Another Pa. apple farm joins the growing cider trend
Just as some Pennsylvania dairy farms have recently begun to diversify and devote some of their fresh milk to the aging craft of artisan cheese, many of the state's apple farms have begun turning some of their fruit into hard cider.
One of the oldest apple families in Adams County, the Wenks of Three Springs Fruit Farm in Wenksville (technically Aspers), is the latest to join the local cider bandwagon, which has seen nearly 40 producers come on line in the state within the past five years.
Seventh-generation farmer Ben Wenk, 33, his father, Dave, and uncle John, have taken a decidedly natural approach to their recently debuted Ploughman Farm Cider line, which is pressed entirely from estate-grown fruit.
Their first product, Stark, is a startlingly bone dry alternative to sweeter commercial brands on the market, but it's also intensely fragrant of the orchard, its straw pale juice aromatic with apple blossoms on the nose, then crisp and pithy on the palate - a pure representation of its Stayman and Esopus Spitzenburg heirloom apples.
At 8.5-percent alcohol, it's a sturdy foil for rich foods, such as the Prairie Breeze Iowa cheddar Aimee Olexy that pairs it with at Talula's Garden (where it sells for $22 a bottle). At Aldine, Jennifer Sabatino blends it with Lancaster's Thistle Finch white rye and lemon zest for a cocktail called Pennsyl-tucky ($14).
For straight-on sipping, though, I'm partial to Ploughman's newest creation, Lupulin Lummox, which infuses a slightly sweeter blend of juicy Gold Rush and Jonagold with Citra hops, a citrus-bright bitter note that lifts the cider's natural floral notes upward - and also appeals to the beer-drinking cross-over crowd. It's good enough that little convincing will be necessary. The new cider-centric restaurant Cinder expects to pour Lupulin on draft at its upcoming Cider Bowl on Jan. 29, beginning at noon.
- Craig LaBan
Ploughman Farm Ciders, $15 a 750 ml bottle at Three Spring Fruit Farm farm market stands (see ploughmancider.com for info on next Fitler Square and Clark Park dates plus restaurant outlets). Next event: Winter Fare market ( 1227 N. 4th St.), Sat. Jan. 28, 10 a.m.