The number of farm cidery manufacturers across New York state has jumped from eight to 41 since the Farm Cidery Law was passed five years ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office says. The law created a new craft beverage license for hard cider produced with apples grown exclusively in New York. The license is similar to those […]
The number of farm cidery manufacturers across New York state has jumped from eight to 41 since the Farm Cidery Law was passed five years ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office says.
The law created a new craft beverage license for hard cider produced with apples grown exclusively in New York. The license is similar to those available to farm wineries, breweries, and distilleries. As a result of this legislation, the Empire State now ranks first in the U.S. for the number of hard-cider producers, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
Prior to the Farm Cidery Law, hard cider could only be produced by farm wineries or through a cider-producer license, which doesn’t require the use of New York apples. Cider producers also couldn’t provide tastings and sales of other farm-based products by the bottle or glass, nor have the opportunity to open restaurants, gift shops, and branch stores. These have helped New York’s farm cideries become tourist destinations, the state contends.
The increased demand for hard cider in the state gives apple producers another avenue for maximizing the value of their harvest, per the release, as fruit that is too small or blemished to be sold at stores or farmer’s markets can be sold to cider makers. Continuation of this trend should boost demand for apples and provide a significant revenue source for producers through the production of high value-added products such as hard cider and apple spirits, the state contends.
The number of farm cideries in New York went up from eight in 2014, to 24 in 2016, to 41 today. Nearly every region of the state now has a farm cidery.
Farm cideries in the Central New York area include Gravity Ciders in Sidney, which makes Awestruck Hard Ciders. New York Cider Company in Ithaca is another area farm cidery.
A list of farm cideries currently operating in New York state is available at: https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/New_York_State_Farm_Cideries.pdf
Since New York’s first craft beverage summit in October 2012, the state has added 490 new licenses for farm breweries, wineries, distilleries, and cideries, bringing the total to 772 farm-based manufactures today, per the release.
