In the fall of 2020, chief operations officer Mike Forgie of Highlands Liquor in Edmonton had an idea.
Looking at the loaded crabapple tree in his backyard, Forgie put together a plan to collaborate with Blindman Brewery of Lacombe, Alta., and come up with a limited edition dry hard cider in the brewery’s test batch system.
“I bet there’s no way that I’m the only person in Edmonton that has this problem where there’s just too much, especially with apples and sometimes pears,” said Forgie.
Located in Edmonton’s Highlands community with an abundance of old homes with well-established trees, Forgie put out the call for donations.
“A few of the major news outlets got wind of it … and then all of a sudden that reach extended further than Highlands itself. We had people coming in from Sherwood Park, from Parkland County, from all over Edmonton, dropping off all this fruit, that was all going to go in the garbage or it was all going to rot on backyard grass. They were just happy to be able to see it go somewhere useful,” said Forgie.
The fruit collection involves a long trailer with totes parked at Highlands Liquor. People drop off their fruit, where it is sorted and shipped to a nearby fruit company and turned into juice and then sent to Blindman Brewing in Lacombe.
Forgie said they accept all types of fruit.
“Any fruit that’s non-toxic.”
This could include chokecherries, sour cherries, pears and the ubiquitous backyard apple. The juice is all mixed together and then brewed at Blindman Brewery to create the limited edition hard cider.
The juiced fruit produces about 1,500 litres of cider.
Forgie said he hopes that this business collaboration will inspire others to produce similar products.
“I know that Sunny Cider in Calgary now uses a yearly cider that is 100 percent community apples as well. I think they actually do one that’s named after a specific community where the apples come from and then one that is 100 percent crabapples.”
Forgie said a crate of donated fruit equates to about two bottles of cider. He said when the cider is ready, those who donated are offered a chance to buy what their ingredients helped create at the cost of production.
