There is a romance surrounding living on a farm. The pure joy of creating, cultivating, and nursing your crops to fruition can be overwhelming. Each day is filled with hard manual labor, long hours, and battling the elements. When it is all over, the experience stays with you much like love's first kiss.
The creation of Brick River Cider is filled with this romance. Russ John, founder of Brick River Cider, grew up on a farmstead in Nebraska founded by his German immigrant great grandparents back in 1869. His childhood was filled with days climbing apple trees, feeding livestock, and lending a hand where needed. He left home to explore and pursue other ventures eventually, but the idea of reconnecting with his roots was his inspiration for creating cider.
Brick River Cider Company opened in 2016 with a commitment to crafting great cider from fresh pressed Midwestern fruit, becoming the first dedicated cider house in St. Louis. It was important to Russ to source locally, with all apples coming from within a one-day trucking radius of St. Louis, and to never use juice concentrate, with the belief that great cider comes from respecting the time-honored tradition of staying close to the land. His cider production provides great support to local farmers, supplying the 75,000 pounds of apples needed to fill his three cider tanks.
The level of nostalgia and respect that Russ has put into his cider can also be seen in his cidery. Located just a few blocks north of Union Station, on the corner of 20th and Washington, Russ transformed the largest fire station west of the Mississippi river, originally constructed in 1892, into the current Ciderworks and Tap Room. The bottom floor has a small bar with a view of the production room, while the upstairs was transformed from a firemen’s dormitory into a 100-seat restaurant serving a menu focused on cider pairings and farm freshness.
While you won’t find a typical burger and fries on the menu, you will find original creations like a unique take on wings, which have been cider brined and tossed in Red Hot Riplets dust. Seasonal and best selling ciders, like their award-winning blueberry lavender cider, are all available on tap, which is to be expected, until you learn than cider is technically classified as a wine and not a beer, with flavor profiles ranging from sweet to dry. If you are unable to visit the taproom, Brick River’s main staples ciders, Homestead and Cornerstone, are available at local grocery stores across the region.
In a town filled with a rich history of beer, this Cider house is changing the game one apple at a time.