With a little help from our friends

With a little help from our friends

November 15, 2022

With the help of some locals like Brian, Topher, Miriam, Jillian and Mike, SBC is pressing apples on the new Kreuzmayr belt press.  Even though it’s considered a small one, the press is bigger and faster than the one we used last year.   It squeezes the apples into a sweet juice, and dry flakey pumice.  It’s funny to watch the pumice get tossed out the window on a conveyor belt.  There is no way else to get it out of the building due to the limited space in the pressing room. 

Our pressing area is really just the lower level of a house.   We converted the house into a tasting room above and a cider-making area below.  More to follow on what we’re pressing

Pressing Notes:     New ciders coming

Korzon Orchard

Our own apples on our SBC property are fermenting to make “Korzon Orchard.”  Last year was the off-year for our apples as they are biennial (produce every other year).  This year was a bumper crop.  The limbs were so heavy they pulled some of the trees sideways down to the ground.  The Korzon Orchard is a dry cider with a traditional taste.  It is proving to be very popular, once again, in the tasting room.  This cider is available in bottles to ship.

Redfield Rose

Sourcing apples from the Leelanau Peninsula, Three Barn Farm has supplied us with enough Redfield Apples that we will have a limited supply of “Redfield .”  The Redfield apple has a red flesh which makes a beautiful colored cider.  The cider tastes apple-fruity with a white wine finish.  It will be ready to go as a limited edition starting this winter.

Things to Do in Northern Michigan in the Fall

Things to Do in Northern Michigan in the Fall

Fall is a great time to visit Suttons Bay Ciders! What could be better than sipping cider outside on a crisp autumn day? The answer is surely “nothing”, but if you’re looking to fill out your itinerary a bit more before booking your trip, never fear: there are plenty of wonderful things to do in Northern Michigan in the fall! Here are a few of our favorites.

Check Out the Fall Colors

As the seasons turn in Northern Michigan, so do the leaves. Take a drive along one of the region’s many scenic roadways and admire the rich reds, vibrant oranges, and deep golds of the local forests. Want help planning a route? You can find Traverse City’s official fall color tour guide here.

Visit Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Grand Traverse Lighthouse, located in Leelanau State Park, is another great attraction with something for everyone. Take a tour of the restored keeper’s dwelling, hike the nearby trails, or climb the lighthouse tower for a spectacular view of lovely Lake Michigan.

Spend a Day in Fishtown

Fishtown is a must-see for any Great Lakes history buff. This historical fishing village has been lovingly preserved to honor and celebrate Northern Michigan’s maritime heritage. If you’ve ever wondered about life on the Great Lakes in days gone by, Fishtown is definitely worth a visit.

Join Us for a Drink!

Once you’ve had your fill of sightseeing, come on over to Suttons Bay Ciders. Get yourself a delicious beverage and take some time to relax, enjoy our laid-back atmosphere, and take in the gorgeous autumn scenery. We look forward to seeing you this fall!

Michigan's Cider Coast - Michigan Home and Lifestyle Magazine

12-11-2021

WRITER | MARY ROSE KULCZAK
PHOTO | Bløm

Michigan orchards are the third-largest producer of apples in the country. And where there are apple growers, hard cider makers are nearby, ready to turn the ripe fruit into delicious craft beverages. A perfect climate for apple growing has turned the state’s western side into Michigan’s Cider Coast. Visitors can tour tasting rooms while enjoying spectacular views of the lakes and colorful fall foliage.

Add these cideries to your “must-try” list this fall and try a glass (or a flight) of homegrown cider for an authentic “farm-to-glass” Michigan experience.

