CiderDays Venues 2023 - CiderDays - Franklin County, Massachusetts

Franklin County Cider Days, November 1-3, 2019
cdaboutinsidetop

Join us for the return of the ORIGINAL CiderDays on the first weekend of November. We don't have the venues nailed down yet, but here's who was involved in the event in 2022:

Apex Orchards

225 Peckville Road, Shelburne, MA
Saturday Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6, 9 am - 6pm
Apex Website
Apex on Facebook
Apex on Instagram
413-625-2744

Use caution as you approach this orchard because the scenic views of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire may very well take your breath away. They don’t call it Apex for nothing. The orchard, which has been in Tim Smith’s family since 1828, now includes apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, quince, pears, Asian pears, blueberries, table grapes and kiwi. Be sure to pick up some Evercrisp apples, a new variety that stores extremely well.

Aside from fruit, their new 4,000 sq. ft. retail store offers honey products from Smith’s Shelburne Honey Co., maple syrup from the Graves farm in Colrain and the Boyden farm in Conway, Shelburne Cider Vinegar and ciders from Apex, Cabot cheese, Yankee Pastime Farm’s maple cream, Sidehill Farm yogurt and “Just Soap” made in Ashfield. You’ll also find cider doughnuts from Pine Hill Orchard in Colrain.

Artifact Cider Project

34 N. Maple Street, Suite 15, Florence, MA
Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 - 9 pm; Sunday, Nov. 6. 10 - 7 pm
Artifact Cider Project Website
Artifact Cider Project on Facebook
(508) 308-7361

We make cider for the new Northeast. We produce craft cider in a variety of styles by respecting tradition, but refusing to let it limit us. Using local apples and innovative cidermaking practices, we create ciders that are as authentic, eclectic, and forward-looking as the region they come from. Artifact was founded in 2014 by Jake Mazar and Soham Bhatt and is based in Florence, Massachusetts.

For the weekend we will be opening early over the weekend starting at 10am with coffee and cider donuts, as well as offering exclusive pours of unreleased ciders, and special pricing on cellar projects.

Artisan Beverage Cooperative

324 Wells St. Greenfield, MA
Saturday, Nov. 5, noon - 4 pm
Artisan Beverage Cooperative Website
Artisan Beverage Cooperative on Facebook
(413) 335-0576

Artisan Beverage Cooperative—makers of many gluten-free, high-quality beverages.

For CiderDays we offer our famous Valley and Whiskey cyzers. Apple-honey wine made with cider from Clarkdale Fruit Farm and honey from Western Mass.

Our apple cider kombucha is back just in time for CiderDays Weekend! Made with locally sourced cider from Carkdale Fruit Farms, this limited batch is available in growlers exclusively through ArtBev curbside pickup on Saturday from 12-2pm.

Cyzers are a variation of mead, a traditional fermented honey wine, but instead of water, cider is used. Both our cyzers are made with local raw honey and cider from Clarkdale Fruit Farm.

The Whiskey Cyzer gets its name because it was aged in Bully Boy whiskey barrels before bottling, giving it a slightly smokier and oak-ier flavor profile than the Valley Cyzer.

Both variations have been aging to perfection and supplies are limited. 14% ABV Gluten-free.

Valley Cyzer - $15/ 500ml bottle
Whiskey Cyzer - $20/ 500ml bottle

Also available will be Ginger Libation in 12oz cans and the light version in Blueberry and original . Plus 2 more meads in Barrel Buckwheat and Spice Ambrosia .

Ashfield Community Hall

521 Main Street, Ashfield MA
Friday, Nov. 4th, 10 am - 5 pm
'3rd Annual Wild and Seedling Pomological Exhibition
More Info

We want to see YOUR pippins! Join Matt Kaminsky at the Community Hall of Ashfield on Friday November 4th, to see a showcase of seedling apples (and pears! ) from all over the continent. You can submit a handful of fruit from noteworthy wild or seedling apple and pear trees in your area, or simply come to admire the beauty! This is a unique opportunity to introduce novel and undocumented varieties of pome fruit to the public. Contribute to an emerging culture of wild fruit & pomology and have your work featured in volume 3 of the Pomological Review. Info on submission process in the link above!

Suggested donation sliding scale $5-$10.

Beaver Pond Distillery

88 Woodward Rd. Petersham, MA
Sat, Nov. 5, 11 am- 4 pm and Sun. Nov. 6, 11 am - 3 pm
Beaver Pond Distillery Website
Beaver Pond Distillery Facebook Page
Jerry's cell: 617-930-0936 call or text him!

