Millstone Cellars - Monkton

This small cider mill in Monkton is simply awesome. Deceptively small on the outside, once you step through the door it seems to blossom into a spacious interior chock full of cider barrels, art and bucolic charm to spare. It's rustic and rural feel, accented with strings of hanging lights reminds me of something out of an eighties movie, think final party scene from footloose! The wife and I took in a bluegrass band (cleverly named Fried Pickin! this past Friday. We sat precious few feet away from the band on bales of hay covered with burlap! Does it get any better then that! There is no food to accompany their unique selection of ciders, meads and cysers (they need a food truck outside! but you are welcome to bring a picnic. They also give tours which I haven't had the pleasure to take in yet.

Stopped in on a lovely fall afternoon, the great day for it! Worth noting- parking lot is VERY small, so we wound up parking in a friend's car. At the time of this review, we received a free glass, tour, and tasting! I know other places charge for things like that, so it was nice to have a cheaper than expected visit! I wasn't the biggest fan of the ciders that were available- all more sour than I prefer, but their ingredients are locally sourced (which is a bonus for those who do like them! .

What an awesome establishment this is! Housed in a beautifully restored 18th century farmhouse mill, this place is churning out some of the best ciders, meads, and cysers I've ever had...and in Monkton, of all places! I was very excited to check this out after sampling some of their ciders during a sour beer event in Baltimore, and then finally finding a convenient day to go with my girlfriend. The tastings/tours are free and very fun. Just walk in any time between 12 6 on a Saturday or Sunday and join up with the next tour taking off from the entrance, and soon you'll be shown the building, history, and process behind the drinks over the course of about a half hour. The staff is incredibly friendly, and even after hours of showing folks around, still seemed enthusiastic and excited to show us the building. After the tour, they allow small sample pours of several of their offerings, including some rarities which was a nice surprise. You're free to hang out upstairs afterwards and drink pours from 3 taps, fill growlers, and buy bottles and merch. A must visit if you are in the area.

So this place has a hipster feel and yet not exclusionary. Tours and samplings of over a dozen ciders are free, so it 's a great place to take a little picnic (their website encourages it! . Came with some friends in December. It 's an old mill (i.e. poorly insulated so it was quite cold when we went there in December. There 's a lovely outside deck that overlooks the millstone well; when the weather 's warm, I imagine this is a pleasant place to enjoy some food and cider! Most of their ciders are on the dry side. In general, their few sweeter ones are only semi-sweet. I happen to like a dry cider, but I was puckering up for a while after drinking so many dry ciders. Return a bottle for a $1 credit and enjoy a few that they have on tap. My favorites: Farmgate, Cherrykriek, Thistle mead, and Hopvine. The Pomme Jacques is a pretty good take on apple brandy! Definitely a great place to enjoy local cider.

This is one of my new favorite places to take friends who are visiting in town. There's a free cider tasting and tour of the mill, and everything looks rustic AF. Love it--totally my aesthetic. If you're into sour and dry ciders (also ceysers and meads , this is definitely the place for you. Everything they make here is all natural and they have a lot of experimental, creative, small-batch ciders that cycle every season/year, which adds some fun variety to their classic winners. Definitely do the tasting, then head up to the tasting room, order your fave cider and have a picnic (bring your own food! .