Bee Well Meadery and Cider, Bellaire
Brothers Chris and Jeremy Vansice opened their meadery and cidery in 2014. In 2018, they debuted their tasting room, featuring 20 rotating taps of ciders, sodas, and snacks in a family-friendly environment.
BeeWellMeadery.com

Starcut Ciders/Short’s Brewing Company, Bellaire
In 2015, Short’s Brewing Company ventured into hard ciders with popular selections like Octorock, Pulsar, and Mosa. They source many of their apples from their home in Antrim County.
StarcutCiders.com

Townline Ciderworks, Williamsburg
The Altonen family owns and operates the orchards that inspired their hard cider venture. They have created a family-friendly atmosphere with food trucks, music, and a selection of sodas. They offer an award-winning family of ciders on tap as well as cans like Smart Alec, Sweet Elise, Sandra Dee, Big John, and more.
TownlineCiderworks.com

Suttons Bay Ciders, Suttons Bay
The Leelanau Peninsula farm of Mark and Madelyn Korzon is home to their cidery orchards. Popular selections include Highlander, I Spy Ginger, Barrel Rider, and Smitten. Check the website for Friday night musical guests throughout the season.
SuttonsBayCiders.com

Tandem Ciders, Suttons Bay
A few years after discovering cider while on a tandem bike tour of the UK and moving to Michigan from Massachusetts, Dan Young and Nikki Rothwell opened Tandem Ciders in Leelanau County.
 TandemCiders.com

TwoK Farms, Suttons Bay
Brothers George and Max Koskela brought their “farm-to-glass” philosophy of cider making to the region in 2010. In 2018, they opened their tasting room with a patio that overlooks West Grand Traverse Bay. Some of their award-winning ciders include Benjamin, Hopp’d, Sangria, Riesling, and Cille.
 TwoKFarms.com

 Pux Ciders, Conklin
With over 125 apple varieties, Pux Ciders creates unique cider blends, including Pomander, Whippersnapper, Orchard Brut, Rosé, Minty, Ballyhoo, and Pinch.
PuxCider.com

Vander Mill Ciders, Grand Rapids
Paul and Amy VanderHeide opened their cidery in 2006. In 2016, they opened a new production facility and taproom in Grand Rapids, where they serve a selection of food choices and ciders.
VanderMill.com

The Peoples Cider Co., Grand Rapids
Initially a home cider maker, Jason Lümmen turned a hobby into a business, launching The Peoples Cider in 2011.
ThePeoplesCider.com

Farmhaus Ciders, Hudsonville
John and Megan Behrens started their cidery on John’s 150-year-old family farm. Behrens, who is president of the Michigan Cider Association, said the cidery offers a spectrum of styles, from dry to sweet.
FarmhausCider.com

Virtue Cider, Fennville
Gregory Hall brought his 20 years of experience as a Goose Island Beer Company brewmaster to the cider coast in 2011. He founded Virtue Ciders using local heirloom fruit and sustainable farming practices. Popular varieties include Brut, Solar Hop, Pear, and Rose.
VirtueCider.com

Carriage House Ciders, Benton Harbor
Creating small-batch cider for the last 30 years, Paula Camp makes cider that honors her values of authenticity and diversity.
CHCiders.com

Peats Cider Social, Stevensville
Owned and operated in Paw Paw, you can sample Peats Original Cider at their converted retro bowling alley tasting room.
PeatsCider.com

While the coast offers many cideries to choose from, including many that we haven’t shared here, there are also plenty of options for unique ciders in other areas of Michigan to explore.

Blake’s Hard Cider, Armada
The Blake family farm has been in operation for 75 years. Visitors can tour orchards, the cider mill, a tasting room, and a production facility.
BlakeFarms.com

Blöm, Ann Arbor
Located in downtown Ann Arbor, Blöm (pronounced “bloom”) makes what they like to call seasonal session meads and ciders that are light, dry, and carbonated.
DrinkBlom.com

Boss Cider Company, Leslie
This family-owned and -operated cider house makes small batches by hand on-site, with 14 ciders on tap.
BossCider.com

Broken Barrel Hard Cider Company, Ottawa Lake
All of the apples used to make Broken Barrel ciders come from the Bennett family orchard. Guests can also visit the store, where the orchard sells homemade donuts, fritters, cider, and honey.
BennettsOrchard.com

