Website: https://brightwoodcraftcider.com/
Brightwood Craft Cider is a craft cider maker handcrafting cider in Nashville, Tennessee. The company produces small-batch, handcrafted cider, describing its process simply as freshly-pressed juice, yeast, and lots of T.L.C. Its brand philosophy centers on what it calls uncomplicated goodness. The cidery is owned and operated by founders and cider makers Brandon Cline and Katherine Vance, who handle production themselves, and the company emphasizes its connection to the city of Nashville with the tagline that its cider is handcrafted in Nashville, TN.
Products
Brightwood Craft Cider’s flagship offering is Down The Way, a dry cider made with apples sourced solely from orchards in Tennessee and the surrounding region. Its stated specifications are:
- ABV: 6.8 percent
- Ingredients: Unfiltered juice from fresh, regional apples and champagne yeast
- Residual sugars: None
- Added flavors: None
- Gluten free: Yes, naturally
- Sparkling: Yes
- Packaging: Available on draft or in 750mL bottles
The company notes that each vintage differs based on that year’s harvest, and that production is small-batch, with a batch number designated on bottles and kegs. The 2022 blend was made with Stayman, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Fuji, and Golden and Red Delicious apples, with fruit sourced in part from a family orchard in the foothills of the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains.
About
Katherine Vance is from outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Brandon Cline is from the California coast. The two met in Virginia more than a decade ago and moved to Nashville in 2015, where they began experimenting with cider in the basement of their rental home on Brightwood Avenue, which gave the company its name. They spent years testing apple blends and yeast strains, at one point running roughly 60 batches fermenting simultaneously, before officially launching the company in 2019. The founders credit Potter’s Craft Cider in Virginia as the inspiration that started their cider-making, and they describe those founders as mentors and friends. The company expresses its mission as a dedication to craft, community support, and continuous innovation.
Location and Contact
- Location: Nashville, Tennessee
- Email: [email protected]
- Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm; Saturday, 10am to 3pm
Additional Information
The company’s website includes pages for its cider, its story, retailers, and contact, along with an online cart for purchases. The retailers section is intended to help customers locate where the cider is carried, reflecting that Brightwood’s products are distributed to outside accounts in addition to being sold directly. The company underscores that its apples come from orchards in Tennessee and the surrounding region, tying its sourcing to its home state and its Nashville base. Its description of the Down The Way cider as containing no residual sugars and no added flavors reflects the brand’s stated commitment to uncomplicated goodness, with the finished cider depending on the quality of the fruit and the fermentation rather than added ingredients. The founders close their story with a stated dedication to friends, family, the city of Nashville, and their cider, summarizing the company’s community-oriented outlook.
Profile compiled from the company’s official website (brightwoodcraftcider.com).