Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/572389
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER OCTOBER 2015 37 Their flagship product is called Tree Vodka, made 100 percent from their apples. They sell flavored versions using their own raspberries and peaches. "Our new hard cider brand is called Rootstock Ciderworks, aptly named for the existing rootstocks we have kept and repurposed to feed the topworked trees that are now providing wonderful apples for cider use," DeFisher said. Tasting room When their century-old barn blew down in 2012, they built their tasting barn using hand-hewn beams and reclaimed wood along with cherry and walnut wood grown on the farm to provide a rich red interior. The tasting room features large windows from which the entire operation—cider press, fermentation tanks, aging barrels, and stills— can be seen in operation, under the direction of distiller Collin McConville. Distilling fruit spirits requires some skill, McConville said, because fermented fruit contains some poisonous methyl alcohol, as well as ethyl alcohol, the drinking kind, and some other alcohols as well. The idea in distilling is to use the various boiling points of the different alcohols to separate out the desirable ethanol and retain desirable flavors and aromas. • On this side graft, the tree is left intact until the graft is established, then the trunk will be cut off above the graft and the new shoot will be trained as a central leader. PHOTO COURTESY OF APPLE COUNTRY SPIRITS The tasting room was built with a combination of old barn beams and high quality hardwood lumber cut from the farm. GREAT LAKES EXPO FRUIT, VEGETABLE AND FARM MARKET MICHIGAN EXPO GREENHOUSE GROWERS ON LI N E R EG ISTRATION SE PT. 28-NOV. 18 WWW.GLEXPO.COM R EG ISTE R BY NOV. 18 TO SAVE REGISTRATION COVERS BOTH CONFERENCES AND THE TRADE SHOW DEC. 8-10, 2015 GRAND RAPIDS, MI DEVOS PLACE CONVENTION CENTER AND THE AMWAY GRAND PLAZA HOTEL WWW.GLEXPO.COM 4,200 + attendees | 70 education sessions and workshops | 450 + exhibitors Pre-conference events on Dec. 7: Farm Market Bus Tour and National Vegetable Grafting Symposium on OHxF-87, & Pyro 233 Pears Apples on M-9 T337, M-9 PAJAM 2®, EMLA 26, Geneva® 41, Bud 118 & Bud 10 on Krymsk® 5, Krymsk® 6, Gisela® 6, Gisela® 12 Mazzard, Mahaleb & EMLA-COLT Cherries