Join The Movement

Trendy. Progressive. Booming. This is what the cider industry has become.

The cider movement has revolutionized the way we view… and drink, cider. Beer drinkers and wine connoisseurs are coming together to celebrate ciders in a whole new way. So this month, The Growler Guys salute the Hard Cider.

Cider is a HUGE part of America’s history.
Hard cider was a staple beverage in the 1800’s due to the large apple industry. The beverage became less popular as grains that were brought to America by German immigrants out-competed apples as one of America’s top crops. Between the reduction in apple production and the prohibition of alcohol around the 1920’s, hard cider plummeted in popularity.

How Did Cider get It’s Groove Back? Two Words: Gluten Free.
Gluten free diets have given the opportunity for alternative alcoholic beverages to thrive. Aaron Swaney at The Herald of Everett, Washington says cider first became popular about 3 years ago, largely after the push for many people to go gluten-free. Hard ciders have been given back their popularity- and their own sections in grocery stores. The hard cider market is no longer competing against the beer market. Hard cider provides an opportunity for gluten-free goers that beer can’t always offer.

The Northwest is at the very center of the cider movement- and we’re proud of it!
Washington apples have given us west-coasters the opportunity to be first to experience a multitude of hard ciders… while the rest of the country plays catch-up. Amy Stewart, the author of The Drunken Botanist, has a huge portion of her book devoted to the apple. Did you know apples have a more complex DNA than humans?! Their massive DNA set is what gives apples the ability to be so diverse, and what gives cideries like 2 Towns Ciderhouse the ability to create endless types of hard ciders.

Follow The Growler Guys through the month of August to learn more about the Hard Cider Movement. To get a list of our ciders on tap, check out our virtual tap wall HERE! Better yet, come celebrate the cider revolution with us at one of our many locations and pay your respect to the hard cider come-back.