How Pittsburgh’s Ugly Fruit Finds New Life as Hard Cider

A Pittsburgh group named A Few Bad Apples has three missions. The first is to teach people the lost skills of making use of homegrown fruit.The second is to support local nonprofits.And the third? Make lots of homemade cider — then drink it.

The group ventures all around the city and countryside to find fruit trees; once they get the owners’ permission, they prune the trees and harvest the fruit. Then they turn the apples into hard cider and give it away at nonprofit events.

“Our slogan is ‘Utilizing forgotten fruit for sustainable community cider making’ and ‘Hard cider for hard times and good living since 2005,’’ Sturges said. “The forgotten fruit [part] is just talking about that disconnect and people forgetting … how to use fruit, losing a connection with the trees, with the seasons that produce the fruit.” Complete Story