We recommend the home of a loved one or dear friend. Maybe mention how much you would love to try this cider you just heard about and that wouldn’t it be lovely to share some together if they could just pop down to the store to get some before you come by.

Alternatively, many bars, restaurants, public houses, and farm producers sell our product on draft or are willing to give you a taste. Or look out for us at festivals, farmer’s markets, or on your doorstep. 

If you would like to help the world taste Awestruck, please contact us today!

The short answer, yes, except in certain special release ciders.

The long answer, all but Hometown Homicider are completely gluten free.

Hometown Homicider was aged in divine Bourbon barrels from Delaware Phoenix distillery in our hometown of Walton, NY. While the oak is gluten free, the bourbon is not, and so there is a chance that some of the Bourbony glutennness might be in our cider.
All of our other ciders are gluten free by nature. We don’t ever use any wheat or related grains or any ingredients that might contain wheat or related grains (the glutinous grains that they are).

Mostly apples. Freshly pressed apples nurtured and then pulverized and squished until we get every last drop of juice right here in the Empire State.

It is an acid naturally derived from apples (named for the Latin word for apple, mālum)
The inherent content of malic acid always varies from apple to apple, so we may have to add a little bit to keep our product consistent from bottle to bottle. Also because it’s delicious.

There are approximately 7g per Dry Apple + Oak, 20g per Lavender Hops and 24g per Hibiscus Ginger of natural sugars in a 12oz. serving. 

Mother nature and her lovely apple-tree children who are always bugging us to come enjoy the fruits of their existence.

We work with the best orchards in best growing regions of New York State. Specifically, these guys and these guys, and whenever possible these guys. We also do limited-release special blends of local and wild apples from throughout Delaware and Otsego counties. And if you live locally and have some trees in your yard who won’t stop asking you to have us pick them, let them know they should get in touch.

New York is the Empire State. New York grows the greatest diversity of apple varieties in the nation. We live and produce our ciders in New York.

Seriously, we're not hating on anyone else's apples. All apples are awesome, and if you have the capacity to grow them, we recommend that you do.
It's just that ours are the best.

We believe in the power of microenterprise. It’s elegantly summed up in German by the word Mittelstand. It basically means small business, but it implies a set of a values that go hand in hand with doing good work.

So, we have the opportunity to source products we need from other small businesses who are experts at what they do and have been doing it for decades. This helps us focus on what we do best, which is turning the incredibly high quality apples they grow into the highest quality hard cider you can get your hands on.

That being said, we started a very small hobby orchard in 2014 (about 80 trees) for knowledge and for fun. Because seriously, apple trees are awesome.

We mostly use dessert apples. These are the apples you snack on, that are more delicious than a Tootsie-Pop.

Basically if you took all the apples in the produce section and ground them up and pressed them, e.g. MacIntosh, Mutsu, Cortland, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, 20 Ouncers, Braeburn, Winesap, Idared, Cameo. This is not an exclusive list, and it can vary batch-by-batch and recipe-by-recipe. We do use the single varietal juice of Empire apples to backsweeten our Empire cider. This gives it the distinct taste of a tart, crisp apple fresh from the orchard.

Occasionally, we'll use special apples like the Lady apple, or from feral trees throughout the wilderness of the Catskil Mountains in limited-release ciders.

Yes, it’s a combination of incredibly and intensely.
as in: Awestruck Ciders are incrensely refreshing.

Is foolishness an acceptable answer?

We love this business, but we got into it not really knowing much about it. We're thankful that was the case. We like being industry outsiders and bringing new ideas to the table.

Sometimes we get frustrated with the word 'passionate' - it's so over used. If someone tells you they're in this business because they are passionate they are either thinly veiling their true ambition (they really like to drink) or they are completely uncreative and don't deserve to use words like passionate (they are ruining it for everyone else). We prefer the word love. It's so intimate and vulnerable and brave to say you love something. We love all beverages, but especially hard cider. We love to make it, we love to write FAQ answers about it, we would breathe it if we could.

Start Drinking. And get in touch to join our team.

Time for a pint of cider

In theory, our ciders do not 'go bad' if carbonation leaks out of an opened bottle (just like soda) it will become flat. Typically, an opened bottle will still taste fresh, carbonated, and crisp for about 48 hours - as long as it is corked and refrigerated. An unopened bottle has a long shelf-life of 1+ years. 

We've tried some 3 years old and it was still delicious! 

It’s what’s inside the bottle that counts. Our ciders are made from a unique blend of fresh-pressed New York State apples. We ferment with a unique blend of champagne yeasts, white wine yeasts, and cider yeasts to enhance specific traits from our apple selection. Certain varieties are spiced and flavored with all-natural and unique ingredients to provide layers of sensation in every glass.

Yes, as of December 2015 we discontinued the use of gelatin as a fining agent in our ciders and they are now all vegan.

Once upon a time, there was a man with the weight of the world on his mind. Well, sort of. You see, he was juggling thoughts about linear inertia and combining tangential motion with the effects of radially directed force and why do apples always fall straight down?

Drinking tea in the garden in a contemplative mood 'Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground, thought he to himself...' And in that moment he was awestruck by a realization...apples make delicious alcohol! Not really, he already knew that. This moment I'm describing was when Newton theorized his Law of Gravity, and it was a pretty amazing thought.

Also, once upon a time, Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and superhero, said:
'I wakeup every morning AWESTRUCK!'

So, once upon a time we needed a name for our product, we were awestruck by what hard cider can be and we stumbled upon that quote from NdGT, and said,
'Let's wake up like this!'

One of each. I mean, is this going to be a party or is this going to be a party?

8 Winkler Road
Sidney, NY 13838

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