Moon Hill, Red Apple Farm cidery has been brewing for a while

PHILLIPSTON – About a decade ago, an apple farmer and a beer brewer met in a cellar to make a small batch of hard cider, a story that does not conclude with the opening of a cidery. It ends there, as a one-time experiment.

Al Rose, the farmer, and Rick Walton, the brewer, had other businesses to manage. Mr. Rose’s time was consumed with Red Apple Farm, his sprawling orchard here, growing the business and devising ways to keep it relevant. And Mr. Walton’s brewpub, the Gardner Ale House, then only three years old, demanded more and more of his attention as its popularity grew.

This year, though, when the longtime friends and neighbors got together again to discuss plans for a summer taproom at Red Apple Farm, Mr. Rose and Mr. Walton found themselves laying the groundwork for that cidery they’ve always wanted to start.

“We’re focused on getting licensed up for a hard cidery,” said Mr. Walton, who now distributes his beer as Moon Hill Brewing Co., in a recent phone interview.

Mr. Rose and Mr. Walton said they have had regular meetings on the cidery, but still haven’t decided on where or when it will open. They hope to have it up and running by next summer, though.

Mr. Rose, a third-generation farmer who took over the business in 2001, said his father, Bill, has always pushed him to get into hard cider.

“My dad’s big plan was for me to go to France and make hard cider,” Mr. Rose said, adding that his father has a collection of more than 200 old hard cider bottles. “If he had it his way, we would have been making hard cider quite a few years ago. That’s not the path I took, but I always wanted to do it.”

The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources has said locally made hard cider is undergoing a renaissance. More than a dozen hard cider companies operate in the state, including two in Central Massachusetts: Ragged Hill Cider in West Brookfield and Stormalong Cider in Leominster.

Mr. Rose and Mr. Walton are shooting for November or December to begin the licensing process for their hard cider company. They will need to apply for a farmer winery license from the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Commission.

Meanwhile, the two will stay busy this summer with their new project, the Brew Barn, a popup taproom opening June 22 at Red Apple Farm. Mr. Rose and Mr. Walton have set up the farm’s post-and-beam Country Barn, which often hosts weddings, to resemble a German brew hall, with long tables and a white oak bar. Outside, there will be picnic tables and lawn games, as well as a hay wagon stage for music.

The Brew Barn will serve eight Moon Hill beers, Mr. Walton said, in pints, half-pints and flights. And as a preview of their collaboration on the cidery, Mr. Rose and Mr. Walton teamed up to brew an apple ale that they will infuse with other fruits such as blueberries and peaches.

“We’re doing it purely for the love of apples,” Mr. Walton said of the new ale. “Apple juice is fermented along with the barely and malts.”

The taproom will offer food inside, like roasted nuts and apple dumplings, and outside with a barbecue serving pulled pork, burgers and turkey legs.

“This is what people are begging for,” Mr. Walton said. “All over you’re seeing pop up breweries and taprooms. Here we are out in Central Massachusetts, and we’re doing it too. And boy do we have a beautiful venue for it.”

The Brew Barn will be open June 22, through Aug. 12 at Red Apple Farm, 455 Highland Ave.: Fridays from 3 to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 12 to 8 p.m., and Sundays from 12 to 7 p.m.