Malagash Cidery
"Malagash Cidery opened in April of 2017 as a Cidery however our orchard is over 35 years old. We are first generation farmers who purchased our neighbours’ orchard with a desire to continue their vision of growing old antique apple varieties for everyone to enjoy. We took over the farm in 2012 and have doubled both the number of varieties and the area of production. As we fell in love with the unique flavours found in heritage apples we started to experiment with how these rare apples could create quality ciders. We began experimenting in small batches until we perfected our current recipe which contains over 30 varieties of apples. We found that the more diverse our ciders, in terms of varieties of apples used, the better flavours we could attain. As we grow over 100 varieties of apples it was an arduous task to select the right mix, but we continue to develop and improve our methods and we are committed to producing true artisanal ciders in small batches."
"The first thing that makes us special is that we grow apples. This may seem a strange discussion point but there are only 3 cideries which grow fruit in N.S. The remainder of the cideries take fruit off a packing line and press it, or purchase juice from a presser. There is nothing wrong with this process but there are a few restrictions which come along with this method. The first is the varieties used: by growing cider specific varieties, or old heritage cultivars, we are able to produce a complex juice which is the foundation of our unique ciders. The second benefit of growing our own apples comes from the selection time of harvest. Most apples are picked under-ripe commercially to preserve the crunchy texture people love in eating apples. The ideal cider however is made with over ripe fruit where the expression of flavour isn’t limited by a textural experience. We pick our fruit when they are very ripe, almost over-ripe, and the flavour of our ciders benefit from this. Lastly, we make everything in small 1000 L batches and then blend together the ideal ratio of our ciders in order to create a layered cider that captures both early and late season varieties."
" Our main goal is producing cider which is authentic and natural. All of our ciders are free of artificial acids, colours, sugars, and preservatives. We have a unique method of production which allows us to capture ciders in their fully unadulterated form. These ciders are made in small batches and these small batches are blended for their optimum use in our various recipes. We have 8 ciders currently available on site with 1 of these ciders being offered at the NSLC stores. We have a focus on showcasing local fruit and we currently only use NS products for making our ciders. We are particularly fond of making old world dry ciders (scrumpies) but we also explore new world ciders. Some of our new world ciders include non-apple fruit (sour cherry, red currant, white currant) grown on the farm, and other ciders include honey from our own apiary."
About the /brewer/cidermaker/winemaker:
"Our cider is made by Dr. Sebastian Margarit who has worked in agriculture and apple production throughout the world. Sebastian has experience with orchards in Mexico, the Pacific North West, New York, Ontario and Nova Scotia. As he travelled around to different apple production areas he has had the opportunity to taste many different ciders and also identify several different styles. Sebastian has been brewing at home for almost 2 decades and he has been co-owner of Vista Bella Farm: Malagash Cidery since purchasing the orchard with his wife Brenna in 2012. Upon travelling to Oregon in 2014 he noticed that Pinot Noir grapes were being removed in order to plant cider apples. When he saw the enthusiasm people had in talking about cider he quickly got further emboldened to make true artisanal cider in NS."
“Quality and craft are more than just words. These words need to be coupled with true effort and they come with a tremendous responsibility. We take pride in producing a cider all the way from bloom until bottle. By controlling how the apples are grown, stored, pressed, and fermented we are able to truly represent what an artisanal cider can be.”