Gitche Gumee Ciderworks, Hancock
Owner Phil Kelm began his Keweenaw Peninsula cidery in 2014, where he uses local products like honey, maple syrup, and wild apples to craft his ciders in French oak fermentation barrels.
GitcheGumeeCiderworks.com

Traverse City Breweries: an Ultimate Guide Six TOP Traverse City Breweries (Don’t Miss) →

T.C. Breweries from Stouts with My Spouse: A Podcasting Couple’s Guide to Traverse City Area Breweries

Stouts with My Spouse is a podcast hosted by Kerry Neville & Patrick Palmateer, exploring craft beer throughout Michigan. We enjoy celebrating businesses small and large throughout the mitten state. Our motto is to take in nature & brews with a smile and to giggle with the people we love most. 

We took an adventure through the Traverse City area, and found a variety of breweries worth exploring.  Craft brewing is alive and well here, and we discovered that while Traverse City beer comes in many styles, they're all worth checking out.  Grand Rapids may be Beer City, but with so many great craft breweries in the area, Traverse City is definitely a runner-up.

The Traverse City area, set on picturesque Grand Traverse Bay, is a true paradise for outdoors-lovers filled with hiking trails, biking trails and miles of Lake Michigan beachfront. In the winter, both downhill and crosscountry skiing bring in visitors eager to partake in outdoor adventures.

This growing city, the county seat of Grand Traverse County, is also a paradise for foodies and craft-beef aficionados. You’ll find farmers markets overflowing with fresh produce and other hand-crafted goodies; Old Mission Peninsula’s wineries; top restaurants and a gourmet food truck or two; and a wide selection of spots offering up the latest craft brew.

In fact, there’s a whole sector of the Traverse City tourism scene focusing on beer tours and wine tours (mixed in with boat tours) dedicated to celebrating another one of northern Michigan’s delights.

Whether you’re looking for brew pub or a brewery tour, you’ll find it in Traverse City.

Here's our take on some don't-miss breweries in the Grand Traverse area, and a list of a few more special spots you'll want to check out.

SUTTONS BAY CIDERS

On a winter’s day, we pulled our truck up a winding driveway to Suttons Bay Ciders. We dodged a very confident chicken in the driveway before we parked. We stepped out of the truck to see the glorious view from the hilltop of Suttons Bay. It feels like a magical place, and it’s kid friendly, too.

Walking up the steps, we saw charming outdoor seating areas and headed toward the entrance perched on the top of the hill. We were struck by the huge window behind the barback. The window displays the same beautiful view of the bay. The rest of the decor is subtle, allowing the view to be the space’s showpiece.

We picked up the Smitten, Highlander, Barrel Rider, and I Spy Ginger. The Smitten was a classic cider, a taste semi-sweet that would appeal to most. The Highlander was made with lavender. The lavender-infused cider provides a savory taste to sip and enjoy. The Highlander was our personal favorite. The Barrel Rider would be a great drink for a bourbon lover who may have a streak of cider skepticism.

The bourbon flavor was subtle and tickled the back of the throat on its way down. The I Spy Ginger is another great choice for those looking for a savory flavor. With the ginger-forward taste, the I Spy drinks like a cocktail. The taste of the ginger was reminiscent of a classic G & T or a Moscow Mule.  

An added bonus is the Hilltop Maple Syrup. We picked a jar up to take home and poured it on our flapjacks and waffles alike. Between the gorgeous view and the variety of hard cider, Suttons Bay Ciders is a fabulous spot in the Traverse City Area.

Summer Of Cider: Cultivating A Hard Cider Fandom In The County →

Summer Of Cider: Cultivating A Hard Cider Fandom In The County

By Craig Manning | May 26, 2021

A brand-new cider production facility in the heart of the peninsula, fresh-for-summer products and a landmark retirement: These are just a few of the big changes coming to Leelanau cideries as an epic tourism season arrives on the county’s doorstep.