CiderDays weekend: Tastings, Tours, & Treats! Micro distillery making apple brandy, apricot, cherry, peach and pear eau de vie and plum slivovitz. We use all local and regional fruit to make our distilled spirits. CiderDays weekend - special tastings.

Berkshire Cider Project

508 State Road, North Adams, MA, (Greylock WORKS mill complex)
Fri, Nov. 4 and Sat, Nov. 5, noon- 8 pm and Sun. Nov. 6, noon - 4 pm
Check our website for special CiderDays events.
Berkshire Cider Project Website
Berkshire Cider Project on Facebook
(413) 409-6058

Tasting room open all weekend! Berkshire Cider Project is a new craft cidery focused on dry sparkling ciders. Located in a beautiful mill complex with adjacent café and distillery. Come visit for cider tastings and bottles to-go. Our small tasting room is located within our cidermaking facility.

Berkshire Cider Project opened in July 2020. Our dry ciders start in the orchards and forgotten apple trees across Berkshire country. We combine orchard grown and wild foraged apples with traditional techniques to craft sparkling ciders that are refreshingly complex yet accessible! Our bright labels and tie-dye accessories are inspired by warm Berkshire summers and the modern art at MassMoCA, just down the road. By partnering with orchards across the county we hope to share our deep interest in agricultural development and sustainability. Located at the beautiful Greylock WORKS facility– a former textile mill turned event venue, co-working space and food incubator. An adjacent café, The Break Room, is open for brunch. Follow us @berkshire_cider for special CiderDays announcements!

The Brewery at Four Star Farms

508 Pine Meadow Rd. Northfield, MA
Saturday, Nov 5, noon - 8 pm; Sunday Nov. 6, noon - 6 pm
Brewery at Four Star Farms Website

The Brewery at Four Star Farms is a brewery located in the midst of the Four Star Farms hop farm. We have a beautiful outdoor space as well as a taproom with views of the scenery around the farm. We also produce our own hard cider. Our cider is a blend of 6 different apple varieties grown by Scott Farm in Dummerston, VT. This house cider is a dry New England cider, no added sugar and fermented with a Dry Cider yeast.

Four Star Farms New England Dry Cider
We offer samples, full pours on draft, and cans to go.

Cameron’s Winery

1046 Millers Falls Rd, Northfield, MA
Friday and Saturday noon to 8 pm, Sunday noon to 4 pm
Cameron’s Website
Cameron's Facebook Page
Instagram
(413) 225-3420

Cameron’s celebrates everything cider all weekend. We will have 6 ciders ready for tastings or by the glass, cheese tastings, and have apple press demonstrations with tastings ( great fun for the kids). Our famous Cider dogs will be available to enjoy by our campfires. We will have live music on both afternoons. The Charcuterie market has a very large selection of cheeses, meats, chocolates many other goodies to pair with your selection.

The Winery has 9 families of wine ranging from local grapes and fruits to citrus, tropical, chocolate or honey. The Back Room Brewing Company who shares our campus also has a great variety of seasonal favorites. Whether you enjoy cider bubbly or still, or with or without alcohol, we have a little something for everyone.

CiderDays weekend events

Friday night:
7-8:30 pm: Lantern Lit Cider and Cheese Pairing $30, Call for tickets ahead (413) 225-3420

Saturday:
12 to 8pm Cider Tastings and Cider Dogs (while they last)
1 to 4 pm Cider Press Demonstrations and samples
2 to 4 pm Live music

Sunday:
12 to 4 Cider Tastings
1 to 3pm Live Music
12 to 4pm Cider Dogs (while they last)

Carr’s Ciderhouse

Farm Store - 295 River Drive, Hadley, MA
Friday, Nov. 4, 12-5, Saturday, Nov. 5, 12-5 pm and Sunday, Nov. 6, 12-5 pm. Also open by appointment: call (413) 336-7363
Carr's Ciderhouse Website
Carr's Ciderhouse on Facebook
Carr's on Instagram

Come and enjoy our CIDER GARDEN under the chestnut trees! Behind our well stocked Farm Shop filled with all kinds of cider goodies - both alcoholic and non-alcoholic - you can sit down to enjoy a full pour of hard cider, sample our shrubs and other cider goods - all while enjoying a cone of freshly roasted chestnuts.

