Evanston’s Howard Street business district could soon be home to a hard cider brewery.
Evanston City Council gave special use zoning approval Monday for a craft brewery, North Shore Cider Company, to occupy space at 707 Howard Street.
Chris Collins, the founder of the business, told City Council members he is ready to launch the business at the site by late fall or early next year.
Collins plans to manufacture hard cider on site, using apples and pear juice delivered from a farm in southwest Michigan, he said Monday at the City Council Planning and Development Committee meeting.
Initially, the cider will be sold for off-site consumption. Collins said plans call for limited retail at the start.
Collins said juice will be delivered to the business after the harvest season ends in August. Yeast is then added to the juice so it can ferment into alcohol cider, he explained. The cider is then chilled and bottled on site.
Because the fermenting process for cider doesn’t go through a heating process, the vapors released into the air won’t have a pungent odor, as is the case of beer, he told City Council members.
Collins said he hopes to eventually sell retail and have the brand in restaurants and bars.
At retail, a 22-ounce bottle of cider would go for about $7, he said. Alcohol per volume will run about 6 percent, he said.
In response to a question from Ald. Ann Rainey, Collins said the next closest cidery is Right Bee Cider, located in Lincoln Park.
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