Local craft brewer Evan Hiatt has been tapped as cider master of the upcoming Brick River Cider Co. Hiatt was co-founder and brewmaster of Six Row Brewing Co., which closed in 2015, then served as brewmaster for Pappo’s Pizzeria & Brew Co., which took over the Six Row space and closed this spring.
As The Scoop reported in April, Brick River is rehabbing a former downtown firehouse at 2000 Washington Ave. and will be the first dedicated cidery in St. Louis.
“I had my eye on Evan for a while because he’s one of the few people who has winery experience in addition to beer experience,” said Brick River founder Russ John. “He worked several years at Les Bourgeois, one of the largest wineries in Missouri, so he has an understanding of how working with a natural product like fruit juice is a little different than brewing.”
Hiatt said he looked forward to combining both his beer and winemaking skills.
“Cider is nice because it’s a hybrid of beer and wine,” Hiatt said. “The technical side of it is all winemaking. You’re starting with a fruit juice, but you’re carbonating it at the end, kind of like a beer. And you end up with something really unique. It’s pretty exciting.”
Brick River is still on track for a fall opening, hopefully by Halloween.
Matt Sorrell is a staff writer at Sauce Magazine.
This article appears in June 2017.