Hard Cider

As an orchard, our approach to cider making is similar to the way a vineyard approaches wine making. We grow specific cider apple varieties, and each Fall we harvest and press them at their peak. We will then facilitate a fermentation process that allows for full expression of the apples and the place where they grew (“terroir”). That often means relying on wild yeasts and a slow winter-long fermentation.

This year, we are offering 5 different hard ciders

Just So Wild

dry, barrel aged, fruity, lightly floral, smooth honey and barrel characteristics with a touch of funkiness.

On a year when we lost 90% of crop to a hard May freeze, it seemed appropriate to forage the Vermont countryside for some wild apples to make hard cider. And how about adding some of those bright red little acid bomb crab apples from the Naulakha estate newly dubbed “Just So” crabs. A wild fermentation ensued and delivered a bright and very tart liquid that we let age and relax in oak barrels for a few months. Ultimately, this wild adventure in fermentation yielded a smooth fruity and floral hard cider with many interesting flavor notes.

Ginger Perry

Dry, tart and spicy.

Where an exotic tangy root meets a colorful gentle tree fruit.

Tasting notes: Lemonhead candy, gingery, sour, bright spicy finishing with a hint of pear sweetness.

Chez Mémé

Dry, sparkling, unfiltered, citrus, fresh hay, slate.

Our flagship hard cider, Chez Mémé is a French style keeved cider, wild fermented at low temperatures through the winter. The result is an unfiltered sparkling dry cider, a pétillant naturel. The 2022 blend included Dabinett, Muscadet de Bernay, Reine de Reinette, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Yarlington Mill, and Calville Blanc d’Hiver.

Kingston Black

Semi-dry, gentle fine bubbles, earthy, tannic apple.

A single variety cider made from the apple of the same name. For the last two centuries it has been revered in Britain as a “vintage” variety that has the perfect balance of tannins, acidity, and sugars to make an excellent hard cider on its own. This cider was also keeved and wild fermented. Scott Farm 2022 Kingston Black is a gently sparkling, semi-dry cider with deep earthy flavors of this bittersweet apple from the Scott Farm terroir.

Redfield Rosé

Dry, smooth, oak, tropical flowers.

This Rosé is a tribute to Redfield, one of the rare red fleshed cider apples. Aged in oak barrel, this dry hard cider is a burst of tropical flower aromas. It is best served chilled and paired with aged cheese and cured meat.

Our hard ciders are available at our Farm Market and Pippin’s Café (August to November) as well as some local stores (The Brattleboro Food Co-op, The Putney Food Co-op, The Putney General Store, and The Vermont country Deli).

If you have any questions about our hard cider, feel free to email simon@scottfarmvermont.com.