Before consuming a can of hard cider from Downeast Cider House, you have to commit a cardinal sin in beer: shake the can.
To do so is the best way to consume Downeast’s “unfiltered” offerings, according to the upside-down paragraph on every can label, – included because “to read [it], you’re already halfway there” in shaking up your drink – and fortunately will not result in a cider explosion when opening (just give the drink about 10 seconds to rest, the label recommends).
Downeast launched in 2011 with the intent to create hard cider “with all the good stuff left in,” and has averaged double-digit growth nearly every year since, according to COO Max Keilson. In 2021, the company produced 71,000 barrels, and is on track this year to produce 94,000 barrels.
“As you can see, we’re running out of space,” Keilson told Brewbound during a visit to the company’s East Boston production facility, warehouse and taproom.
Downeast moved to the 16,000 sq. ft. facility at Boston Harbor Shipyard in 2016, after outgrowing its Charlestown, Massachusetts, location, where it maxed out at 20,000 barrels of annual production. Now the space is filled in each corner, floor-to-ceiling, with cans and nearly a dozen different kinds of packaged cider offerings.
“We need a bigger space, there’s no question,” Keilson said. “We likely won’t move this year, but this is likely the year we make some crucial decisions about what the next step will be.”
Downeast’s sales are primarily in New England, with some accounts in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Colorado and California.
“We always want to focus on our sales base, which is the Northeast,” Keilson said. “But we want to build that out even more.”
Nearly two-thirds (60%) of Downeast’s 2021 sales were in the off-premise channel. About 18% of the company’s total sales came from two variety 9-packs: Mix Pack I and Mix Pack II. In March, the company launched Mix Pack III – alternatively named the “Berry Pack,” with Strawberry, Blueberry and Raspberry Hard Cider – which has been “doing really well” since its launch, according to Keilson.
Last summer, the cider house opened an outdoor popup bar by the pier next to its main facility. Its indoor taproom is open year-round, Thursday-Sunday, offering small-batch flights.
To maintain growth, Downeast will continue down the path of innovation that it has focused on over the past two years, making sure to keep the Downeast consumer in mind, Keilson said. It’s a task that Downeast hasn’t always been able to achieve, he admitted, pointing to the company’s White Hard Cider offering.
White (5.3% ABV) was created to compete with Belgian-style witbiers, with orange peel, lemon peel and cracked coriander, Keilson said. The offering first launched in cans in May 2019, and is included in Mix Pack I with Original Blend (5.1% ABV) and Double Blend (7.3% ABV).
Although the offering did OK at launch, it wasn’t what Downeast expected, and is slowly being filtered out of production this year, with the exception of the variety pack.
“We always thought our customers were like us; drinking a couple seltzers mixed in with their favorite beer,” Keilson said. “Turns out we were wrong.”
In a consumer survey after the launch, Downeast found that the majority of its consumers were between 21-29, and skewed more female. The company decided to pivot, and explore offerings that were more popular with that consumer base.
In 2021, Downeast launched Hard Iced Tea (5% ABV) and Hard Lemonade (5% ABV) as limited summer offerings. The hard lemonade was a success, and will return this year as a “big bet” for the company’s 2022.
“A lot of the competitors in the space are over-sweet,” Keilson said. “Ours is about 18% less [sweet] and has that fresh flavor that we have with all our ciders.”
The company also offered Extra Hard Lemonade, an 8% ABV taproom-exclusive offering, which “scratches that itch for a higher ABV,” Keilson said.
In April, the company launched its first ready-to-drink canned cocktail (RTD): Downeast Vodka Soda. The 4.5%-ABV, spirit-based RTD is available in four flavors – Lime, Pineapple, Grapefruit and Black Cherry – in a slim-can, variety 8-packs. The offering is available throughout Downeast’s existing Northeast network, as well as its taproom, with expanded distribution planned “depending on demand.”
“Taxes are very high on RTDs, so they are more expensive to the consumer on a per-ounce basis,” Keilson explained. “We wanted to offer a competitive price to the consumer, so using an 8-pack allows us to hit a better shelf price than a 12-pack, which would likely have to be about $25-plus on the shelf.”
Downeast had debated launching an offering within the hard seltzer segment in the past, but hadn’t found something they were completely satisfied with.
“Then High Noon was having a moment,” Keilson said, referring to E. & J. Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips.
At first, the company explored creating a vodka-based RTD with unfiltered juice, staying true to the “unfiltered” messaging that populates all its cans, packaging and even work uniforms.
“I mean, it says it right here,” Keilson said, pointing to “unfiltered” embroidered on his branded vest. “But we found, with the vodka, they just taste better with filtered juices.”
As a result, none of Downeast’s usual “unfiltered” branding is on the RTD packaging.
Although Keilson said the ciderhouse does not have plans at this time to launch other RTDs “such as Old Fashioneds or margaritas,” they have discussed other vodka-based offerings.
Finally, Keilson provided some comments on the recent news from Willie’s Superbrew, the Boston-based hard seltzer company that reportedly cut at least 13 employees and was considering selling.
Downeast, which contract-brews for Willie’s, was named as a possible acquirer of the company.
Although Keilson declined to comment on those rumors, he said the Downeast team was sad to see some of Willie’s team go, as they worked closely together. He added that in a recent conversation with Willie’s co-founder Nico Enriquez, he showed optimism for production to continue “as scheduled.”