FLINT, MI – The first year for a business will always have its ebb and flow while figuring out its identity within a community.
But what happens when your business opens two days before the state’s stay-at-home order and COVID-19 shutdown?
Flint City Hard Cider opened on March 13, 2020 after a near five-year wait. And quickly, had to close within days due to the state order.
After racing to get open, everything halted — and fast, said owner Charlie Burt.
“Never in a billion years would I have thought it would shut my business down. It was such a roller coaster. Being able to open up was the high point of the last five years, and have it immediately followed by a crippling debt only being open for two days. It was really hard,” Burt said. “I definitely can’t say that I’ve felt I have had my head above water the whole time. There were definitely times where I didn’t know what the future would be.
“There were definitely times where I didn’t know if my lights were going to be on in the building, but I pride myself on being so stubborn. It’s borderline stupidity, but I’ve put my whole life into this, so I can’t say no. I’m not going to do anything else, or curl up and die. So I am making everything possible to make this work.”
Burt, a Flint resident and Goodrich native, said community support continued to keep the business open despite the global pandemic.
He served to-go growlers for the first few months.
He built a campaign to buy a drink for a first responder or health care worker, raising $900 to give back locally McLaren Flint Hospital or Hurley Medical Center.
In summer 2020, as things opened back up with restrictions, Burt built his parking lots into outdoor venues with stages to pay local musicians to perform while allowing residents a socially distant option to enjoy a sense of near normalcy.
For Burt, it isn’t just about being a business. It never was. It is about showing up for the community and being an institution that cares, he said.
“I could have done this anywhere. And a lot of people thought opening up in Flint doing a craft cider bar wasn’t the right spot or was years ahead of what Flint is now. But it’s my home, and I that’s why I wanted to do it right here,” Burt said. “I started coming downtown when I was a 12-year-old going to the Local to see and play at shows. That’s what got me interested in Flint. I’ve always wanted to make Flint a better spot because it’s always been the cool place to be.”
Burt started playing in shows at Local 432 at age 13 as a drummer with the band Matador vs. Matador. The bass player in that band was one of his best friends Josh Porter, whose dad Ray Porter owned Porter Orchards in Goodrich.
That connection drew Burt to the orchard, where he first remembers seeing apples pressed into cider as a kindergartener. Then as a teenager, he worked picking apples.
It was a hobby turned career, because at 21 years old his taste for craft beers skyrocketed. He pondered how he may be able to combine his love for local agriculture and craft beverages.
In 2013, he emailed 152 breweries across Michigan with a simple inquiry to team up using cider for their beer or cocktails. He first teamed up with Fort Street Brewery in Lincoln Park, using his cider to brew into an apple beer.
The third response back was from Jeremy Kosmicki, head brewer at Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids. They worked together to make an apple beer with his cider as well.
“It gave me such a confidence that they wanted to collaborate that it made me realize I could do this and expand into a larger business,” Burt said. “I knew we had a good product, but this was really a turning point to allow me to create a little side business where I can hustle apple juice and get a commission.”
Burt began with a handful of five-gallon buckets in his home — technically his bedroom — until it was so full it was just enough room for him to sleep at night.
That level of commitment paid off, he said, as he entered the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition (GLINTCAP) in 2016, winning a bronze medal in the commercial division for a blueberry cobbler cider competing against Angry Orchard, Woodchuck, Blake’s and others.
It all came back to the core though, Burt said, as he spent the next five years perfecting fermentation and building the business plan to open Flint City Hard Cider with Ray Porter, who became a business partner in the endeavor.
Burt said he learned and is continuously inspired by Porter, who is a third generation cider maker. And he gives gracious credit to the flavors and tasting profiles the Porter family has perfected.
“It’s such a lost art. It’s so much more than picking apples and squishing them into juice. It’s blending and he’s taking thought into each kind of apple that’s blended into there and a specific flavor that his farm has had for 100 years,” he said. “People know their cider, and it’s different apples all the time, but it’s always good no matter the season.”
Burt’s mission now is to provide a safe space for music lovers to come to enjoy a show and to grab a few glasses of cider, creating an urban atmosphere for all walks of life.
He also wants to help build the palates of cider lovers and the average beer drinker alike.
The apples he pressed and ferments come from the 75-acre Porter’s Orchard in Goodrich, growing approximately 30 varieties of apples. There is an area of the orchard dedicated to cider-making apples, complete with heirloom varieties that he said “are much forgotten in our culture and are a huge part of American history.”
“Cider is a very tradition heavy, beautiful beverage. To be able to offer that, grow it, press it and give it a Flint flair with different flavors or combinations with hops and other fruits. I make cider for people who think they don’t like it because commercially cider is sweet and tastes like apples.”
Burt said, to him, cider is just as complex as wine. There are cider apples just like wine grapes, he said. Last year, Flint City Hard Cider produced about 3,000 gallons of hard cider, and Burt is looking to double that in 2021.
“People say cider is too sweet. I hear it all the time. And I ask, have you ever had a dry cider? There are so many styles of cider, and I want to be able to continue to break the mold. I’m fighting the stigma that it’s just a sweet drink or just a girl’s drink or that it’s not sustainable in a place like Flint that is a bunch of blue-collar, hard-working people,” Burt said. “Well, there’s nothing more hard-working than going to plant and pick these apples and press them and form it into cider. This is a very gritty job. There is no harder job than farming, so we fit into Flint’s mold quite nicely.”
Flint City Hard Cider has now been open through its first year, despite the timing of COVID-19.
It is located at 610 Martin Luther King Avenue in Flint. Currently, the hours are Tuesday through Friday, 5-11 p.m. and Saturday 3-11 p.m. Hours will change as statewide restrictions allow for bars and restaurants amidst COVID-19.
Currently, Flint City Hard Cider has 11 ciders on tap and some cider-inspired cocktails. Burt encourages people to come try a glass as the temperatures rise in the spring in downtown Flint.
“I’m a die-hard Flintstone. For Flint, by Flint,” Burt said. “This is a bar for people that are from Flint and understand that culture. Flint is changing really quickly, but the real Flint is not going anywhere. We have tons of people who come from outside too, and that’s one of the things you want to see too. I also want people from the suburbs to come here and not only feel safe, but say ‘Wow, Flint has some really unique offerings you can’t get anywhere else.’”
Related:
Local Eats: Dawn Donuts serves up fresh sweets, subs and ‘woodles’ daily
Local Eats: Longtime Flint-area Italian restaurant offers array of dessert, gluten free options
Local Eats: Longtime family-owned Mexican restaurant remains Flint staple
The Link LonkApril 03, 2021 at 02:03AM
https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2021/04/flint-city-hard-cider-continues-to-innovate-through-flavorful-drinks-outdoor-music-scene.html
Flint City Hard Cider continues to innovate through flavorful drinks, outdoor music scene - MLive.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment