Locally brewed spirits, meads and wines take center stage at West End Cider House
There’s a new patio in town.
The West End Ciderhouse, 234 W. Washington St., opened on May 21 and co-owners Kelly Sauber and Deanna Schwartz are hoping for it to be an upscale bar suited for all ages.
“We were looking at a way to bring our whole philosophy of the distilled spirits into Athens,” Sauber said. “Cider is a perfect fermentable to bring into Athens.”
The inside bar has a cozy atmosphere and a patio outside allows for additional customers.
Sauber, who was born and raised in Athens, has been professionally fermenting since 1996 and is the owner of Fifth Element Spirits located in Shade, Ohio. While the distillery produces spirits ranging from vodka to spicebush gin, the ciderhouse is taking on a whole different kind of beverage.
Currently, the bar sells four different alcoholic drinks that Sauber brews in-house: a dry apple cider, a semi-sweet cider, a sparkling raspberry mead and a ginger lemon wine — all which sell for $6 a pint.
Sauber makes a batch of cider per week, which produces 110 gallons of the drink. He uses roughly 50 bushels of apples a batch — or 2,100 lbs. of the fruit.
The process to make cider begins with crushing the apples, which turns them into the consistency of applesauce. Then, they go to the press to squeeze the juice out. Yeast is added to the juice and the reaction turns it alcoholic.
“The initial fermentation can take up to two weeks,” Sauber said. “But beyond that, the longer a cider ages, the better the apple cider becomes. Right now, we’re drinking ciders we made in October.”
Other local drinks served come from Wolf Tree and Shade Wineries, a variety of beers out of Columbus, and Fifth Element Spirits products.
All of this feeds into the Ciderhouse’s philosophy of using local products. Sauber gets ingredients for the drinks from Cherry Orchard in Stockport, Hirsch Fruit Farm in Chillicothe, Circle Bee Apiary in Chillicothe and Creekside Farm in Athens.
“We’re focusing on getting products from farmers in the area. We’re more about the quality over the quantity,” Schwartz said. “It cost a little more, but that’s because we take the time to engage with the producers in our area.”
The bar doesn’t have a full kitchen, but it does have a prep area, where the staff arranges different locally produced items which include cheese and crackers from Integration Acres, dried and cured meats from Athens’ Own, Becky Jean’s kettle corn, Bangbough Bakery pretzel chips, O’Chocolate chocolates and cheeses from Laurel Valley Creamery.
In addition, Schwartz attends the Athens Farmers Market each Saturday to pick up different seasonal products to sell that week.
“We’re foodies and we’re trying to think sustainably,” Schwartz said. “My goal is to keep trying to bring in interesting products for people to try that you won’t expect to get just anywhere in town.”
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