Crispin Hard Cider Company
Subsidiary | |
Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
Founded | 2004 |
Founder | Joe and Lesley Heron |
Headquarters | Chicago, IL, United States |
Products | Hard ciders |
Production output | 6 million bottles (2010)[1] |
Revenue | $5 million (2010)[1] |
Parent | MillerCoors |
Divisions | Fox Barrel Cider |
Website |
www |
Crispin Cider is a hard apple cider company based at and produced in Colfax, California. Imported ciders are produced in Tiverton, Devon, England.
Crispin was formerly located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company acquired Fox Barrel Cider in 2010. The purchase included its cidery in Colfax where the company is now headquartered. In early 2011, Crispin began importing a dry English cider, Browns Lane (named after the original Jaguar factory in Coventry), from England. In 2012, Crispin was acquired by MillerCoors.[2] The founders of Crispin went on to open Copper & Kings American Brandy in 2014.
Ingredients
Sourcing apples from the Pacific Northwest, Crispin uses fresh pressed, unpasteurized pure apple juice, and does not have preservatives or added malt, distilled spirit, or grape alcohol.[1] Three to five apple varieties are used in their main line, mainly Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Washington. A number of ciders are finished with a specialty sweetener or produced with a particular strain of yeast. All ciders are certified as gluten-free.[3]
Their English cider, Browns Lane, is made with traditional English bittersweet cider apples that are sourced in the Malvern Hills of Worcestershire. It is also gluten-free.
Varieties
12oz Bottle Products
Blue Line ciders are sold in four packs of 12 ounce bottles.
- Original
- Brut
- Pacific Pear
- Blackberry Pear
22oz Bottle Products
- The Saint
- Honey Crisp
- Annual Barrel Aged
Kegs Products 1/6th & 1/2 BBL
- Original
- Pacific Pear
- Blackberry Pear
16oz Can Products
- Original
- Browns Lane
Imports
- Browns Lane: Imported English dry hard cider (British racing green label, 16 ounce can)
Artisanal Reserves
All of the Artisanals are unfiltered ciders produced using various yeasts and are packaged in 22 ounce bottles.
- Honey Crisp: Made with organic honey (yellow label)
- The Saint: Made with Belgian Trappist yeast and organic maple syrup (red label)
Limited Release
- Bare Naked: Totally organic cider
- Light: America's first light hard apple cider
- Bird on a Wire: Blended using four unique apple-wines and tupelo honey aged in both rye and bourbon whiskey barrels and fermented with Irish stout yeast, Belgian Trappist yeast, Sake yeast and the original Colfax Classic yeast
- Bonnie & Clyde: Unfiltered cider from heirloom apple wine, aged in Chardonnay oak barrels
- Cho-tokkyu: Made with sake yeast and organic rice syrup (white label)
- Lansdowne: Made with Irish stout yeast and organic molasses (black label)
- Br'er Rabbit: Unfiltered cider with rhubarb and elderberry, aged in Merlot barrels
- Cream Cider: Nitrogenated cider
- Four Musketeers: Aged in Merlot (Aramis), Zinfandel (Porthos), Pinot noir (d'Artagnan), and Cabernet Sauvignon (Athos) barrels
- Desert Noir: Very hard cider with agave syrup and a small amount of prickly pear, aged in oak barrels
- The Jacket: Blended cloudy hard cider, aged in Tennessee whiskey casks
- Joan of Arc: Cider aged in sauvignon blanc barrels
- Prepare To Die: Aged in red wine barrels and made with killer bee honey and blood oranges
- Stagger Lee: Unfiltered, blended hard cider, aged in rye whiskey barrels.
- Steel Town: cider aged in 5 casks (sherry, port, syrah, rye, and bourbon)
- The Union: Equal amounts of apple and pear juices using authentic French Champagne yeast with organic honey and rose water.
Awards
- Bronze Winner at Great Lakes Regional Cider & Perry Competition (The Saint)
- Silver Medal Winner at Great Lakes Regional Cider & Perry Competition (Crispin Light)
- Bronze Medal Winner at Great Lakes Regional Cider & Perry Competition (Crispin Original)
- Bronze Medal Winner at Great Lakes Regional Cider & Perry Competition (Crispin Brut)
- Silver Medal Winner at Arizona Beer Competition (The Saint)
- Bronze Medal Winner at California State Fair (Crispin Light)
- Bronze Medal Winner at California State Fair (Crispin Honey Crisp)
- Silver Medal Winner at California State Fair (Crispin Original)
- Silver Medal Winner at California State Fair (Crispin Brut)
References
- 1 2 3 Gorvin, Sarah "Start-up Crispin Cider aims to capture biggest slice of hard cider business", 'Star Tribune, June 14, 2010.
- ↑ MillerCoors buys Crispin, Mpls. maker of hard cider
- ↑ Norton, James "In their own words: Joe Heron of Crispin Cider", 'Heavy Table, May 8, 2009.
External links
- Official website
- The Dogfish Head of Hard Cider, Chow.com
- Start-up Crispin Cider aims to capture biggest slice of hard cider business, Star Tribune
- Joe Heron of Crispin Cider, Heavy Table