Red Tank Cider Company

Tasted a gorgeous, bright, awesome,& EXTREMELY novel
Hopped cherry cider at Brooks Winery in Willamette Valley recently. Turns out their cider is available on tap at my fave winery .
It was luscious and sweet. Hood River has been known for their cherries there in the Fruit Loop. What a crazy neat discover!
Beautiful pull lever made by neighboring Kilcunda paddlemaker in Bend. Truly a gorgeous handle!

This is my favorite cider by far. It is crisp and bubbly like a good brut but has a hint of sweet apple at the back. It is hard to find ciders that aren’t super sweet like cough syrup. This is light in color but full in bright flavor. As a regular beer drinker (I like hoppy beers like Pale ales and IPAs) this cider is great for a break from beer but also stands on its own. Try it out! You won’t regret it.

Bend has long been home to Deschutes Brewery and a growing number of craft beer breweries but hard cider makers have not been on the scene to now. Curious given Bend is not far from Hood River and the Willamette Valley, both of which grow some of the finest apples, pears and berries, the juice of which is primary for hard cider making.
With thanks to my Unilocal friend Mick L who first encouraged me to explore the delights of hard cider, I was happy to find the first of Bend’s hard «cideries» had a soft opening of their tasting room last week.
THE CIDER:
Two kinds of hard apple cider available now. Happy Cider, lighter (5% alcohol) and Roughneck Cider, dryer (6%). Both are crisp, bright, and delicious with the Happy Cider displaying a bit more fruit forward.
Bring your growler and they’re licensed to fill it for you although they don’t as yet have their own growlers available to sell. Happy Cider will also be available in 16 oz cans (four packs?) in a couple of weeks.
THE TASTING ROOM:
The little tasting room, which holds the promise of good cider the minute you open the door and are greeted by the aroma of fresh apples and yeast, is a hard to find but with the search!
This is on the backside of an industrial strip of buildings right off of 9^th street on Woodland. The builidng is marked 840 Woodward on the front but you can’t see the 800 on the back where the tasting room is located.
Tasting room hours are flexible, so check their FB or web pages.
As accessibility note, this is level in. Accessible parking across the parking lot.
THE OWNERS:
The two guys who own Red Tank have put their souls into it and it shows in the whimsy of the logo, the friendly reception you receive at the tasting room and most of all in the really good cider. The cider maker, Aaron Cousins, was first trained as a wine maker before moving on to cider. Drew Wilson, co-​owner and sales guru for Red Tank, clearly shares a passion for producing a great product.
Have either one of these engaging guys tell you the fun story of how the business came to be named Red Tank.
WHERE YOU CAN BUY RED TANK CIDER:
This is a self distributed cider business. In addition to having growlers filled at the tasting room or buying four packs there, Growler Guys (located in the Primal Cuts building on Galveston) seems scheduled to have Red Tank Cider on tap there to fill growlers beginning around May 9. Broken Top Bottle Shop is scheduled to have Red Tank on tap too and the owners are lining up other places as time permits. And if you’d like to see your local watering hole have Red Tank available, talk to the decision maker and encourage them to bring Red Tank cider into their business. They’ll be glad they did!
THIS N THAT:
1) TRIVIA: Hard cider makers are classified under the same business heading as wineries by the Federal Government. No kidding. Hence the license on their wall says «winery».
2) BE A WALKING BILLBOARD: Red Tank is selling t shirts emblazoned with their cool logo on the back, so even if you can’t get Red Tank Cider in your community yet, you can order a t shirt! :-)
3) HOW TO FIND IT IF YOUR GPS DOESN’T: Don’t rely on your GPS if it wants to take you off of Highway 97 (3^rd street) via Dell to reach 800 Woodland as you’ll end up being stopped Rail Road tracks at about 680. Instead, go via Wilson Street and turn left onto 9^th at the corner where Country Deli is visible. Then take a left off of 9^th onto Woodland. If you see the 840 building, which lists Ruffwear and an auto service shop on the reader board, go to the back side of that building and you’ll find Red Tank there.