Great cider begins in the orchard.
Great cider begins in the orchard. With adventurous tasters and apple enthusiasts in mind, we craft unique and classic ciders from more than a dozen apple varieties, some of which are grown at our farm in Paradise, Utah. At our cidery in Logan, Utah, we press apples, ferment juice, and age each batch to perfection.
Hobbled Dog Cidery will be producing:
- A combination of blends as well as single varietals of mostly bittersweet, sharp, or bittersharp apples to offer complex and unique flavors where the individual apples shine!
- Modern ciders with botanical additions or that are paired with other fruits, ensuring there is something for every palate.
- A mix of filtered and unfiltered ciders.
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Our Process
Harvest
The apples are picked at their peak ripeness for flavor and aroma. Apples that are used for cider often go through a process known as “sweating” in which they are stored in a cool, dry place where air can flow freely between them. This allows the moisture from the apple to evaporate, thus softening the fruit’s texture and concentrating the sugars and other flavor components (e.g., tannins and acids).
Sorting & Blending
The apples are washed and sorted before pressing to ensure only those of sound condition and near edible quality are used in the cider making process. Some apples can be pressed and fermented as single varietals, but most varieties are blended to create a more balanced finished cider.
Grinding
Apples, even those that have sweated, are too hard to press whole. An apple grinder does just what the name suggests – whole apples are fed into a shoot where rotating stainless-steel blades chop and macerate the fruit into pomace, known also as pulp.
Pressing
After the apples are ground, the resulting pomace is transferred to our hydraulic press. The press features a stainless-steel drum with fine perforations and a rubber bladder that inflates under water pressure, pressing the juice through the drum walls for extraction. After pressing, we give the pomace to a local farmer who uses it for livestock feed.
Fermentation
The juice is then directed into our fermentation vessels which include stainless-steel tanks, food-grade polyurethane flex tanks, and even glass carboys. At this stage, we add a strain of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that converts the sugars in the juice into alcohol and CO2 (i.e. a byproduct of fermentation).
Settling
Once primary fermentation is complete, the cider gets racked which involves carefully transferring the cider away from the sediment, known as the lees, that has settled at the bottom of the vessel. The cider is gently siphoned into a new tank or carboy, allowing it to clarify and continue developing.
Filtration
Besides racking, some ciders are filtered using a device that separates the cider from any sediment that remains. This further improves the clarity, flavor, and aroma of the finished product.
Bottling
Before packaging, some ciders are carbonated using either force-carbonation which injects CO2 bubbles into the liquid or bottle conditioning which allows further fermentation in the bottle to create and absorb CO2. Packaging can come in many forms including bottles, cans, and kegs. We currently bottle and keg our ciders but hope to offer cider in cans soon.
