Wyndridge Farm's success with cider on display at Flower Show

YORK TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Steve and Julie Groff were living the life.

Son of a third-generation dairy farmer, Steve was a successful orthopedic surgeon. Trained as a nurse, Julie was a stay-at-home mom to their three kids and manager of the 77-acre, century-old farm they'd bought in 2000.

Together, they were raising Standardbred horses and Black Angus cattle, and exploring future business uses of their farm.

Then, in October 2011, tragedy struck. Steve had taken his new Cannondale road bike out for an inaugural spin in Glen Rock, 20 miles from the York County farm, when he was hit from behind by a car being driven at 45 m.p.h. He woke up facedown on the road with a broken neck, a concussion, and other injuries that easily could have left him quadriplegic.

"One of my partners operated on me," he says.

Steve recovered, but about a year ago, he walked away from his 20-year medical career. "My hands didn't feel the same," he recalls, "and I began to lose confidence."

Still, Steve, now 50, is proof that passion can be redirected to a new life's work, one that brings a different kind of happiness.

Steve's new career is all about the science and alchemy of creating craft cider, now the fastest-growing segment of the alcoholic beverage market. The choice was borne out of necessity - what to do for a living? - and those discussions about new business uses for the farm.

Be it luck or prescience, Steve and Julie, now 51, find themselves on track to capitalize on several burgeoning trends: the growing popularity of hard cider, especially among women who find beer too hoppy or bitter; rising interest in gluten-free food and drink; weddings and events in old barns; and locally made everything.

The Groffs began making their own cider in November 2013, and in September, with farm renovations complete, they opened a small pub room, an 80-seat tasting room and tapas-style restaurant, and a wedding/event venue in the 4,000-square-foot barn, which seats 280.

In just a few months, business has taken off.

Wyndridge Farm now sells four hard ciders, five craft beers, and two flavored sodas. The ciders and beers are available throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania and in seven counties in Maryland. Two hours away in the Philadelphia region, they're found in such establishments as McGillin's Olde Ale House, Standard Tap, and Zahav, and such supermarkets as Wegmans, Weis, and Giant.

Scott Topel, the Groffs' cider master, has also created a custom-blend cider to be sold at the Aramark stands and a new pop-up beer garden at the Philadelphia Flower Show, which runs through Sunday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch Streets.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society produces the show, which dates to 1829 and has an apple-centric history reaching back to the nonprofit's beginnings. Many cider apples, now long gone, were grown in Pennsylvania orchards at the time and exhibited at the early shows.

The Flower Show cider, at 5.5 percent alcohol, is made primarily from York and Adams Counties' Stayman-Winesap and Golden Delicious apples, but Topel has used Jonathans and Crispins, too. It's mixed (and bottled) on site, farmhouse-style, meaning it's unfiltered, tart, and cloudy, infused with a delicate scent and lots of bubbles.

The bubbling action mirrors the pace of business at this place.

In January, the farm produced 500 barrels - 31 gallons each - of beer and cider. There are now 65 employees, and on a recent Saturday, 600 meals were served. (Executive chef Matthew Siegmund uses Wyndridge ciders in his barbecue sauce, pork belly, short ribs, dressing, and dessert recipes.)

Wyndridge will host 45 weddings and 50 other events in 2015. So much is going on that 90 parking spaces will be added in April to the already-too-small 90-space lot.

"Astonishing," says Steve, who is thinking of expanding the cider/beer brand into Pittsburgh, Washington, and possibly beyond, and maybe planting an orchard to bring back heritage apples to re-create the ciders of old.

Asked whether he misses the surgeon's life, Steve quickly answers no. "This is too exciting," he says, "and we're too busy."

Joel T. Fry, curator at Bartram's Garden on the Schuylkill, explains that prior to the 20th century, cider was always "hard" - or alcoholic. "Without artificial refrigeration," he says, "sweet cider didn't last more than a day or two before it began to spoil or ferment."

Outside of Philadelphia and a few towns where beer was brewed - upper-middle-class city folks drank wine, Fry says - cider was "the major, everyday beverage at every meal in colonial and 19th-century Pennsylvania. Every farmer made his own cider, and they drank it straight or mixed with water or milk at every meal. Adults and children."

At the Flower Show, Wyndridge's PHS Horticulture Cider will be sold - not to children and minus the milk - by the bottle, in six-packs, and by the case. A portion of the proceeds will fund PHS programs.

For Flower Show information, go to theflowershow.com

EndText

Makes 4 servings

EndTextStartText

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus

1 tablespoon cold

21/2 pound pork loin roast, trimmed and tied

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 onion, peeled and sliced

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced

1 bottle (12 ounces) hard cider, plus more as necessary

EndTextStartText

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add 2 tablespoons of butter. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper to taste, and sear on all sides in the hot pan until golden brown; set aside. Add the onions and apples, and season again with salt and pepper. Cook until they begin to caramelize, then pour in the hard cider, and scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer, and nestle the browned pork roast back into the pan. Cover with a lid, and put in the oven to braise until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Remove the pork roast from the pot, and transfer to a carving board; tent with foil to keep warm. Transfer the contents of the pot to a food processor or blender (or use a stick blender), and puree, then return the puree to the pan. Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper to taste, then reduce the heat to low, and add more cider if gravy is too thick. Add the remaining tablespoon of cold butter, whisking constantly as it melts. Remove from heat when the gravy is smooth and shiny and the butter is completely melted.

4. Slice pork loin roast, and arrange on a serving platter. Serve with sauce.

Per Serving: 584 calories; 75 grams protein; 26 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams sugar; 19 grams fat; 230 milligrams cholesterol; 375 milligrams sodium; 3 grams dietary fiber.

EndText

Makes 6 servingsEndTextStartText

6 semi-dry Spanish-style chorizos (2 ounces each)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

One 24-ounce bottle hard apple cider

Crusty bread, for serving

EndTextStartText

1.   Make four 1/2-inch-deep slashes on one side of each chorizo. In a medium, deep skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the chorizos, and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

2.   Add the hard cider to the skillet, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate, and cook, turning occasionally, until the chorizos are softened and the liquid is reduced to 2/3 cup, about 30 minutes. Transfer the chorizos and sauce to a shallow bowl, and serve with hunks of crusty bread.

Make-ahead note: The chorizos can be cooked earlier in the day. Rewarm them in a covered skillet over low heat. Note: For a cocktail-style appetizer, cut the chorizos into 1-inch pieces after cooking them, and serve with toothpicks.

Per Serving (without bread): 332 calories; 13 grams protein; 14 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams sugar; 27 grams fat; 50 milligrams cholesterol;

704 milligrams sodium; no dietary fiber.EndText

215-854-5720

facebook.com/InqGardening

@inkygardener

www.philly.com/kisstheearth