A solar-powered cidery produces Sundog Cider
Jody Rael, who sold solar panels in the Hudson Valley, never thought about making hard cider until he saw similar panels in local orchards and as one who’d been making his own wines for many years, began to think. Today, he’s part of a growing number of hard cider producers in New York State, making Sundog Cider.
The beverage is six percent alcohol, midway between the levels of beer and wine, and goes well with food. The apples are from local orchards and unlike many hard ciders, the product is unfiltered to preserve the apple essence. It’s a smooth, crisp and aromatic beverage.
It’s also a possible first step for Rael in making other fermented and unfermented fruit beverages, a season hard cider mixed with pumpkin, perhaps. He wants to re-claim the carbon dioxide generated in fermentation and recycle it back into the hard cider for carbonation.