Opening a cidery, need some advice

[Wagwag]

Me and a few other friends of mine in the craft beverage/brew industry are looking to expand from home brewing to professional brewing.

Looking into mass cider brewing I know we don't need as much equipment as a beer brewery would, but I'm still trying to work some kinks out.

For secondary fermentation, what do cideries typically use? I'm on the fence if we should go with the bright tank or if we should do barrels. We do plan to carbonate most if not all of our product.

Most of our other pieces of equipment are figured out, but that's the main one that is troubling us. When we home brew cider, we just carbonate with kegs an force carbonation.


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[mopar318]

I can't offer too much advice...but all of the small breweries that made some cider tasted really bad in comparison to my home made stuff.

I think too many sulfites, too much sugar, and way to much carbonation.

Keep it "old fashion" and I think you will do better off.

 

[dinnerstick]

i would take all advice from the hbt cider forum with a grain of salt the size of paul bunyan salt lick

 

[Randzor]

Figure out the business sense of it. Alot of craftbrewers don't realize how expensive mass cider can be. Try calling up woodchuch and see if they can help you out. Lastly please do not make a cider that is 1.03 and call it crisp...

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[Renoun]

The PSU Business of Craft Brewing program has a video tour/interview showing how Rev Nat's Hard Cider in Portland, Oregon operates from pressing to bottling. I believe that their program may even be available by distance learning.

[ame="http://youtu.be/FnF3yYk7CiA"]Rev Nat's[/ame]

 

[LeBreton]

Me and a few other friends of mine in the craft beverage/brew industry are looking to expand from home brewing to professional brewing.

Looking into mass cider brewing I know we don't need as much equipment as a beer brewery would, but I'm still trying to work some kinks out.

For secondary fermentation, what do cideries typically use? I'm on the fence if we should go with the bright tank or if we should do barrels. We do plan to carbonate most if not all of our product.

Most of our other pieces of equipment are figured out, but that's the main one that is troubling us. When we home brew cider, we just carbonate with kegs an force carbonation.

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First off, good luck with the venture. Craft cider making is both a challenging and rewarding industry to work in. A a general piece of advice, I'd say get your business plan figured out first and make sure it's rock solid. Even if you make the best cider in the world you will fail as a business without one. Also, get yourself a good pair of boots!

Your question is a little confusing. If you're talking about carbonation, most commercial ciders in the US are force carbonated, so you'll need a bright tank and a counter pressure filler at the least, along with all the associated knick-knacks. Barrels won't hold pressure, but if you're talking about a MLF and not carbonation that's definitely an option. Though barrels are more difficult to maintain, clean, and sanitize than stainless tanks and you'll still need a bright tank, etc to carbonate. In-bottle conditioning is not unheard of, just less common in this country.

Feel free to PM me with you have any questions about commercial cider production.

 

[dinnerstick]

i would take all advice from the hbt cider forum with a grain of salt the size of paul bunyan salt lick

egg on my face- you're gettin good info! sorry

 

[OleBrewing]

ItherI talked to a local winery about cider. Basically the worst thing to deal with is the FDA. Cider is considered a wine. I think any wine under 8% alcohol has to be registered through the FDA. This is why all commercial stuff has the standard food label likeyou see on a box of cereal; thus the red tape begins. A all natural cider will never go, everything has to be pasteurized. Audits would be more frequent. I believe the FDA is the biggest deterrent in traditional cider making. Record keeping is a must. You will need to know where every apple came from and what batch it was used. Think about spinach recalls and the such, forbid this would ever happen but it could be devistating. Not trying to discourage but this was the information I was given. Good luck on the adventure.

Edit well actually I think it might me the USDAI am mixed up on my agencies. Eitherway it spells gov.