Press Day In the Cider Barn

Every Monday at out here in Adams County Pennsylvania, we fire up the press and turn freshly picked apples from our small farms into true farm-to-face hard cider.

Today’s lineup: Kingston Black and Golden Russet. These are two heritage cider apple varieties that have defined traditional craft cider for hundreds of years. These dense apples are full of tannin and character, all harvested by hand over the past few weeks.

Pressing days follow a quiet rhythm. Fill the hopper, catch the juice, clean the racks, repeat. The barn fills with the scent of fresh apples and cool air, a sure sign that cider season has arrived.

From here, the juice begins its slow transformation. Fermentation will take weeks, sometimes months, before it becomes one of our signature heritage ciders.

Cider apples on their way to juicing.

Each press day is a reminder that good cider takes time, and that every Big Hill pour starts with the fruit grown right here in south central Pennsylvania.