Preservation Orchard is the home of Carr's Ciderhouse where we practice regenerative agriculture and evolutionary orcharding - low input silvopasture for carbon sequestration, no-spray for avian and pollinator habitat, and traditional and experimental cultivars for pest and disease resistance. All of our hard ciders are wild fermented in our uninsulated press barn over the course of 5-6 months. We find that this slow and low-temperature fermentation reveals depth and complexity in the cider. We press our apples, along with wild foraged apples and forgotten orchard apples, on a century old Mt.Gilead rack and cloth press.

We always look forward to CiderDays weekend and hope you will join us to drink and talk cider. Please see our website for event details, info about parking, and important updates.

Carr’s ciders are $12-$15/750 ml bottle

Clarkdale Fruit Farms

303 Upper Road, Deerfield, MA
Saturday Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6 from 9 am - 5 pm
Clarkdale Fruit Farms Website
Clarkdale Fruit Farms Facebook Page
(413) 772-6797

Special activities for CiderDays weekend:

Saturday
Cider pressing demo at 10 am
Orchard tour at 11 am.

Sunday
Baking with Apples Demo & Tasting:
10am- Lucy Damkoehler Schulte, Sweet Lucy’s Bakeshop, Bernardston
Noon- Sandy D’Amato, James Beard Award-winning chef, Good Stock Farm, Hatfield

Fourth-generation family orchard growing high-quality tree fruit since 1915. We farm 45 acres and grow over 50 varieties of apples, including several heirlooms. Our diverse plantings also include pears, peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines, and grapes. We produce our own sweet cider in season, and offer several special blends for holidays in the Fall. Bulk cider for fermenting is available upon request. Find us on fb and Instagram as well.

Great Falls Discovery Center

2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA
Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 5 & 6
10 am – 6 pm
Great Falls Discovery Center Facebook
413-863-3200

Enjoy a story, fresh air and exercise! Join us on the grounds of the center for a FREE series of self-guided StoryWalks® featuring the children’s picture book, Apple Trees to Cider, Please! by Felicia Sanzari Cherneskey. Follow the path to laminated book pages posted along the route. Wonderful stories celebrating the natural world and families await. For young readers ages 4-8, and everyone who loves the fall harvest season.

Headwater Cider

112 Forget Road, Hawley, MA
Saturday, Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6, 11 am - 4 pm
Headwater Cider Website
Headwater Cider on Facebook
(413) 695-6099

CiderDays Festivities!

Headwater Cider will be hosting a gathering of W.Mass cidermakers at the orchard on November 5th and 6th from 11 until 4. We will be pouring small tastes and selling sealed containers for off-premise consumption. There will also be cheese from Grace Hill Farm and Meadowsweet Farm for sale as well as jams, cookies, and apple themed goodies from Billings Brook Farm. Tinky Weisblatt will be here with her brand new cookbook (Pot Luck), too.

Music Both Days!

Country Midnight (1-3 11/5)

Below the Gaff (1-3 11/6)

Headwater Cider - Grow What You Press. Press What You Grow.

Estate Cider from Franklin County. Crisp and Dry. Grown, Pressed, and Bottled here at the orchard. Sample and purchase a range of alcoholic ciders at the source!

$12 / 750ml bottle

New Salem Preserves & New Salem Cider

67 South Main St. in New Salem, Massachusetts. Parking available in marked areas across from driveway.
Hours of operation:
Farm Store open Saturday Nov. 5 and Sunday Nov. 6, 10am - 5pm
Cider Garden open 12 pm – 6 pm
New Salem Cider Website
New Salem Cider on Facebook
(617) 634-9392

CiderDays Events
SATURDAY
10 am - 4 pm - George LaLasciu, Blacksmith brings his charcoal forge and small 20 lb. anvil.He will be making utilitarian items all day.
Noon - Basic Apple Tree Pruning... Steve Weisman
1 - 2 pm - How to make New Salem’s Hard Cider mustard, with William Grote
2:15-2:45 pm - Making Cider Syrup at Home - with Terry McCue
3 - 4 pm - Tending Backyard Orchards SteveMarglin & Steve Lanphaer

SUNDAY
1 - 2:15 pm - Beginning and advanced cider making, with April Woodard
2:15 - 3:15 pm - Bring your own: cider - Tasting and evaluation; Fun and troubleshooting - for amateur cider makers, with April Woodard
3:30 - 4:30 pm Lost Apples Of The Quabbin and Pomological Conservation Matt Kaminsky

ALL WEEKEND:
Saturday and Sunday:
Book signings with Ellen Palladino, author of the newly released Lost Town of the Swift River Valley.

