How Prairie fruit and an apple press inspired a southern Manitoba cidery

Supplied image of Dead Horse Cider.

Two Manitoba men are using the flavours of Prairie apples to create an award-winning cider that is unique to the province.

The cidery is called Dead Horse Cider Co., getting its name from a body of water in southern Manitoba called the Dead Horse Creek.

The company began with Marcus Wiebe, the cider maker and founder of Dead Horse Cider, buying an apple press for his farm in 2016 to make fresh pressed juice.

“In doing that we learned there was an abundance of apples in Manitoba that were really going to waste,” he said in an interview with CTV Winnipeg on Wednesday.

Wiebe said the issue he faced was that the apple juice had a short shelf life, and would start to ferment on its own before the farm could do anything with it. However, this allowed him to see an opportunity -- to create hard cider.

In December 2018, Dead Horse Cider launched its first product.

“From there it’s kind of been a whirlwind of apples and all things fun,” Wiebe said.

ALL ABOUT THE APPLES

For Dead Horse Cider, the focus is on local apples.

Matthew Zacharias, director of operations at the cidery, said without Manitoba apples they wouldn’t have been able to start the business and get to where they are today.

“I always joke that everyone in Manitoba has two apple trees in their backyard, and everyone eats three apples and makes one pie and the rest just go to waste essentially,” Zacharias said.

At first, the cidery would purchase apples from people around southern Manitoba. However, they’ve now expanded as far north as Steinbach, Winnipeg, and Brandon.

“People will pick apples, bring them to us, and we’ll pay them per pound,” he said.

“This year we’ve received probably 65,000 pounds of apples already and hopefully we’ll end up with about 90,000 pounds of apples this year, all from local people bringing them to us in five gallon pales and cardboard boxes.”

Wiebe explained that Manitoba apples are well-suited for cider, as they have more flavour characteristics that hold through fermentation.

“I think what makes us unique is the apples that we’re able to find here in the Prairies. Prairie apples, in general, are kind of unique in themselves,” he said.

“Taking advantage of that makes us different from other ciders that you see on the West Coast.”

WHAT SETS THEM APART

Wiebe said he attributes the success of the cidery, in part, to staying true to their roots.

“Just being honest and trying to be good people who make good cider. That’s kind of our goal,” he said.

Zacharias said they feel strongly about supporting the local community and being authentic to who they are.

“We try our best not to be pretentious or try to do things that are out of our scope,” he said.

Zacharias, who previously worked in the wine industry in California, said he hopes people see the passion that he and Wiebe have for cider-making, as well as southern Manitoba.

“[Southern Manitoba] is a very special growing region, a very special climate type, where we can do things that no one else in the world can,” he said.

Dead Horse Cider can be found at Liquor Mart, online, or at their taproom, located just north of Winkler.