Stormalong Cider Introduces Light of the Sun and Red Skies at Night Cider
HERBORN, Massachusetts — Stormalong Cider’s core lineup, including two new additions, is now available in 16 ounce cans.
Stormalong’s core lineup of ciders was previously available only in 12 ounce cans. The move to 16 ounce cans better aligns with preferences of craft cider drinkers and also provides Stormalong with increased flexibility and creativity.
“If you’re selling a craft product in New England, the consumer preference is solidly 16 ounce cans,” said Shannon Edgar, founder and cider maker, Stormalong Cider. “We’ve been talking about this transition for the last few years and it just made sense for the style of cider we make and also gave us more flexibility and freedom to make what we want, when we want.”
Two New Cider Styles
In addition to the packaging change, Stormalong is introducing two new cider styles that are now available.
Light of the Sun
Light of the Sun is a Citra and Mosaic dry-hopped cider with blood orange and ruby red grapefruit zest added that will become one of Stormalong’s core ciders.
“Light of the Sun is actually replacing our Dry Hop cider in our core lineup,” said Edgar. “We originally created Dry Hop to feature the citrusy hop aromas that the Citra variety added to cider, but over time realized that the name reflected the technique more than the cider itself. So, we decided to change it up a bit and make a new cider with a Citra and Mosaic hop combination that really highlighted these refreshing citrus notes. To take it up a notch we also added freshly grated zest from the blood oranges and ruby red grapefruits. We find that people generally don’t understand hop aromas and that they aren’t always bitter like they typically associate with IPAs. Also like our Dry Hop cider, we keep Light of the Sun on the dry side to avoid masking these unique flavors with any cloying sweetness.”
Red Skies at Night
The first of a new rotating series, Red Skies at Night, is a cider with passionfruit and hibiscus added to it.
“We’ve liked the idea of adding a rotational cider that can change but had found this impractical when we were working exclusively with printed cans,” Edgar commented. “Now that we’re packaging in 16 ounce cans, it makes that a little easier and Red Skies at Night is the first up in this rotating series. It’ll be available for a limited time in a seasonal fashion. We’re pretty open minded with this rotating cider and are looking forward to offering more experimental ciders for this product. Red Skies at Night is really our first major entry into the flavored cider market and we wanted to make sure this cider was made with the same level of quality and ingredients as our other ciders. These ciders have previously been almost entirely apple based, so we decided we wanted to use whole ingredients and avoid concentrates and other more fabricated flavorings. The hibiscus flowers add a nice rounded tartness and of course their powerful red color. In companion to the hibiscus, we added passionfruit to bring out tropical notes to meld with the rich acidity from the hibiscus. It’s a great combination which isn’t overly sweet, just juicy and flavorful.”
Light of the Sun joins Stormalong’s core ciders which include the tannic flagship Legendary Dry made with bittersweet apples, and Mass Appeal, which has more of a fresh apple taste from classic McIntosh apples that balance tart and sweet flavors. A fourth cider will always be available alongside those three as part of the rotating series, beginning with Red Skies at Night.
Legendary Dry, Mass Appeal, Light of the Sun, and Red Skies at Night are now available in 16 ounce cans in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
About Stormalong Cider
We are an orchard-based cidery producing a wide range of ciders focused on apple quality and character. Our flagship cider, “Legendary Dry”, uses a blend of bittersweet and heirloom apple varieties full of tannins and rich acidity. We ferment and age our ciders with traditional techniques showcasing the unique characteristics of these diverse apples. For more information on Stormalong Cider, please visit www.stormalong.com.