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2 Towns Ciderhouse is an American artisan craft brewery of alcoholic cider, based in Corvallis, Oregon. A pioneer manufacturer of artisanal old world-style cider, the company is one of the largest makers of hard cider in the Pacific Northwest.
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Establishment
2 Towns Ciderhouse was launched in 2010 by three Oregonians — Lee Larsen, a graduate in finance from Oregon State University, Dave Takush, a fermentation science graduate from the same school, and graphic designer Aaron Sarnoff-Wood, a graduate of the University of Oregon.
Sarnoff-Wood initially wanted to start a brewpub and contacted his friend Larson, who shared a love for home brewing, to discuss the idea. High projected startup costs made this idea impractical, however, and the concept was abandoned.
The pair became interested in the fermentation of apple cider to create hard cider. A test batch was made to be served at 2010 at Larsen's wedding, which proved extremely popular with guests — and the trio were inspired by the positive reaction to launch a commercial enterprise specializing in the beverage.
2 Towns Ciderhouse was launched in 2010 from a small 1,000 square foot space in the Eastgate Business Center, located between Corvallis and Albany, Oregon. Despite the firm's between the small cities of Corvallis and Albany, the brand name was actually a reference to the college towns of Corvallis and Eugene, from which the three founding partners hailed.
The company sold approximately 100 cases a month during its first year of operations.
Expansion
In 2012 the need for addition production capacity forced a move to a 10,000 square foot space in the same industrial park from which the company was launched.
Production and demand continued to expand rapidly, forcing a second move to a still-larger 15,000 square foot facility located in another industrial park in Corvallis.
To meet demand 2 Towns has entered into production contracts with several orchards, agreeing to purchase the outputs of several thousand trees. The company also launched its own orchard in 2012, making use of dwarf rootstocks from old orchards which had produced cider-friendly apple varieties in a previous era. This orchard was anticipated to produce sufficient apples for between 5,000 and 7,000 cases of cider in 2015.
Product line
The first two varieties released commercially by 2 Towns were Incider, an accessible semi-sweet beverage, and "Bad Apple," a dry and higher octane brew.
Most of the 2 Towns product line are varieties of traditional fermented apple cider, generally with an alcohol content between 6 and 7 percent. Other specialty varieties are made, however, included a pear cider based beverage and other creations using a range of additive flavoring ingredients such as marionberry, cinnamon, rhubarb, nutmeg, and ginger.
In addition to its year round product line, 2 Towns makes specialized seasonal varieties and sometimes making use of barrel-aging techniques associated with the making of wine and liquor.
2 Towns products are distributed in 22-ounce bottles, 12-ounce cans, and kegs. The company's total production for 2013 was estimated at 4,500 barrels (140,000 gallons).
Marketing
In 2014 2 Towns Ciderhouse signed on as an official sponsor of the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer. According to terms of the deal 2 Towns products would be available from multiple taps at all Timbers games and at other sporting events at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland, including soccer games of the Portland Thorns FC.