Hop & Spicy Cider, Cake-Flavored Rum, and Avoiding Blueberry Face Punches with Greg Hill of Urban Orchard Cider

Greg Hill is a Certified Cicerone and the Production Director at Urban Orchard Cider, a family-owned and operated craft cider producer based in Asheville, NC. Since it’s launch in 2015 at the Craft Beer Rising event, the company has gained multiple awards and recognition including taking First Place as the Best Place to Drink Cider in America in 2017 by Food & Wine Magazine. In addition to crafting some of the best tasting cider in the country, the company frequently holds events at their West Asheville and new South Slope locations.

Greg joins me today to discuss Urban Orchard’s newest location and the type of cider beverages they currently have on tap. We discuss their unique dry ciders and their process for using different yeast varieties to achieve various flavor profiles unattainable by other cider producers. We also discuss their carbonation process and how they achieve their champagne-like bubbles, as well as their new flavors such as the blueberry-flavored Blue Monday and jalapeno-infused Hopaleno.

This week on Consuming the Craft:

●     Urban Orchard’s newest location and the variety of beverages currently on tap.

●     How they make their blueberry lager.

●     Their unique dry ciders and how they use different varieties of yeast to achieve different flavor profiles.

●     What is flocculation?

●     Their carbonation process and how they achieve champagne-like bubbles.

●     Why he enjoys teaching at CBI.

●     New flavors the Urban Orchard Cider is currently working on.