When British transplant Jeffrey House landed in California in the 1980s, he found few Americans willing to venture outside the familiar territory of beer and wine.
Fast forward a few decades. Add drinkers who have been groomed by the craft beer movement. Throw in a dollop of gluten avoidance. Now, House's business is producing 1 million gallons of hard cider a year under the brand Ace Cider, quadruple what he was making in 2008.
"Cider is growing, and it's becoming very popular," he said. "Big time."
The drink once favored by colonial America has been rediscovered by hipsters nearly a century after Prohibition helped kill the cider buzz.
Its rising popularity among U.S. consumers pushed sales of domestically produced cider to $600 million last year, more than tripling sales from 2007, according to research firm IBISWorld.
Small cider producers are popping up across the country. Giant alcohol-makers such as Heineken, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev have bought or rolled out their own cider brands. Many bars have added ciders on tap to meet the demands of adventurous drinkers.
"There is going to be a huge opportunity for cider in particular to grow," said Nick Petrillo, an analyst at IBISWorld. "A lot of consumers now prefer to have something a little different."
Ryan Sweeney now offers cider on tap at five of his Southern California bars, including the Surly Goat in West Hollywood and the Phoenix in Beverly Hills.
Sweeney said there's been a "huge uptick" in cider drinkers. He's held cider events to accommodate growing interest in the drink.
At Sweeney's Pasadena drinking hole, the Blind Donkey, Robert Rust was sipping a glass of pear-flavored cider recently.
The construction worker said he tried cider for the first time a year ago after seeing more varieties at the grocery store. Now, Rust said, he occasionally buys a six-pack and orders it sometimes when out drinking.
"I've heard more people talking about cider and more options in the market," the 25-year-old said. "I like it. It's refreshing."
Cider was once wildly popular in the U.S.
Immigrants to the New World brought the knowledge of cider making when they sailed to the Americas. John Adams was said to break his fast every morning with a tankard of the stuff. William Henry Harrison, who ran for president in 1840, became known as the "log cabin and hard cider" candidate for relying on those symbols of rugged Americana.
But Prohibition, which began in 1920, put a stop to a lot of cider production; some farmers who were fans of the temperance movement even cut down their orchards to keep cider lovers from making their own drinks.
Even after most Americans were allowed to imbibe again starting in late 1933, cider never regained its former level of popularity. One theory is that German immigrants who moved to the Midwest introduced tasty beers, which were quicker and easier to make than cider.
Only in recent years have U.S. drinkers begun embracing cider once again after first expanding their tastes with microbrews and specialty cocktails, observers said.
"Cider right now is becoming an alternative to beer," said Paul Thomas, president of Julian Hard Cider in the San Diego County town of Julian, known for its devotion to the apple. "There is a customer base who has grown up having expectations of finding something that is new and unique but flavorful. Cider is that next phase."
Cider and beer vary in alcohol content but have a similar range, normally below 10 percent. Most wines have higher alcohol content, between 10 percent and 20 percent.
Cider has gained a lot of fans among female drinkers who don't like the taste of beer, analysts said. But the drink's reputation as a girlie beverage is a double-edged sword for alcohol-makers that want to attract new customers but still sell to guys who like to drink a bottle of suds.
MillerCoors made a big play for male drinkers by rolling out its Smith & Forge Hard Cider in March.
The new offering comes with a higher alcohol content and is not as sweet as many ciders. The accompanying ads feature a man with mutton chops who describes the drink as "strong, sturdy," watching robust activities such as a blacksmith banging on metal and a lumberjack chopping down a tree.
"The male demographic and cider, there weren't a lot of options," said Royce Carvalho, brand manager of Smith & Forge. "It was an underserved customer that nobody was talking to."
SundayMonday Business on 08/24/2014