Road Trip: Julian Hard Cider

Honestly, there is a beer event every weekend. Unfortunately, I miss some in order to check out new breweries starting in San Diego. On this particular weekend, nano brewery Hess was opening in Miramar not far from Alesmith. A couple of weeks ago, I headed up to Julian for brunch and on my way checked out the new digs at Julian Hard Cider that was put together about 3 months ago by Paul Thomas.

I had to chance to converse with Paul at the North Park Festival of the Arts and I can say his master plan was really thought out. His idea to brew cider in Julian is more than just about the brewing, but to bring jobs to Julian and cultivate the old Orchards into producing apples again. The first batch of cider is blended from apples from Washington as he was trying to open his business, but the next batch of hard cider will be blended from apples in Julian as the orchards are blossoming this year. The first hard cider recipe is from a traditional old English recipe and uses a yeast that allows the cider to still maintain sweetness while finishing dry. There are other ciders planned in the near future so check back with the webpage. It is worth the drive up to Julian to visit.