Northyards Cider Co. may be Squamish’s new overnight success story, but it’s a dream that has been fermenting for close to eight years.
Located in the industrial park off Queens Way, the cidery boasts a gleaming white décor and cheery cottage kitsch, replete with an authentic 1970s shuffleboard in the loft. It is the passion project of life — and now, business — partners Alison Round and Kathleen van der Ree.
The couple reminisces with broad smiles about travelling early in their relationship to unique locations around Canada and the U.S., foraging for stand out craft beverage and delicious culinary delights.
“We’d often hit up beer festivals — I love beer — but there is nothing for Alison to drink. She just doesn’t like it. And then we went to one where there was a cider featured and was like…” van der Ree said, gesturing as if her head were exploding.
“It was an actual craft cidery, and it was different than anything that had previously been available to us in Canada,” added Round, enthusiastically. “That was eight years ago. Maybe there were a couple on the island, but that was it. From that moment on I was like, ‘What is this?’ and ‘I need to find more.’”
The two then actively started pursuing different cideries, predominately in the U.S., and learning as much as they could.
“Basically, there was cider fermenting all over our house. When we moved we had to carry out 15 heavy carboys,” recalled van der Ree, a practicing lawyer.
Adds Round, with a laugh: “I started small, first just fermenting four litres of juice at a time, about a gallon. Then the next size up is 20 litres. Now we’ve jumped to 24,000 litres!”
It seemed like a natural course to pursue, as van der Rees had a keen interest in the wine industry and was considering pursuing a sommelier designation.
“And I was looking at maybe a small brewery, and then Alison just said ‘Why don’t we start a cidery?’ It was a combination of interests, and passions, and tastes, and the seed that is now Northyards Cider Co. was born.”
Round, who is also a certified holistic nutritionist, took a cider-making course in Walla Walla, Wash. with renowned U.K. cider master Peter Mitchell, over her holidays. A week later, she quit her job as full-time a letter carrier with Canada Post.
“I did not like that job. So having a hobby on the side with the cider and seeing the industry boom when we are travelling… it just seemed like the right thing to do,” she said. “Instead of sending me off to work at the post office, why don’t we do this?”
Van der Ree was fully on board.
“We knew that it was going to require more than evenings and weekends if we were really going to do this.”
Additional business partners Dean and Denise Imbeau came on board to help get the cidery off the ground, contributing, among other things, sweat equity via construction and training to new staff.
Northyards Cider uses only 100 per cent juice from a farm north of Kelowna, about 24,000 litres a year to start. They use no added sugar, flavours, or water.
“The juice is everything. So it’s a premium product it’s a lot different from beer, which uses a lot of water and other things. It’s a lot more expensive to produce,” explained van der Ree
Currently, the cidery offers an unadulterated dry version at 5.8 per cent, a semi-dry cider with added unfermented ambrosia juice for a bit of sweetness at 5.1 per cent, and a gorgeous blackberry cider with fresh pressed juice that comes in at 4.5 per cent. The tasting room also offers an incredible selection of unique and delightful cider cocktails, as well as local beer and kombucha on tap. For oenophiles, they carry Joie white on tap and a bottled red wine. A chef-run kitchen provides tasty sharing plates and desserts for when the need to nosh strikes.
Like any good wine, cider will vary from batch to batch.
“It changes every batch and that has to do with the apples themselves. What kind of year did the apples have? Was it super hot is the tons of sugar in the apples? Or was it a cooler year giving apples that produce less juice?” said van der Ree.
Locals with extra tree fruit are invited to help create a special cider this fall, said Round, adding that more information on donating or help managing a harvest is available for a small fee. Information is available at solscapes.ca or by calling 604-360-4161.
“If we get enough to make 20 litres or enough to make 100 litres, the proceeds after our costs will go to support a local environmental or wildlife program. This way you get to try your regional apple cider and what your Squamish terroir tastes like,” she said, adding it will likely take at least three months to turn around before donors are invited back for a special tasting night.
Presently the cidery is looking at bottling and distribution, but for now, they are doing everything they can to just keep up with the demand in the tasting room – offering table service and growlers to go.
This fall, customers can look forward to cider and yoga session where lunch or dinner, and a glass of your favourite fermentation will be at the ready to quench your thirst.
