After a decade in business, Stormalong Cider is finally creating the taproom of its dreams and that its fans have been requesting.
The Massachusetts-based craft cider company operates in two spaces: an office and small retail space in Sherburne and a production facility in Leominster. By the end of the year, the company plans to move into an all-encompassing facility in Millis that will house production and a tasting room.
“We had thought about wanting to build a facility on an orchard and we had gone down that road and we just ran into some complications,” Stormalong founder and CEO Shannon Edgar told Brewbound. “It might have been a little bit too grandiose plan, relative to what was reality. And the exact amount of liquid that we make per year on an orchard setting was maybe not the best.”
Having a Stormalong headquarters is vital to the cidery’s mission of increasing consumer education on the diversity of hard ciders and the capabilities of apples – something that the U.S. market is just scratching the surface on, according to Edgar.
“We do a lot of farmers markets and other experiential events, but this is a great opportunity to really get people to taste things and show them what cider can do and what apples can be,” Edgar said.
Stormalong was founded in 2014 with the mission to “respect the apple,” and still operates with that motto. The company does not use juice from concentrate, committing only to products made with “100% whole ingredients,” and preaching the need to talk about apples and cider’s connection to agriculture, “rather than talking about ABV.” That message is something Edgar plans to emphasize in his efforts at the American Cider Association (ACA), following his election to the trade group’s board of directors earlier this year.
“If you’re just talking about ABV and how much alcohol, then we’re just a commodity,” Edgar said. “And then it’s really tricky to differentiate ourselves.”
The company plans to have a small apple press onsite at the Millis location to show the variety apple juice alone can have, with on-the-spot demonstrations pressing numerous apple varieties.
“We’re trying to drive people’s attention to apples, trying to make people love apples like we love apples,” Edgar said. “We taste it every day when we’re making it, but it’s hard to describe the beautiful acidity and the flavors and the tropical notes and all those things. The beer brewers do it with smelling hops and stuff – juice has such a great range, so we’d love to be able to do that more, and just really be able to show people everything.”
The commitment is vital to the cider segment, which still faces the hurdle of general consumer misconceptions, Edgar said.
“It’s always been a little bit of an ignored category,” he said. “You had this moment where big beer got in around ’12 and ’13, and then they got out just as fast as they got in.
“That really was great for the category because it allowed us regional, more crafty places to capture 55% of the market at this point, and then we’re the ones driving that conversation,” he continued.
Hard cider dollar sales growth outpaced the overall beer category in 2023, increasing dollar sales +1.9% in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels, 3 Tier Beverages consultant Mary Mills’ shared last month during CiderCon. In a five-year period, regional ciders increased their share of the segment’s dollar sales from 33% in 2018, to 55% in 2023.
Stormalong was one of the top 20 growth brands within cider in 2023, according to Mills. The company increased total dollar sales around +14%, and volume about +15% last year, Edgar said. Some of the company’s markets recorded even larger dollar sales gains, including New Hampshire (+30%) and Connecticut (+32%).
The company’s ciders are now available across nearly all of New England, as well as Chicago and New York (both added in fall 2023). Later this year, the company will return to Vermont – a market it entered briefly in 2017 – finishing out the region.
Stormalong’s portfolio is led by its flagship, Legendary Dry, a “crisp” and “champagne-like” 6.5% ABV dry cider that is “an American take” on traditional British cider. The brand accounts for about 20% of Stormalong’s total business, and increased dollar sales +2.6% in 2023 in NIQ-tracked off-premise, according to the market research firm.
Legendary Dry serves as a “gateway” into the hard cider segment for many beer consumers, letting Stormalong show the capabilities of hard cider, similar to many 750 mL bottled hard ciders, but in a package format that beer consumers are used to. It also helps break many consumers’ misconceptions and “bad experiences” from trying national brands, according to Edgar.
“Legendary Dry for us was that sort of gateway drug into saying, ‘Hey, that 750 mL is amazing, and you should buy that, but if you’re not going to buy that 750 mL, why don’t you try the 16 oz. can of Legendary Dry,’ because it’s a similar deal, and at least that gets you in,” Edgar said.
Nipping at Legendary Dry’s heels is Stormalong’s No. 2 offering Mass Appeal, a 5.5% ABV semi-sweet cider made with Golden Delicious and McIntosh apples, and No. 3 offering Unfiltered, a 4.5% ABV unfiltered cider “reminiscent of classic farmstand fresh apple cider.” The two offerings each account for about 17% of Stormalong’s total business.
The three offerings continue to be a priority for Stormalong in 2024. The company will also launch a de-alcoholized version of Mass Appeal this year. The non-alcoholic (NA) offering will be available in single-serve 19.2 oz. cans to encourage consumer trials.
“There’s not enough knowledge about non-alc stuff yet and I feel like [19.2 oz cans] would be a sampling opportunity for people out of the gate,” Edgar said. “We eventually can definitely come out with 4-packs – and if the retailers want it, we’ll make it – but I don’t think we can just throw something out there and just hope for the best, because it’s also a different line of business.”
Edgar emphasized that NA cider is different from the product you’d see in the juice aisle, with adult flavors that do what “adding water to juice” cannot.
“Non-alcoholic cider is literally the fermented cider where the alcohol is spun out and so there is a flavor change, and there is a biological change when you’re taking something and fermenting it,” Edgar said. “And the funkier that stuff is the funkier it’s going to be after dealcoholization.”
Stormalong will also launch a new variety 12-pack this year, featuring two new flavors – POG Punch and Blue Skies blueberry cider – along with Red Skies at Night and a new version of its core offering Light of the Sun. The company is also exploring 19.2 oz versions of POG Punch and Massive Appeal, its 8.2% ABV offering.
One thing Edgar has learned after 10 years in business is that “consistency is a good thing,” and so the company is being cautious with any future innovation, particularly into other segments and categories.
“There’s a big temptation to go into other adjacent categories,” Edgar said. “But the resources that you have to dedicate to that other brand … you can’t kid yourself that you’re just gonna throw it out there. It’s a whole ’nother company. Even though we all have canning lines and we all have tanks, you can’t just fill it with something.”
As Stormalong enters its next chapter – which includes an in-process funding round and potential future fundraising efforts – the company plans to keep that “consistency” at the front of mind.
“Consistency and really trying to understand who you are and what you’re trying to do and why you’re doing it are really important,” Edgar said. “You can get into this competitive spirit in this industry and really start to lose sight of what the heck I’m doing this for in the first place.”