New Salem Preserves & Orchards, long known for rich, sweet cider made from century-old heirloom apple trees, is now in its fifth season offering their own small-batch vintage hard ciders as well as warm German pretzels. Hard cider can be exclusively purchased by the growler or enjoyed by the glass on premises—a 1750 farmstead overlooking orchards, stonewalls and the Quabbin Reservoir, in their Cider Garden or anywhere on the premise with plenty of picnic tables and outdoor seats . Dogs are always welcome and BYO picnics encouraged, as the entire farm is open for guests to wander, explore and of course, enjoy our hard cider. We will be hosting our traditional cider making workshops on Sunday and have other presentations and events planned, please check the website of Facebook page for the latest information.

Outlook Farm Winery & Brewery (Outlook Farm Barn & Eatery)

136 Main Road, Westhampton, MA
Saturday and Sunday, Nov 5 and 6, noon - 4 pm
Facebook
Instagram
Website
(413) 529-9388

Outlook Farm has produced the best fresh apple cider in the region from our orchards in Westhampton, at the foothills of the Berkshires, for over 50 years. Our orchards include old-growth trees over 150 years in age, heirloom, and traditional New England cider apples, blending Baldwins, Golden Delicious, Northern Spies, and Gold Rush apples, balanced with flavors of Macintosh, Cortland, Red Delicious, Rome, and others. Slow fermented to provide a hard cider base with a character all its own representing our motto, “It’s All Good”.

Pine Hill Orchards

248 Greenfield Road, Colrain, MA
Saturday, Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6, 9 am - 5 pm
Pine Hill Orchard website
Pine Hill Orchards on Facebook
(413) 624-3325

CiderDays events

Saturday - 11am - 4 pm: Pints @ Pine Hill with Artifact Cider's pop-up tap room

Sunday - 10 am: All-star Pruning Workshop with David Shearer and William Shearer

Both Days - Special Blend Cider Sale for Cider Days Weekend! We will be offering our fresh-pressed specialty blends for bulk sale! Four different blends with multiple cider varieties used. 4000+ gallons will be available from 9am to 5pm ONLY!! First come first served! And…Our Farm Store is open. From our Family to Yours…Happy Cider Days!

Orchard selling apples, cider and locally made foods.

Ryan & Casey Liquors/Cold River Package and Market

Ryan & Casey, 55 Main St., Greenfield, MA
Saturday, Nov. 5, 8 am - 11 pm and Sunday Nov. 6, 10 am - 9 pm
Cold River Package - 31 Main Street (Rt. 2), Charlemont, MA
Sat. 7 am - 10 pm & Sun., 8 am - 8 pm
Ryan and Casey on Facebook
(413) 775-6585

Bottle shops featuring ciders from Western MA producers, as well as other national and international brands, plus wines, beers, and spirits. There will be samples and discounts on cider and all things apple. Details below.

Tastings at Ryan & Casey Liquors, Greenfield (Saturday only Noon - 3pm):
Artifact Cider
Laird's Apple Jack86 apple brandy
Belle de Brillet pear cognac
Eden Cider
Far From the Tree Cider
Angry Orchard Cider

Tastings 'On the Front Porch' @ Cold River Package & Market, Charlemont (Saturday only Noon-3 pm):
West County Cider
Easthampton Cider Project
J Seeds Apple Whiskey
BeanBlossom Cider
Oliver Winery Apple wine
DownEast Cider House

Scott Farm Orchard

707 Kipling Rd, Dummerston, VT
Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 5-6, farm market 10 am - 6 pm
Website
Contact Simon Renaut at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Scott Farm has been a working farm since 1791. We grow over 130 varieties of heirloom apples and an array of different pears, plums, peaches, cherries, all sorts of berries and other fruit we find interesting. We are Certified EcoApple® and a Certified B Corp.

Wells Provisions

159 Main Street (Rt 2), Charlemont, MA
Sat. and Sun. November 5 - 6, 7:30 am to 7pm
Wells Provisions website
@wellsprovisions

All weekend- Apple Cider Ice Cream Sandwich - apple cider soft serve between two cinnamon snickerdoodle cookies. We're making the soft serve and the cookies, so it's going to be GOOD!

