– Orchard to bottle –

[cider from heirloom apples ]

Molley Chomper makes hard cider in Ashe County, NC from heirloom apples grown in the high country of North Carolina and Virginia.  

We work with small orchards that grow heritage cider and dessert apple varieties. The apples are harvested at peak ripeness and pressed at the cidery each Summer and Fall.

Come and visit us in "the coolest corner"

apple ciders

Mountain Maelstrom (6.6%) A blend of late-season fruit from small orchards in Ashe and Wautauga counties in North Carolina. Golden Delicious, Virginia Beauty, Rome Beauty, Limberwigs, and wild crab apples predominate this blend of over thirty apple varieties, creating a straw colored cider with a good balance of sweetness, refreshing acidity and slight astringency from tannins.

Bent Apple (6.6%) This semi-dry cider takes its name from our sister farm — Bent Apple Farm — where much of the fruit was grown.  It is a blend of Appalachian heirlooms such as Virginia Beauty, Double Red Delicious, Hewe’s Crab and Limbertwigs and European bittersweets such as Nehou and Tremlett’s Bitter.  Bourbon barrel aging contributes subtle notes of oak and caramel.

School House Blend (6.4%) Named for the Old Lansing School where our cidery is located, this semi-dry cider blends Hewe's Crab, Nehou, Tremlett's Bitter, Golden Delicious, and Winesap.  School House balances distinct tropical fruit and butterscotch flavors with refreshing acidity and soft tannins.

Porch Swing (6.4%) We made this cider for warm weather sipping.  It’s blended from late-season dessert apples, traditional cider varieties, and some wild crab apples that grow up on the hill behind our farm.  We get citrus peel and mineral on the nose.  The predominant flavor is of fresh apples with just a little sweetness that should appeal to folks on either side of the dry versus sweet cider debate.  Some people describe the finish as funky … and they’re smiling about it.

Hopped Molley (6.7%) A hint of hops can transform a cider into something different yet delicious.  This cider is a blend of late-season apples, with much of the fruit coming from Coffey’s Orchard, in Watauga County, NC.  We dry hopped the cider with Cascade hops—tasting it daily until we hit just the right amount of hoppiness—then matured it for four months.  The hops add complex floral and citrus flavors and the slightest hint of bitterness to a semi-sweet cider. We think you’ll like it.

Penny Stick (5.9%) A trip down memory lane inspired us to make a cider with flavors reminiscent of the “penny stick” hard candy we used to find at the corner store.  A blend of long-aged apple ciders, this semi-sweet cider features dessert apple varieties including Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, Red Delicious, and Rhode Island Greening.  True to its name, we taste sweet, candy apple flavor balanced by refreshing acidity.

fruit ciders and experiments

Stunt Pumpkin (6.9%) This cider is made from heirloom pumpkins grown at Sexton Farms in Ashe County, NC.  We grind and press fully ripe pumpkins and blend the juice with apple cider for fermentation, followed by several months of barrel aging. We call it stunt pumpkin because this cider does some pretty impressive tricks on the palette, yielding refreshing melon, tropical fruit and apple flavors.  Nearly dry, this cider is excellent on its own, blended into a spritzer or served with fruit or sweets.  No cinnamon, cloves or allspice were harmed in the production of this cider; only pumpkins.

Old Orchard Creek (8.3%) This cider is a blend of blueberries from Old Orchard Creek Farm in Ashe County and long-aged apple cider.  To extract the blueberries' flavor and color, we fermented the crushed berries and pressed after fermentation, as you would a red wine.  The result is a bubbly, semi-sweet yet tart cider with prominent blueberry aroma and flavor and a warm, herbaceous finish.  Delicious alone or with cheeses, spicy foods or desserts.  An excellent mixer for your next craft cocktail creation.

Cherry Jounce (11.7%) A riff on the cherry bounce—an old American drink of cherries steeped in bourbon or rum—this apple wine is made from Gold Rush apples and aged for four months in ex-bourbon barrels which had their second life at Fair Game Distilling maturing rum.  During the last month of barrel aging, we added fresh wild cherries foraged from Bent Apple Farm.  This is a semi-dry wine with a pale rose color, distinct notes of bourbon and rum and a cherry-pit finish.  Made in very limited quantities.

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