Cider gaining in popularity in US as demand for local produce grows
LEADIN:
Hard cider, or alcoholic cider, is becoming more popular in the US thanks in part to a growing taste for artisan and local products.
Craft-makers in apple-rich areas like New York state have been taking advantage of the hard cider boom.
STORYLINE:
This autumn, more apples from these orchards in New York state will be pressed for hard cider.
The drink, which came to the United States with the pilgrims but disappeared after Prohibition, has been making a comeback with increased sales and launches of new styles and flavours that have brought a bushel of options to store shelves.
Sales of hard cider in the US have tripled over the last three years to 1.3 billion dollars in 2013.
The comeback has helped craft producers who turn local apples into a drink with a kick.
Cider is made by pressing apples for the juice, adding yeast, then allowing the juice to ferment.
As with wine, the yeast consumes the sugar in the juice and turns it into alcohol.
But not a lot of alcohol.
Hard cider can range from 4 percent to 12 percent alcohol, but generally comes in at around 5 percent or 6 percent, comparable to the strength of beer (and half that of wine), but with a fruitier taste.
Americans are beginning to get a taste for hard cider.
This is kind of like a happy medium between beer and wine that is just in my perfect wheel house, says Matthew Pryce, a cider enthusiast.
The rise is apparent in apple-rich areas like upstate New York.
The state now has 29 hard cider manufacturers, up from five in 2011.
In New York, the nation's second-largest apple producer behind Washington, orchards got market assurance last fall when Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Farm Cidery law.
It created a special license for manufacturers that source all their cider apples from New York growers.
At Nine Pin Cider Works in Albany, Alejandro del Peral says the demand for fresh, local produce has helped the craft business grow.
We in our first season produced 27,000 gallons of cider, and this year we're planning to at least double that, he says.
Farmers like the extra outlet for their apples.
Some operations are planting new trees and different types of apples.
Others are planting varieties too tart or tannic for the lunchbox but perfect for smashing and fermenting into distinctive artisanal brews.
It's definitely increased our demand for cider with cider going to these hard cider producers people requesting differing varieties, says Jake Samascott of Samascott Orchards.
The entry of beer giants like Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors into the cider market has boosted craft cider-makers as well by increasing market awareness and demand.
The US Association of Cider Makers was formed in February 2013 to advance cider in the market, share information about growing and regulations, and help members improve their operations.
Hard cider still is a small part of the overall alcoholic beverage market; sales don't come close to the multibillion-dollar beer industry.
But it is a rapidly growing niche.
In New York, cider makers are now banding together to form a state-level trade association to help keep the business flowing.
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