Hosting special tastings. Details TBA

Wells Provisions brings a taste of New Orleans to the hills of Western Mass. The team of NOLA transplants has taken their experience working in some of the best restaurants in the Big Easy to create a laid back market, cafe and ice cream shop on the historic Mohawk Trail in Charlemont. Their menu doesn't end at po-boys and gumbo. Local ingredients take center-stage (or shall we say "plate"), to feature the amazing bounty of the farmers and food producers in the region. What can you get at Wells Provisions? A delicious breakfast and lunch, a lovely bottle of wine to take home, as well as your favorite craft beer. A bottle of bourbon & bitters to make that special cocktail. They have gourmet meals to go and specialty food items in the cooler. There is penny candy and out of this world ice cream. In short, pretty much everything to make everyone in the family happy.

West County Cider

208 Peckville Rd. Shelburne, MA
Sat. Nov. 5 and Sun, Nov. 6, 10 am -5 pm
West County Cider Website
(413) 768-9318

Special CiderDays events

Saturday 10:30 - What’s a Good Cider Apple? -with Ben Watson

Out of the thousands of apple varieties, how do we pick the ones that make the best cider? Ben Watson, lifelong apple nerd and author of Cider, Hard and Sweet, breaks down the basic rules of thumb for judging if an apple is “cider-worthy.”

Come visit the oldest running cider house in the country. Come for our legendary ciders while enjoying our hiking trails and picnic grounds with a glorious three state view.

West County Cider was started by the Maloney family in 1984 with a commitment to making small-batch ciders with impeccable apples from local orchards. Thirty-seven years later, our family has grown but the tradition continues. We use fine-winemaking techniques and focus on freshness of flavor and total respect for each individual apple variety. Every harvest year represents a new a foray into the possibility of the apple.

Saturday 11:30-5:30 - Lucky Lips Oysters x West County Cider, Fresh Oysters and Hard Cider Pop Up at WCC!

Lucky Lips Oysters is a family-run oyster farm in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. They are bringing their oyster truck to serve fresh oysters with homemade condiments alongside West County’s finest ciders.

Sunday 10-12 - Wild Apples and Cider Making with Claude Jolicoeur, John Bunker, Matt Kaminsky, and Gaston Picoulet

Join Claude Jolicoeur (author of The New Cider Maker's Handbook), John Bunker (Fedco Seeds), Matt Kaminsky (a.k.a Gnarly Pippins, author and wild apple forager extraordinaire) and Gaston Picoulet (owner and cider maker at Les Pommes Purdues in Quebec, where he focusses on lost and foraged apples) for a talk on:

What is a wild apple and how to find a wild apple tree
History: Wild apples, a journey from Kazakhstan to North America
Why use wild apples in cider making—what are the advantages compared to other varieties
Special challenges of commercial and/or hobby cider making with wild apples
From wild apple tree to named apple variety, what are the steps?

Sunday, 2pm - Trees in the Landscape, with Adam Buursma

How do you care for your apple tree? Learn how trees in the landscape often have opposing interests and how to manage for an Apple edge. Adam is a Vermont Certificated Horticulturist and former International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist

Sunday, 3pm - Crab Apple Ciders: From Foraging to Grafting A Farm, with Zeke Nims, Ph.D.

Wild crab apples used for cider? Aren’t they sour? A pain to harvest? The answer to all: yes! Zeke has spent the past 7 years harvesting and pressing wild crab apples, making potent ciders from wild trees across Massachusetts. Harvesting from these trees is mostly inconvenient, so he has been grafting these wild cultivars onto dwarf root stocks and is starting an espalier trellised crab apple farm. The talk will discuss the origins of this effort, the delayed timeline to get to one’s own trees, unique architectures of crab apple trees, and a sampling of the fresh and fermented ciders made from these wild crabs. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the flavors of the humble crab apple.

Related CiderDays attractions:

If you are in town early, check out Muse CiderBar/Valley View Farm on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 4-8pm, 16 Walpole Road, Haydenville, MA. Cider cocktails, local beer, wine & fire pits @museciderbar , 917-592-4999

Be sure to stop by Shelburne Falls Cork at 1 Deerfield Avenue, #2, Shelburne Falls, a shop selling local hard ciders, craft beer, and wine from family-owned wineries. Also find local cheese and charcuterie from Massachusetts and Vermont. Cork offers case discounts of 10% for mixed or not mixed cases of hard cider and wine. @shelburne_falls_cork (413) 362-0265

Site Design by Lynn Nichols

Some photographs on this site were taken by Bill Bradshaw, billbradshaw.co.uk, and Beth Reynolds, Base Camp Photo

CiderDays Venues November 3 - 5, 2023