Angry Orchard breaks ground on cidery in Walden

Angry Orchard, the most popular hard cider brand in America, has broken ground on its new cidery, tasting room and hard cider research-and-development center at its 60-acre apple orchard in Orange County.

“We had been looking for some time to establish a home for our cider research, and we found that home in Walden. It”™s really the perfect place for us. This location has been a farm since at least the mid-1700s, with the first apple trees dating back at least one hundred years,” said Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard cider maker.

First launched in 2012, Angry Orchard is the No. 1 selling hard cider in the U.S., where cider consumption has nearly quintupled since 2010 and is growing faster than all other competitors in the beer and flavored malt beverage industry.

The site of Angry Orchard's new cidery at its 60-acre apple orchard in the village of Walden.
The site of Angry Orchard’s new cidery at its 60-acre apple orchard in the village of Walden.

The new facility has the support of Empire State Development, which contributed $175,000 in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program Tax Credits in exchange for an agreement from Angry Orchard to hire at least seven full-time employees through 2018 and invest $9.1 million in the new facility.

“The progress New York state has made in supporting the beverage industry is helping to grow our existing producers at a tremendous rate and attract new ones like Angry Orchard,” said state Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball. “As America”™s best-selling cider, Angry Orchard”™s new cidery will increase demand for our locally grown farm products ”” using New York state apples to make new varieties of cider ”” and add to the tourism draw of the Hudson Valley.”

Angry Orchard intends to build a small cidery at the orchard with cider-making equipment specifically designed for small-batch experimentation. Using different apple varieties, processes, recipes and ingredients, the cider makers will develop new ciders to offer visitors at the orchard that might eventually become available nationwide. When the cidery opens in late fall, visitors will also be able to learn about how cider is made.

“Despite the recent growth of hard cider in the U.S., the category is still small and relatively unknown,” Burk said. “Actually making cider on the orchard will allow us to experiment with things we couldn”™t before. For example, traditional cider apples are hard to find here in the U.S. Angry Orchard plans to plant traditional bittersweet cider apple trees and other heirloom varieties on the orchard over the next several years. Also, there are a couple of apple varieties growing on the orchard we”™re especially interested to begin experimenting with.”

As reported by FiveThirtyEight, from November 2013 through November 2014, hard cider sales were approximately $400 million, only 1.2 percent of the $31.7 billion beer and malt liquor sales for that period, yet the figure represented a 75.4 percent increase from the previous year.

Owned by the makers of Samuel Adams, the Boston Beer Co., Angry Orchard has led the hard cider industry by huge margins.

During a 12-month period in 2013-14, Angry Orchards”™ share of hard cider sales were at 56 percent, far ahead of second-place Woodchuck, with 10 percent of cider sales.

From left, Meghan Taylor, Empire State Development Mid-Hudson regional director; Maureen Halahan, Orange County Partnership president; Richard Ball, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets; Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus; Jeff Crist of Crist Bros. Orchards; Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard cider maker; Bill Fioravanti, OCP”™s director of business attraction and; Lynn Allen Cione, Orange County Chamber of Commerce president.
From left, Meghan Taylor, Empire State Development Mid-Hudson regional director; Maureen Halahan, Orange County Partnership president; Richard Ball, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets; Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus; Jeff Crist of Crist Bros. Orchards; Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard cider maker; Bill Fioravanti, OCP”™s director of business attraction; and Lynn Allen Cione, Orange County Chamber of Commerce president.

There are an estimated 47 operating cideries in New York state: 13 farm cideries, 18 cider producers and 16 farm wineries that exclusively make cider. New York state is the second highest producer of apples in the country with an estimated 1.26 billion pounds harvested last year, and home to 40,000 acres of apple orchards, where growers produced an average of 31,500 pounds of apples per acre. Last year”™s crop totaled $289 million, a 22 percent increase from 2013.

The investment is welcome by area officials who have lauded Angry Orchard”™s commitment to the well-being of the community.

“We”™re very excited to welcome the Angry Orchard family into Walden,” village Mayor Susan M. Rumbold said. “They”™re going to be a wonderful asset to the community. They appreciate the beauty of the Hudson Valley, and they are the kind of company that appreciates the land and they respect it, and that”™s the kind of company that we want in New York state.”

The Walden orchard”™s former owners, the Crist family, have a long history of growing apples in the region, and had owned the property since 1963. As part of the deal with Angry Orchard, the family will continue to cultivate the orchard and retain all jobs associated with caring for and harvesting the land.