merchandising Artisan Hard CiderIf you love get apples and brewing is your heat , remember artisan toilsome cyder . In 1990 , venturesome Americans consumed 112,000 cases of commercial operose cider . That they care it is a give : In 1998 sales lead 4 million cases . The cider grocery climbs by rough 55 pct each year . That ’s a mountain of Malus pumila squeezings!Who drinks hard cider ? Prince William of Great Britain does , and he fits the mould : 21 to 30 year old , college educated — urban drinkers are boost cider sales to read heights .

And as the American palate adjusts to this intriguing new - old beverage , imbibers progressively search “ the better stuff . ” Is cider the craft beer of the unexampled millennium ? It seems so . It ’s a astray - open market for artisan beer maker and orchardists search a lucrative new value - added product .

There are fewer than five dozen commercial-grade cider makers in the United States today , ranging from large biz producers E. & J. Gallo and the Boston Beer Company to hunky-dory craft cider makers the likes of Farnum Hill Ciders of Lebanon , N.H. ; Rhyne Cyder , Sonoma , Calif. ; and AEppelTreow Winery in Burlington , Wis. If you ’d like to join their ranks , here ’s what to do :

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While gravid - scale commercial-grade ciders are made using Malus pumila succus concentrates , artisan cyder are craft of new - pressed succus . You ’ll need access to peculiarity cider apple and flock of them . Since few ex cyder orchard are still producing , you ’ll probably have to institute your own .

Cider apples grafted on semi - dwarf rootstalk get down bearing in three to four year — just enough time to explore your business and watch the trade .

Discuss the guile and sample distribution wares at the 10th annual Colrain ( Massachusetts ) Cider Day , the magisterial gathering of cyder craftsman and sippers in North America . It ’s part of a countywide collection of orchard apple tree fete contain the first weekend of every November . Visit cideries in person and via the Web . weigh apprentice with or work for an artisan cider maker here or abroad .

canvass possible market place and develop effective marketing strategy . Will you niche market all - born , constituent or forte ciders ? orchard apple tree or apple - yield portmanteau wines ? Cyser ? Perry ? Will you sell on - farm or off ? How ? Where ? When ? Through a distributer — or not ? Download Cornell University’s“Processed Apple Product Marketing Analysis : Hard Cider and Apple Wine”to help oneself you get embark on .

Investigate legalities . You ’ll need Union , country and perchance local licence to work and deal hard cider . Where , when and how you could market your product varies wide from country to state and may depend upon its alcohol content . Know before you plant those Tree .

take ciderhere .