I added a picture of the tanks to my pics area  bn

.. I am the biggest loser for not updating this more. I am going to try and do better. What has happened since the last time we talked.

We spent the summer at festivals hanging out with some of the best people on the west coast. I wish that my whole job could be hanging out with craft cider and beer enthusiasts. A great group of people.

We also won a few awards over the summer, sweeping the state fair, which is always nice.

We got 15,000 gallons of fermentation tanks in, which will help us keep that new bottling line busy.  I will post a picture of the new tanks soon.

We've maintained the tasting room.  The number of visitors is starting to go up. We still need you to stop by though!

Some good topics for blogs that I'll write over the next week or so.  Now I have to go enjoy Labor Day Weekend.  I'll be up in Sonoma County.  I'm stopping by the Ace in the Hole Pub for a pint of Wild Card on Saturday. Maybe I'll see you there.

Quick question.  Where is a cool off the beaten path place for a weekend trip.  My 10th anaversary is next weekend and I have to figure something out soon.....

We saw our new bottling line in action for the first time this week. After three months of work, it was great to see bottles march their way through the system without several employees helping. 

A little background.  For the past two and a half years or so, we have been bottling on a pair of small bottlers.  Coming into 2008 they were getting in the way of our ability to keep expanding sales and hence had to go.  We looked at several intermediate steps, but finally decided we would be best served by really stepping up and creating capacity for us to grow. The new system is fully automated and has about 6 times the capacity of the old system. 

As with any new system, we will have to work through a few challenges, however we can't wait to see the results over the next few months.

A few places where you may notice differences are:

Caps: They will have a tighter crimp with the new system.  Over the next few months, they will likely become twist off as well.

Labels: Our new labeler has many more capabilities than the old one.  We may do some special releases with front/back labels and may play with a neck label. You will also now see date stamping on the bottles which will help our retail partners maintain proper stock rotation.

I'll keep you posted on the system as it continues to evolve.

On a seperate note, a special congratulations to Brian and Lisa Ford on the one year aniversary of the Auburn Ale House.  A great place to eat and drink in the foothills.

Cheers!

    Great news on our tasting room. We just got our approval from the city to open.  Our plan is to Have a big grand opening party on May 17th. Please let me know if you can make it. We should have some music, a bunch of good friends, and, oh yeah, some great cider.

Cheers!

I really like the new daylight savings time system.  It gives us much more summer to work with.  Later days means more time to play.  This spring is shaping up to be a grinder at Fox Barrel.  We have just taken on three new states (soon to be four or five) and we have some very important areas to develop here in California.  The only way to effectively create market that we've found is to go meet the people that are involved in the market.  My travel schedule over the next few months is going to be crazy.  It's also time to start thinking about festivals.  Our first of the year is coming up. Check out our web site for the complete listing.  If there is an event in your area that we should be at, drop us a line and let us know.

With any luck by May we will have a new bottler, new tanks, new tap handle and a couple of new states to expand our product base. 

I can't wait.

Cheers!

This growing up thing is really becoming fun.  We just received two new tanks that will double our fermentation capacity.  Based on recent orders, I think we will need the extra space.  Thanks for all the support.  We will work our hardest to keep putting out the best cider we can make.  We will have a couple new products in the market a little later this year, so keep your eye's peeled. 

Cheers!

Tis the season to buy cider evidently!  On Monday, we will ship out over 950 cases to customers in California, Oregon and Washington.  It is our single largest shipping day ever.  All you folks who work for Sierra Nevada can please stop your laughing. We all have to start somewhere.  I'll take a picture of the staged orders and post it in my pictures. 

Congratulations are in order to Eric Nordby on the birth of his beautiful baby girl.  Everyone is healthy and doing fine.  Eric, your world is about to spin on a different axis for a while.

On September 23rd, the slow food group of Placer County will be hosting an event at the cidery from 3-5pm.  There will be local, well made, food and cider.  We will also do a tour for the folks that come.  Tickets for the event are $15.00 and should be purchased in advance.  For more information, give us a call at the cidery at 530.346.9699 or leave a comment and we will get back to you.

Cheers!

Bruce

Great news.  As of Monday, the Beverages and More chain is now authorized to have our Black Currant six packs.  I realize that Black Currant has been a little hard to find, but now we have a solid chain placement that should make it a bit easier.  It will be great to have a place to send the tasters at the brew fests. 

Not bad for a "Up Start" company!

Great news.  We can now enjoy cider from taps at Fox Barrel Cider Company.  After a good year, our tasting room is now fully functional.  If you would like to come by for a tour and to taste some of our ciders, give us a call at 530.346.9699.  We'd love to meet you.