Though it’s still considered a niche market in the alcohol world – nowhere near as big as craft beer or hard seltzer, for instance — hard cider is a rapidly growing industry. Recent Nielsen data shows the beverage category grew by 10 times in a decade, with Michigan ranked third in the U.S. behind fellow apple-growers New York and Washington. Gregory Hall — who founded the Fennville, Michigan-based cidery Virtue Cider — predicts that the 2020s will prove to be “the decade of cider.”

If that’s true, then northern Michigan should be well-prepared for the shift. Some Leelanau growers, including Kevin VerSnyder of VerSnyder Orchards in Lake Leelanau are experimenting with hard cider apples that can be produced in modern high-density growing systems. He also is collaborating with researcher Chris Gottschalk from Michigan State University’s Department of Horticulture to grow red-fleshed apple cultivars to introduce red juice to the hard cider industry.

Also bracing for growth is Tandem Ciders in Suttons Bay, which is currently putting the finishing touches on a new 13,000-square-foot building production facility just south of Lakeview Hills Road on County Road 641. Tandem Cider co-founders and cidermakers Dan Young and Nikki Rothwell also put in two varieties of cider apples — Yarlington Mills and Dabinett — on the property.

There aren’t immediate plans to level-up the cidery’s production output — “We ended up spending all our money on our building and not really on equipment,” Young explains — but he does see the expansion as an open door to future scalability.

“We will have a huge amount of room there,” says Young of the production facility, which will not be open to the public. He notes their current production space at Tandem’s tasting room property is 6,000 square feet and significantly cramped — to the point where the team has to play what Young calls “a constant game of Tetris” just to make a batch of cider.

Despite the changes, Young assures Tandem fans the cidery’s off-the-beaten path guest experience won’t change. The tasting room, situated in a rustic white barn on a rural property on Setterbo Road near Suttons Bay, will stay intact. Young notes the property still has plenty of room for expanding outdoor seating, and says it’s generating plenty of sales, strong word-of-mouth, and repeat visitors on its own.

Young’s long-term vision involves growing a robust marketing and distribution strategy throughout the state. Tandem has had a distributor on the west side of the state for several years but has handled southeast Michigan distribution on a DIY basis, taking monthly road trips in a van packed with cider. Recently the cidery signed on with a new distributor that will take over those southeast Michigan operations.

More cider is also the big-picture retirement plan for Madelynn Korzon, who co-owns Suttons Bay Ciders with her husband Mark. The Korzons opened their cidery in 2015, but Madelynn has kept a second career as a Munson nurse for the duration. She officially retired from nursing this month, and while she says she loved her job — and has even offered Munson to “come back once in a while,” particularly in the winter if the hospital is short-staffed — she’s looking forward to devoting more of her time and energy to all things cider.

“It was a good run, and I enjoyed my time at Munson, but I was spread a little thin and now I'm feeling much better," Korzon admits.

Last year, as COVID-19 shutdowns caused several “key employees” to leave, Korzon’s workload at the cidery increased, signaling to her that it was time to finalize a retirement date. Now in the midst of what she calls her “working retirement,” she’s thinking about new products, events, and offerings to grow the Suttons Bay Ciders brand.

“I’m loving delving into the business and doing more,” she says. “I plan on being able to make the cidery even better and more far-reaching. Now that I have more time, I can research stuff, I can try new products. I’m making apple cider vinegar, even as we speak. That’s our newest product that’s coming out.”

Other new products on the way: maple syrup and potential new cider varieties. In addition, Korzon says the cidery is creating more reasons to stop and taste the cider: a full summer season of outdoor events, including a Friday night live music series, monthly full moon events, a summer solstice party, and a potential fireworks viewing party from the cidery’s perch overlooking West Bay on the Fourth of July.  

Also bringing hard cider fans to the county is Two K Farms Cidery & Winery in Suttons Bay, which is rolling out new summer-ready drinks in time for the hot months, including “mimosa flights,” which combine several of Two K’s cider varieties with its house-made bubbly Riesling wine, and “cider slushees,” frozen versions of its flagship New World cider.

https://www.leelanauticker.com/news/cultivating-a-hard-cider-fandom-in-the-county/

My North.com article

https://mynorth.com/2021/06/sip-like-a-local-leelanau-wineries-breweries-cideries/

Leelanau is known as “The Land of Delight,” so you might imagine that when the ingredients are Leelanau-grown and the bottles are poured in the Leelanau countryside, the region’s wine, beer, hard cider and spirits taste, well, delightful. Dive in to learn how to sip like a local!

