Fermented Apple Cider
Posterity Ciderworks – Part II of the Story!
Background
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This is Part II of the visit to Posterity Ciderworks operation in Mokelumne Hill, California. Part I dealt primarily with the apple cider industry, apple cider history, similarities to winemaking and cider’s growth as an alternative alcoholic beverage. The Part One website link with these topics can be found at: https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2025/11/13/posterity-ciderworks-an-extraordinary-education/
Part II incorporates a portion of the three hours I spent with Brendan Barnard, co-owner and cider maker. Having spent this time with Brendan, whom I call “Master Appleman”, this story is more focused on their operation and offering than the industry and history covered in Part I.
The Beginning of Posterity Ciderworks
Brendan and his wife, like many beginnings, apple & apple cider started out as a hobby. They were living on the San Francisco peninsula and working in high tech. They had rented a house and in the backyard were many old apple trees still producing fruit. And as Brendan eloquently stated they could only make so much applesauce for them and their friends. The idea of making fermented apple cider began to take hold. Admittedly Brendan could hardly stomach their first batches, but this led to further his education on the subject. A few years later they purchased property in Calaveras County and took up cider production full-time.
They were drawn to the market for many reasons including the taste, trying something new and exciting, joining an industry that is CAGR of 5%, offering alternative healthier beverages with little or no residual sugars, and generally much lower alcohol levels.
Posterity Today
There are many parallels to winemaking with taking the fruit (apples), squeezing the fruit for juice, fermentation and aging. The differences are the time of fermentation of cider is typically 8-14 months with a few batches taking 22 months. The apples are first ground up to smaller pieces before being pressed as seen in this picture:
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Other similarities include aging in stainless steel barrels, American oak barrels, used wine barrels and even French oak barrels.
One of Posterity Ciderworks key differences are that no sulfites are added, and no refining or filtering is done on the cider. With some 16,350 varieties of apples identified in North America, Brendan spends a lot time finding heirloom orchards throughout the Sierra foothills, some established just after the gold rush. One of the more fascinating portions of our conversation was that many people are hard pressed to name more than a dozen and most local markets only carry 4-6 varieties. As an aside, since this conversation with Brendan, when visiting three supermarkets recently, I have gone to the fruit area and have noticed only 4-6 apples being offered. These are mass produced, can survive shipping/transportation, most cost effective and keep freshest the longest. Not necessarily the best tasting apples.
Here is a bin of Arkansas Black apples waiting to be processed. This is the only single varietal apple cider that Posterity Ciderworks produces. It also happens to be Brendan’s favorite! I was given one to take home and it was delicious and one of the “meatiest” apples I have tasted. Many cider producers do have single varietal ciders especially where they use their own commercial orchards. Posterity Ciderworks had sold out of their last batch, so I was not able to taste it.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
On their property several rows of vineyards were there from a previous tenant. With some of their ciders a small portion of grape juice is added to enhance or augment the apple juice.
The first apple cider tasted is called Confidence with fresh acidity made with wild apples with about 30 varieties. Brendan stated he likes to make this the first introduction of fermented apple cider to wine drinkers.
One of my favorites, which I did purchase two bottles was the “Here’s to the Good Ones”. I purchased it for three reasons: having a couple of friends with diabetes, this cider has no residual sugar! Secondly the alcohol levels were a bit higher than their norma 6% range, but still low at 10%, lower than wine and spirits. The third reason for the purchase was the flavor profile being made with 45-50 apple varieties providing a crisp and refreshing mouth feeling like a Vermentino or Sauvignon Blanc (without the citrus qualities).
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Here are a few of the others with a brief description. While we tasted through various ciders and two meads, as a serious wine aficionado, I did find about half to my “wine trained palate” very alluring and tasty.
Marriage Tree – Posterity Ciderworks description: “Aged lovingly on new American oak for 18 months. Bright crisp fruit and smooth rich oak, lightened by delicate bubbles”.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Call of the Rainbow Quail – Posterity Ciderworks description: “This sparkling Rosé of apples and dry farmed, spray free Cinsault grapes spent 24 months in barrel and is perfect for a charcuterie board with rich creamy cheeses & butters”.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Cherry / Chrysanthemum Sparkling Cider – Posterity Ciderworks description: “Paired with no-spray cherries and foraged apples, this cider is a balanced sparkling medley. Ingredients: apples, cherries, chrysanthemums, yeast. Tasting notes: dried cherries, dark chocolate, cedar, subtle herbs”. This was aged 16 months in Petite Sirah oak barrels.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Aurora Cider – Posterity Ciderworks description: “This 2024 vintage has a character like a fine dry sherry. The experimental 2021 vintage was exclusively served by the glass in our tasting room; the 2022, and 2023 graced the dining rooms of 1-, 2-, and 3-star Michelin restaurants, and we’re pleased to be able to offer the 2024 vintage to you now! Notes: orange peel, cardamom, saffron, rose hip, hazelnut, dried fig”.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Nova Sparkling Cider – Posterity Ciderworks description: “Notes: crème brûlée character of caramelized sugars, vanilla & sweet almond. Crisp yet subtle bubbles bring out gorgeous aromas. Long sweet finish — think demi-sec champagne or Sauternes. Supernovae are rare events in the sky, dramatic explosions of light that are unique and intense. What better name for the bottle you hold in your hands? This single varietal sparkling cider was made with pure crab apples and wild yeast, then allowed to age on lees for a year before bottling. You may never see it again, but for now it’s intense and alluring”.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
One or two mead wines were also sampled. Some quick background that mead is the oldest known fermented drink in existence. It was from when honey combined with rainwater and fermented with airborne yeast. Later spices and scents were also added for flavor and medicinal purposes. It was known as the “nectar of the gods” and featured in myths and rituals from Europe, Africa and China from 10,000 – 20,000 and years ago! A brief history can be found on mead at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead
I introduced “Here’s to the Good Ones” sparkling cider to our Friday Night Wine & Dine Group with the ten folks voting with thumbs up, neutral or thumbs down at a local restaurant. We also had the Director of Food & Beverage present who also voted. The results for a group of “Baby Boomers with a wine slant” were surprisingly better than expected with five giving a thumbs up, five being neutral and one with a thumbs down.
In conclusion, Brendan and his wife Kris took a hobby/interest and now their Posterity Ciderworks are being served at one-, two- and three-star Michelin restaurants! Posterity Ciderworks is worthwhile in understanding how a small but significant portion of the fermented apple cider is made, offered and tastes like. A part of the puzzle generally not known but intriguing and informative. I know I will return to purchasing fermented apple cider soon!
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly