PROCESS
Science meets art.
From branch to bottle, creating dry mountain cider requires applying a scientific approach to nature’s ingredients. It’s a blend of art and science that we’ve built over decades in the industry, and perfected at Dendric Estate.
Fall harvest season requires all hands on deck to press apples at peak ripeness. 900-pound bins of whole apples are hand sorted, machine rinsed, and milled to a fine pommace with seeds intact. Our 400 gallon pneumatic press applies slow, gentle pressure to coax out the juice into a waiting basin.
After pressing, we transfer the fresh juice into stainless steel and poly tanks. We pitch cultured yeast to steer fermentation, and we let natural yeast from the fruit contribute its unique characteristics. Aged on lees, we use batonnage for maximum yeast contact and to impart brioche-like flavors to the fully attenuated cider.
Here, science once again meets art. We utilize both in-house and third-party lab data to understand the composition of malic vs. lactic acid, pH, residual sugar, and ABV. But the final blending ratio comes down to human touch - all on the tongue and nose. The final blend ratio is scaled up to our 1,000-gallon Charmat tank, where a final fermentation captures the natural carbonation and produces tiny bubbles for a lively effervescence.
Once the cider matures in our Charmat tank, it’s go time. The bottling line fills each bottle under pressure to lock in those fine, natural bubbles. Each bottle is corked and caged in quick succession, then sent down the line to get dressed in our signature labels. Boxed, stacked, and ready for your glass.