Grab Dinner, a Brew & Market Goodies from Farm Club

New to the peninsula, Farm Club opened in July 2020. The farm/market/restaurant/brewery is a collaboration between Allison and Gary Jonas of Traverse City’s Little Fleet and Sara and Nic Thiesen of Leelanau’s Loma Farm. With a farm-fresh menu, nuanced, lower-ABV beers and easy access to the Leelanau Trail, it’s become a destination for all ages.

Explore 32 Wineries on Leelanau Peninsula

For the 21-plus club, it’s only fitting when visiting Leelanau, set as it is on the 45th Parallel (the same parallel as France’s Bordeaux and Côtes du Rhône regions and the Piedmont region of Italy), that your trip includes a stop at one of this peninsula’s 32 wineries and tasting rooms with their watery views and gorgeous settings. But this American Viticultural Area (AVA) is more than just a pretty face. Grapes thrive in this microclimate buffered from frosts and debilitating heat by Lake Michigan and inland lakes. The complex soil—a tapestry of clay, sand and glacial till—creates complex flavors that a handful of talented winemakers are turning into national and international award-winning wines. From the light, stone fruit sweetness of a riesling to the elegant notes of a pinot noir, Leelanau’s wines are world-class.

Go Wine Hopping with Tips from the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail

The Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail (the marketing organization for the wineries) makes it simple to plot your route by mapping the wineries into three loops: Sleeping Bear, Northern and Grand Traverse Bay. The organization’s website, lpwines.com, keeps you up to date on fun events happening in wine country and has extensive information about chauffeured tours (DDs being so important!), weddings and other group events at the wineries.

Visit These Three Leelanau Peninsula Cideries

Where grapes flourish, so do apples, and Leelanau is lucky to have three rustic cideries, all located in Suttons Bay, where you can sip hard cider surrounded by orchards. Nikki and Dan Rothwell opened Tandem Ciders a decade ago after having a cider epiphany on a bicycle tour of Southern England. Since then, two more cideries, Suttons Bay Ciders and Two K Farms, have grown up on the peninsula, using both heritage apple varieties and agricultural newcomers like the Honeycrisp to produce a range of bone dry to satisfyingly sweet beverages. Many of the wineries also produce cider, so it’s easy to get your apple fix.

Leelanau Breweries & Northern Michigan Taverns

And there’s not a town on the Leelanau Peninsula that doesn’t have at least one Up North-style tavern with an array of taps and an ice-cold glass waiting for you. The past decade has also brought a handful of breweries, including Hop Lot Brewing Co. in Suttons Bay, The Mitten Brewing Co. in Northport and Cherry Republic Brewing Co. in Glen Arbor. At Hop Lot, the Lutke family has created a welcoming hangout inside the taproom and out—but the four-season beer garden really takes the cake with fire pits, a stage for live music and plenty of room to spread out. And Cherry Republic Brewing Co. has the very cherry bonus of being located at the original Cherry Republic campus with its cheerful gardens, pit-spitting arena and lots of goodies for not-yet-21 visitors.

Local Leelanau Distilleries to Keep You in Good Spirits

When you’re in need of good spirits, you’ll find them aplenty at Northern Latitudes Distillery in Lake Leelanau, where the vibe is always relaxed, and glasses are full. Founders and owners Mark and Mandy Moseler craft vodkas, gins, rums, liqueurs and bourbon whiskey with Leelanau water, cherries and saskatoon berries, and you bet the corn, malt, barley and sugar beets are Michigan-grown, too. In nearby Leland, you’ll also want to check out the Traverse City-based spirits at Grand Traverse Distillery’s intimate tasting room with its old-timey bar ambiance (open seasonally; find hours online).