Hallelujah Hopricot available

Our newest hard cider is on store shelves now. And that cider is Hallelujah Hopricot. It’s proving to be a real crowd-pleaser and a great seller.  This is the first recipe we’ve made that was developed by a neighbor homebrewer (and recipe genius) Travis Scrivner. When you first pour a glass of it, you’ll notice a robust aroma of equal parts apricot and hops. After trying dried apricots, apricot puree, whole apricots and more, we decided on an apricot juice. And the hops are Amarillo, Cascade and Chinook. We use whole-leaf hops (not pelletized) and “dry hop” the cider by soaking the hops in the finished cider just prior to bottling. The hops we’re using smell and taste citrusy, with grapefruit and lemon and hint of pine. These delicate aromas dissipate over time and if they’re not treated gently so the cider stays cold from the moment the hops are added until you pick it up off the shelf. If you dive deep into the flavors, you might notice more going on. There is a lot of complexity underneath the apricot and hops including multiple yeasts and wit beer spices. Ask in person sometime for all the details. It’s quite fun to make. And drink up, this cider is available year-round and is our new best-seller.

And did you know that we’re smack dab in the middle of the 2012 hop harvest? In honor of this season, the next batch of Hallelujah Hopricot (batch code 2011-19) will use freshly-harvested “wet” hops for an amazing aroma. We’re excited!

Our continued search for space

Due to the incredible response for my cider by thirsty Portlanders and beyond, we’ve officially outgrown the basement and garage. But we’re making do as best we can, along with all the inefficiencies such a small space requires. For instance, we unloaded two bins of apples yesterday, apple by apple, handfuls at a time. My kingdom for a forklift! We started looking for a proper production facility a few months ago and since then have been pining over a great potential production space in nearby Kenton. Alas, that space is not to be. The landlord is doing renovations to the building which will last until at least another eight months, and we’re sure the rate will go up, out of our price range, when they’re done. So the search continues, including this great-looking space a few blocks away from the intersection of NE Broadway and N Williams, a block from the new eastside streetcar line. Fingers crossed!

Upcoming events

You might have heard of the Slow Food movement, which aims to preserve traditional and regional cuisine, raise awareness of what we eat, how it’s grown and how it’s made. Well have you heard of Slow Money? The Slow Money movement raises social consciousness to an equal footing with investment returns and encourages direct investment in local and sustainable businesses. There’s a chapter of the group in Portland and we’ve been invited to give a presentation to the investor group about Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider and our growth plans. If you know any accredited investors who would like to hear more, have them check it out.

In addition to that great event, both Nat and our new fabulous tastings specialist Carolyn are doing tastings around town and preparing for harvest season events. As always, check the website or keep an eye on Facebook or Twitter to stay informed.

Media coverage

Now that our cider has been on store shelves for a few months, the media is starting to take notice. To keep track of these stories we’ve put up a new page on our website. We have sample bottles sent to a few more places so we’ll see more coverage as time goes by.

The 2012 harvest has begun

On a beautiful and sunny Labor Day, we drove up to Hood River, Oregon for the first of many bins of apples from this year’s harvest. It was only two months ago that we finished pressing the end of the 2011 harvested apples which had been in cold storage. The variety shown here is Gravenstein, both green and red sports. They’re destined for Revelation Gravenstein, a single varietal hard cider. From the 2011 harvest, we made 3500 gallons of hard cider and we’re anticipating making close to 12,000 gallons from the 2012 harvest. More apples means more cider in more places like Washington, San Francisco and maybe even New York.

Talk to you soon!