The Appley line is a series of cysers, which are meads made from apple cider and honey. Maniacal is proud to source its cider from an Emmet County, MI orchard. The apple trees of this orchard were planted in 1942 by Stanley Vorce and include some familiar varieties as well as some that have been phased out over the last century, including Northern Spy, Kirby Delicious, Russet, Baldwin, and Red Delicious. 

Patrick has been working on bringing back the apple trees from some decades of being left to the wild, including pruning a few that were over 70 feet tall. Each year we have gotten more cider from these trees, which has enabled Maniacal to increase Appley production. 2023 was an excellent apple crop year across Michigan, so you’ll see at least 8 Appley cysers in our 2024 releases.

Family Tree

Single varietal apple “Kirby Delicious”

Release Summer 2024

15.55% 

Mead Details-

This cider was collected in the 3rd week of October 2023. 

We normally just blend all the cider we press from a few different types of apple trees. For this batch we were able to use just one type of apple to stand alone.  

we fermented this to almost dry. 

We used local Dexter Wildflower honey.

The yeast used was K1-V1116.

This mead was approximately 9 months old before bottling. 

Tasting Notes by Karl-

Now here we are with a dry take on our cysers. Using a single varietal of Michigan apples we pick and press. An exciting treat for our mead enjoyers with an appreciation for dryness!

Starting off with the nose and right away you can smell that crisp, dry apple melding into the honey. Moreover, familiar fans of our typical styles of mead will be able to notice the obvious dryness awaiting them.

Taking a sip and it’s a wave of subtle honey and apple sweetness, followed by a lovely apple tannin and finishing with a crisp dry apple note. The honey is merely playing support, keeping just enough sweetness to support the Kirby Delicious apples we used, without overtaking them. For those that like it on the dry side, you might just enjoy this semi dry mead that is certainly extra dry for our usual style.