Hunterdon County's Melick's Town Farm has added a line of hard cider, which is already becoming a popular drink.
By Katie Greifeld
Hard cider is making a resurgence in the United States, and Melick's Town Farm in Oldwick is keeping up with the times. Melick's introduced their new line of hard cider in January, and is heading into its first summer at full production.
The idea took root when John Melick, a 10th generation farmer, met cider maker Scott Wyant two years ago. Culinary Institute of America-educated Wyant learned the craft of cider making while living in Switzerland with his family. When the family moved back to New Jersey, a friend introduced Wyant to Melick.
"It was just absolutely perfect. The Melicks are the largest apple growers in New Jersey, over 25,000 trees and 40 acres of peaches - it was just perfect," described Wyant.
Wyant and Melick have spent the time since that initial meeting refining the idea, creating recipes, and going through the arduous process of obtaining the necessary licenses to produce alcohol. Prior to meeting Wyant, Melick had been toying with the idea of venturing into hard cider, but lacked the resources to do so.
"The idea was there, but I wasn't going to be able to do it myself or dedicate the time," explained Melick. "It's a whole new business. So he came on board as a fulltime employee."
After toiling with state and federal regulators, Melick's Town Farm is now the holder of a farm winery license, which allows them to produce up to 50,000 gallons per year.
Current facilities are at the Cider Mill orchard on King Street in Oldwick, where Melick's hosts apple picking in the fall. Melick's Town Farm, where the farm's fruits, vegetables, and baked goods are sold, is half a mile away on Oldwick Road. Though they already tend to 25,000 apple trees, the Melicks planted four additional acres worth of trees in the spring at the King Street orchard.
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"We planted four acres this spring of traditional hard cider varieties that have some of those old world qualities that people look for," said Melick, referring to the higher levels of sugar and tannins. "They'd be a terrible apple and I couldn't sell them for fresh, but we're growing them exclusively for hard cider."
Cider is pressed from apples that Melick calls "seconds" - apples that have been bruised or otherwise damaged. Melick's uses a blend of its own seconds and others that were purchased from a farm in New York State. The apple from the new trees, however, will be handpicked "number ones."
"For the most part we're using our own apples, it's not 100 percent, but it could be if we really wanted it to," said Melick. "I'm more interested in getting the proper blend right."
This year, the farm will produce roughly 6,000 gallons - and while Melick hopes to more than double that number next year, he does not foresee needing to upgrade his license anytime soon.
"We'll take baby steps. I don't want to dump too much money into it before we've made a nickel," said Melick. "You know, we'll test the water, and quickly scale it up if everything goes according to plan."
The cider has yet to turn a profit, but given that sales began less than six months ago, Melick isn't concerned. He predicts that the farm will see a positive cash flow at around 18 months, when cider sales have had a chance to catch up to the money spent on retrofitting existing buildings for production and buying cider-making equipment.
Given that Melick is first and foremost a farmer, his experience with crops and fruit trees gives him a unique perspective.
"Growing fruit trees, you don't see fruit for a couple of years and they don't start making money until the fourth or fifth year," said Melick. "So this is just another one of those things. You constantly reinvest and you get your dividends down the road. We're not looking to meet a certain number within a certain time frame."
Melick says they have had a lot of interest from distributors, but for the time being, the farm plans to keep it local. The license allows them to sell liquor at 15 of their own establishments, in addition to anywhere with a liquor license. Currently, the cider is stocked at three restaurants in the area, as well as 14 local retail outlets.
One of those outlets is Tewksbury Fine Wines and Spirits, which is across Oldwick Road from Melick's. Andrea Maranca, the owner, says that the ciders have been selling well.
"We've been selling a lot of it. It's a great idea, ciders are very hot right now," said Maranca.
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Though Maranca objects to the size of the bottle - she believes a less-expensive 12 ounce bottle might sell better - she thinks that Melick and Wyant certainly got their recipe right in terms of the sugar content, compared to many popular mass-produced hard ciders.
"You've got that dreck - Angry Orchard - I mean, it's just sugar. People love that stuff," said Maranca.
Wyant agrees.
"In Switzerland we were right on the border of France, and it was the dry, effervescent cider that I loved and that Americans have a hard time putting down," said Wyant. "And then I came back here and people were drinking Woodchuck."
With Melick's cider, Wyant said that they've carefully tried to balance their recipe to be more 'dry' than mainstream hard ciders without tasting bitter.
"We try to fall in the middle of slightly undrinkable on both ends - overly sweet and overly dry, said Wyant. "And I'd rather fall on the side of being drier and less sweet."
One 12 ounce bottle of Angry Orchard Crisp Apple cider carries 24 grams of sugar, while Woodchuck Draft Cider comes in at 21 grams. How much sugar does 16 ounces of Melick's cider have? Wyant isn't quite sure.
"Definitely less than Angry Orchard," said Wyant.
Heading into the cider's first summer, farm goers can expect to see a sweeter summer lemon shandy arrive in early June. Flavors such as blueberry, peach, and cherry are currently being tested as well, and Melick says that they plan to roll out seasonal releases in the future.
Currently, the cider is only available in 16 ounce bottles, but Wyant says that releasing 16 ounce cans is also a priority for the farm. Not only will the cans be cheaper, but the cider can then be packaged as a four-pack and more easily transported to parties and picnics. The farm bought three new tanks specifically for canning in early May, so Wyant predicts that the cans will be on shelves soon.