Duncan McKercher, the owner/developer at Crossmount Village, looked at it, scratched his head and asked an important question. “Does anyone know how to run this stuff?” Now the company’s products are in bars and liquor stores throughout the city and province. The product is available in Alberta. Oh yes, and in China too. Liam McKercher, director of sales and marketing at Crossmount, said sending product to China emerged from a lucky lead. A woman tried Crossmount’s cider and took one of Liam’s business cards. “She emailed me and said, ‘I have some stores in China and would you be interested in selling?’ I followed up and it worked out.” Duncan McKercher said the sale to China was cool. “We are not betting the future of the company on a massive exporting thing, but you know what, it gives us bragging rights. In three years, now we are shipping internationally. It’s a neat story, is what it is.”

Crossmount Cider Company will be one of the vendors at YXE Beer Wars on Aug. 23-24 in Kiwanis Park, on the north side of the Bessborough Hotel. It will be another place to showcase its products and share its story. A new chapter in that story will be written next spring when apples grown in the orchard at Crossmount will be used in the company’s ciders. Samantha Chamberlain moved from British Columbia a year ago to become the head cidermaker at Crossmount. The orchard was a draw for her. “I started applying all across the country wanting a new experience and Crossmount was the most unique, especially with what’s happening in the orchard,” she said. “Apples are not native to the prairies. What’s happening here in the orchard is very unique in the world of cider and I mean worldwide. I am really excited to get to work with these apples this year and in upcoming years.”

Chamberlain gave a visitor in the tasting room a quick tutorial on cider. “A lot of people assume cider is made a lot like beer, but it’s actually made more like wine if we want to compare it to another beverage. We say it makes like wine, but it drinks like beer. It’s really its own category.” Chamberlain comes from a wine background. She worked as a sommelier — a trained and knowledgeable wine professional — before rolling up her sleeves and working at a winery. “I started in the tasting room and then worked in the production room. It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears learning hands-on with the head winemaker.” One day her boss suggested they try something different. They fermented some apples and worked with them until they found a taste they liked. They took their cider to the B.C. Cider Festival and won an award. “That’s when we knew we had something,” she said.

The festival was in the spring of 2018. Months later she was in Saskatoon. Liam McKercher said the cider business in Saskatchewan is far, far from maxing out. “Up until two or three years ago there wasn’t really a cider market here at all.” Big breweries started releasing cider which helped introduce the taste to buyers, but left plenty of room for a local cidery that could offer a number of blends. Made in Saskatchewan is nice to have on the label.

“People in Saskatchewan have started to consume more and more cider as a gluten-free option and an alternative to beer,” McKercher said. “We saw that opportunity and thought we could make a better product than the bigger corporations and we started mass producing.” Chamberlain said Crossmount is unique, a word that was used a lot during an interview. “It’s the variety of what we can bring to the market, anywhere from a more traditional cider to a hops cider to fruit-infused to floral-infused. We are able to capture a large part of the market and a lot of palates. “A lot of people know cider as some of those bigger brands, but this is completely different in that all the inputs are 100 per cent natural.”

McKercher said being local and flexible allows the cidery to try new things, such as seasonal blends. “There could be a farmer across the street growing Saskatoon berries and we can make a Saskatoon berry cider from it.” As a matter of fact, a Saskatoon berry cider will be released in a smallbatch series in September. McKercher said YXE Beer Wars will provide exposure for the company, which is located five kilometres south of the city on Lorne Avenue. “It is a unique concept. The location is great and it’s great to get a lot of these craft producers out there. I think there are a lot of people in Saskatchewan who don’t know a lot about craft people unless you are really involved in the community.

A lot of people go to the liquor store and pick up their traditional products, so having something like this where all the craft producers are in one spot and in a good location will bring more awareness to what is going on around Saskatoon and area.” In addition to Crossmount’s cider, YXE Beer Wars will feature 28 booths for craft beer makers, as well as those who make wine and spirits. “The craft beer industry is really exploding right now, so we are giving people what they want; another festival,” co-organizer Dave Mah said. “It’s unique; an outdoor festival at the tail end of summer, so it should be a good time for everyone.” Mah said he and his father, Rick, have enjoyed creating festivals. The two also ran a two-day collector’s show this spring that attracted 1,600 people and an estimated 30,000 attended Foodtruck Wars last month.

YXE Beer Wars will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. both days in a fenced area in the park. Admission is $15 to the 19+ event. The admission charge will help cover expenses, Dave Mah said. There will be a large covered tent with table seating, food vendors, a free video game lounge and music supplied by Red Bull, pumped through its mobile DJ truck.

-Cam Hutchinson