Local Cider Maker’s Beer/Cider Hybrid Will Blow Your Mind

Hudson Valley drinkers are flipping out over a cider designed for beer drinkers.

Our area has seen an explosion of local craft breweries setting up shop over the past few years. Now, locally made cider is gaining popularity. One cider maker who's been fermenting apples for decades has combined the best of beer and cider to make a very special drink that appeals to pretty much everyone.

Cooper Graney has been working at Doc's Draft Hard Cider in Warwick since 1994. Now the company's head cider maker, Graney uses his imagination to craft new and unique blends of cider. Ingredients like pear, sour cherry and raspberry are added at different parts of the fermentation process to create completely new varieties of cider.

Inspired by beer, Graney had a vision of a cider that he believed would "change the world." Imagine blending the best parts of an IPA and a cider to create a new type of beverage? Well, Doc's Draft did just that and the result is their Dry Hopped Cider. We sampled some to find out what everyone was so excited about:

You can sample Doc's Dry Hopped Cider and over 50 other national and local ciders this Saturday from 2pm to 6pm at the Hudson Valley Cider Fest at Barton Orchards in Poughquag.