Top 7 Surprises About Angry Orchard’s Move to Hudson Valley

We're very excited about Angry Orchard setting up shop on a 60-acre orchard right here in the  Hudson Valley, so we had to find out more. Dave Sipes, the head cider maker at Angry Orchard, gave us some inside information on their new visitors center and cidery being built in the Hudson Valley.

The Hudson Valley is now the "Home of Angry Orchard"
The purchase of land in Walden isn't just a marketing ploy. Sipes says that he has been looking for an official home for a long time. The fact that this orchard has been producing apples since the mid 1700's with trees dating back over 100 years makes it a perfect fit for the company.

There will be tours
Sipes told us that Angry Orchard's vision for their operations in the Hudson Valley is to make the cidery and orchard a full tourist destination. Tours that cover everything from the harvesting of apples through the cider making process will be designed to educate drinkers about how cider is made and the processes used to turn apples into Angry Orchard Cider.

There will be samples
An important part of the "educational" aspect of the new cidery will be the ability for visitors to taste samples of the cider being made on premise. Cider is increasing in popularity around the world and in the States, but many are still unaware of what good cider tastes like and how versatile the beverage can be. Tastings will be aimed at teaching visitors about cider appreciation.

The orchard will officially be known as the "Angry Orchard"
Hudson Valley residents can proudly tell their friends that they live near the real-life Angry Orchard. Sipes says that the history of apple growing in the Hudson Valley makes it the perfect home of the official "Angry Orchard" location.

The visitors center is scheduled to be open by Fall
Sipes says that although there is a lot of work to do, he hopes that the orchard will be open by the Fall harvest. Drinkers are expected to be able to experience apple pressing and see the whole process from apple to final product by the end of the year.

There will be a lot of experimenting
Sipes is very excited to use the new cidery as his own personal laboratory, experimenting with different cider flavors and styles. The most exciting part about this is that visitors will be able to taste and sample some of Sipes' unique creations. Of course, official styles of Angry Orchard will also be made available for tasting as well.

There might be hard cider donuts
No apple orchard is complete without apple cider donuts, right? Robyn asked Dave what he thought about working on some hard cider donuts for the Angry Orchard. While it's not something they've thought of yet, the head cider maker said he "wouldn't be too surprised" if it happens.  We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Check out our full interview with David Sipes from The Boris & Robyn Show on WPDH:

For more updates on the progress at Angry Orchard be sure to visit Dave Sipes' blog. It's updated with the latest developments, announcements and videos from the new project.