You know that feeling when you have a really cool idea and someone calls it crazy, but it just makes you want it more?
That’s kind of our whole thing.
Heres our story.
college thoughts in 2006:
majoring in accounting leaves a lot to be desired in terms of creativity.
Back in 2006, we were fledgling little rebels who needed a creative outlet - and liked to drink - so we turned to making cider in our parents’ garages.
What started as just a hobby we shared with our circle of friends, soon blossomed into a full-fledged passion. We became crazy cider people, and we loved that.
2013: john meets megan. John woos megan with cider.
John has a birthday. Megan plans a cidery tour to celebrate.
This would have unexpected consequences.
Several stops and many ciders deep into the tour, John triumphantly announced that he was going to to start his own cidery. No one took this seriously. If they had, they’d have surely tried to talk him out of it.
The next morning, Megan woke up expecting a lazy brunch with John. Instead, she had a text to check her email from 4 AM. John had already sent over the business filings.
one week later
John brings the gang to an abandoned barn in the woods.
This property and its buildings had been in John’s family since his great-great grandparents immigrated from Germany over 150 years ago. They even had a small orchard and made their own cider.
While it certainly had a lot of personal significance and charm, it was still an abandoned barn in the woods. There was just no way this could work, they thought. This is when they started calling him crazy.
But John can be very convincing when he’s convinced. He didn’t know exactly what he was in for, but he figured they could figure it out.
One big catch
The only way this was going to happen was if we built it ourselves.
The amount it would cost to hire a contractor would shoot this undertaking into impossible land. So, while working full-time day jobs to fund this thing, and with tons of help from the saints that are our family and friends, we got our hands dirty rebuilding the barn.
several trips to the emergency room, countless all nighters and miles of red tape later
It finally happened.
The little barn that had 100 years ago stored farm implements pulled by horses, then tractors, then was converted to a car repair shop, was reborn yet again - into a cidery.
The address was not listed anywhere and we had no signage. There was no tap room or even bathrooms. We just had that little red barn, tucked in the woods, filled with damn good cider.
Much to our surprise, people started showing up. First a handful here and there. Then they brought their friends, and their friends brought their friends, and before we knew it, we had… fans?
more of a warning than an inspiration:
if you build it, they will come.
This was moving way faster than we had ever dreamed. This crazy idea, all of those long hot days working on the barn, all of those years in the garage - it was paying off. People loved what we were creating here, and it pushed us to keep creating more.
So, we began canning, we made a website, we built an actual taproom, we expanded our facility, and we started distributing like crazy. It was exhausting and stressful and the most exciting, validating thing in the world.
at this point we were in way over our heads
and wait, we won what?
Turns out, in the midst of all of our efforts to keep up with demand, we won the peoples choice for #1 cidery at the world's largest cider festival. Something we didn’t even know we were competing for. Then we won it again, and again, and again. 4 years in a row.
Demand skyrocketed and we tried to keep up, but there was no keeping up with this. The more people tasted, the less sleep we got.
We needed more help.
Rather than hire based on experience, we hired based on passion.
After all, we were just a couple of accountants. We had a nurse and long time friend who had been helping us in his free time since the beginning. We had a chemist, who’s long time hobby turned passion was making cider at home. And an advertising student and bagel maker, who blew our socks off with how good she was at pretty much everything as our intern. Our team has grown and changed over time, but our passion for great cider will never change.
Throughout this process there has been one constant:
a thirst for change and ambition for better.
Embracing the challenges, breaking the rules, and proving to the world that its possible to do things your way. You just have to be crazy enough to try.
Meet the Team
john
founder & president
President, Michigan Cider Association
Midwest Chair, American Cider Association
President, Hudsonville Chamber of Commerce
Megan
co-owner
