The agriculture industry in Iowa is very diverse- there’s no question about that. Our food comes from a lot of different places provided by local producers. Several of those places were on display this week on the Johnson County Ag Group Annual Farm Tour, including Wilson’s Orchard, where they produce hard apple cider. Greg Ruth is in charge of the brewing at the orchard, and he provided a peek at what goes on behind the scenes.
“We have a test row of apple trees that we were able to go walk down that we have about 15 Different varieties in,” Ruth said. “We’re all just testing what rootstock works in Iowa. ‘Does this apple even work in Iowa? Does it grow well in Iowa?’ [We do this] to plan out future plantings for our hard cider production. Most of what we grow out here is for the culinary end of the spectrum, but we do have a few rows out here- called our cider block- that is grown specifically for those products like the orchard series. They’re crappy eating, but they make real amazing cider.”
Ruth added that they are continuing to expand their distribution network as well.
“At Hy-Vee’s, your local bottle shops, you can definitely get our core Ciderhouse series,” Ruth said. “If you’re interested in the dryer stuff- the more nuanced stuff- it’s mainly at our market there at the main orchard on Dingleberry Road and our draft lines all around Iowa. We just partnered with a new distribution partner as well, and they are getting us pretty much statewide.”
For more information, visit wilsonorchard.com.
