Looking Back at 2016
A year in review with Mountain West Hard Cider.
2016 was a full of significant milestones for Mountain West Hard Cider and it was surely due to all of our supporters, fans, and surrounding community. We could not have hoped for a more wondrous year so we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on all those amazingly good times…
Mountain West started off January with a small appearance at the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festival where we participated in the Daily Buzz, a festival radio show. They spoke to a number of talented directors, cast, and crew from various Sundance and Slamdance Film Festival picks.
In February, Yelp! taped Local Business Love Letters at the cidery for an Elite Event. It was such fun hosting this event and such an incredible experience to be able to share our ciders with Yelpers that we truly feel this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Soon after the Yelp! Elite Event, we got the chance to throw our own party, the Mountain West Hard Cider launch party. With Mountain West’s flagship cider (and sole offering at the time) Ruby, Jennifer and Jeff Carleton went into business in November 2015 with a dream in mind. Only months later, that dream became a reality. The launch party was a celebration of this dream-come-true and it even helped the American Lung Association raise over $1400.
The second addition to our family, 7-Mile, debuted during 4th West Fest which was held after the St. Patrick’s Parade. Together with Red Rock Brewing, we threw our version of a block party at 400 West (where both Red Rock Beer Store and Mountain West Hard Cider reside). It was the first event we had in our outdoor space and it… was… awesome… So awesome, in fact, that we did this again later on.
During the spring, we also held our first Gallery Stroll event with artist Whitney Horrocks and hosted the Pioneer Theatre Company‘s opening night party for Cowgirls. We still do Gallery Stroll every third Friday of the month and did we mention that we are a great venue for events and weddings? Okay, shameless venue rental plug: over.
The rest of spring and most of the summer at Mountain West Hard Cider was filled with festivals and other various community events such as the Utah Stories‘ Made in Utah Festival, the Tracy Aviary Ready to Hatch fundraiser, Brewfest at Snowbird, the Park City Food and Wine Classic, Pie and Beer Day with KRCL and the Madeleine Choir School, the Women’s Redrock Music Festival, the Wasatch International Food Festival, City Weekly Beer Festival, Proptoberfest, and the Marmalade Jam Festival. Did we miss any others?
Oh, we can’t forget the month of June where we celebrated Pride Month with Ruby’s Gay Hard Cider! In honor of Pride Month, Mountain West Hard Cider released a limited edition bottle of Ruby Hard Cider. Proceeds from Ruby’s Gay Hard Cider raised hundreds of dollars for the Utah Pride Center. The Mountain West team also set up, sponsored, and participated in several of different Pride events.
We hosted our first High Point Society Industry Night where we invited friends and supporters in the bar and restaurant industry to join us in fun social gatherings. The first official event kicked off with a cocktail competition. Chelsea from Ritual and Craft (formerly known as Heartbeat Nosh) won with the Cider Cylone with a close second from Whiskey Street‘s Anna. Both of their winning cocktails may be found on our recipes page.
2016 also marked our first annual 4th West Oktoberfest. Again, with our good neighbors over at Red Rock Brewing, we held a three-day outdoor festival celebrating Oktoberfest with traditional German-style brews and crisp, refreshing craft ciders including the third cider to join the Mountain West line-up, the dry hopped Cottonwood Hard Cider.
November 9th marked our one year anniversary. We were also included in City Weekly‘s Best Of Utah issue for two great wins from the local community! Before Thanksgiving, we also launched our very first limited release cider, Stillwater – a bourbon barrel aged still hard cider.
Our Holiday Pet Portrait Day benefiting the Humane Society of Utah in December raised almost $200 in addition to many treats and goodies that were brought into the cidery. Thanks to everyone who helped make this so successful including Ma and Paws Bakery who supplied treats for the event.
And then, we wrapped up the year with one final release. If you haven’t heard about it, our last release of 2016 was a truly local product that embraces the meaning of “Made in Utah.” The Green Urban Lunch Box Hard Cider is a limited release hard cider made from a variety of over 20 apples picked from the backyards and orchards of Utah. When we say backyard, we mean it literally. Volunteers from The Green Urban Lunch Box picked apples from within a 75 mile radius of the cidery and juiced them for Mountain West’s cidermaker, Joel Goodwillie, to create a homegrown natural yeast fermented hard cider.
Thanks for an incredible 2016. And cheers to 2017!