a touch of residual sweetness but not enough to call it semi-dry.
*pétillant naturel or pét-nat is a method of making sparkling wine (or cider in our case). We bottle the cider while it is still fermenting so that the residual sugars in the apple juice will finish fermentation in the capped bottle. This traps carbon dioxide, creating bubbles that are oh so pleasant on the tongue. Yum. We usually get our sparkle by adding either honey or maple syrup for bottle fermentation so this was a fun new method to try.
Cyser, 2017, 8.4%ABV
750ml/375ml
Perlant, semi-dry, excellent aromatics. Cyser is apple juice fermented with honey. For this one we blended Roxbury Russets and wild pippins with Swan's wildflower honey. We used 60lbs of honey for this two barrel batch! It fermented slowly for over two years in oak barrels. Bottled with some residual sugar, the effervescence may increase with time.
Flora & Fauna no.2, 2018, 6.7% ABV
750ml/375ml
Still, dry, funky. This release features a blend of heirloom apples from an old ship-captain's orchard in Winterport. We let them ferment on skins for a couple weeks before pressing. Bright, super-refreshing.
Lil's Pet-Nat, 2018, 6.9% ABV
750ml/375ml
This a tribute to Angus' mom, Liliane. The label shows her at 18, flying over a massive jump with her horse, Smokey. The blend hadn't finished fermenting when we bottled it, so Pet-Nat it was! It's somewhere between perlant and petillant, very lightly sparkling. Crisp with gentle tannins and pleasing nose with hints of carambola and apricot.
Pips, 2018, 7.5% ABV
750ml/375ml
Sparkling, dry. Crisp with gentle tannin. 39 wild pippins and 8 heirloom varieties. Bottle fermented with honey. Our classic blend. You're gonna love it.