SHARED UNIVERSE
Shared Universe is our collaborative series.
STYLE I Cider and beer share more than just being alcoholic beverages. Styles like the Berliner Weisse and gose typically try to emulate fruity characteristics as do sour dry hopped beer. Our aim is to show the parallels between the two styles by teaming up some of our favorite breweries, wineries and meaderies. The collaborative cider goes into our Shared Universe line and the collaborative beer / wine / mead goes into their line. Even though we collaborate with breweries, all of our cider remains gluten-free.
#SHAREDUNIVERSE
Nouveau
Riche
September 2023 | Hoof Hearted Brewing
A collaboration born out of love for natural wines and funky fruit fermentations. We decided to approach NY-grown English Morello cherries in the same fashion that wine grapes are treated by fermenting using a technique called carbonic maceration. Carbonic maceration creates esters (fruity-smelling chemical compounds) that give certain unmistakable flavors to red wines and in our case, cherries. During the carbonic maceration processes, the entire cherry was fermented until the skins burst inside the tank. We then took this spontaneously fermented cherry juice and blended California white wine concentrate with champagne yeast, wild yeast, and bacteria to enhance the natural wine characteristics found in this style of wine. Finally, the ferment was finished off by blending in barrel-aged New York cider. Deliciously juicy and elevated in flavor, this nontraditional style is hella nouveau rich and spits in the face of convention.
The
Whole
Bush
July 2023 | Botanist and Barrel
At Graft, we’re always pushing the boundaries of ingredient innovation and sustainable agriculture. So when we teamed up with @botanistandbarrel, we knew we had to try something daring: fermenting an entire blueberry bush!
We've created a rarely-seen collaboration by exchanging wild yeast cultures via snail mail and utilizing each other's unique strains. With good reason, most companies, if not all, are intensely protective over their yeast. House yeast cultures are what make a beverage so unique. It's part of what makes their liquid taste like their liquid. Our focus at Graft is on the impact of yeast on our ferments rather than obsessing over apple varieties.
By incorporating Botanist and Barrel's proprietary yeast strain into our fermentation process, we've infused their cider's essence into our cider. The result? A unique ferment featuring blueberries, blueberry wood, and blueberry leaves. The wood imparts a touch of fruitiness and tannin, while the leaves add floral notes reminiscent of dried white tea.
Falling
Flowers
May 2023 | Forest & Main Brewery
We collaborated with Frost & Main Brewery out of PA to create Falling Flowers, a two-way collaboration.
We were inspired by Forest and Main's love for saisons and the lushness of spring.
We co-fermented using their house saison yeast with our wild yeast strain and Hudson Valley-grown apples. We blended the co-ferment with wildflower honey and tangerine and "dry hopped" the cider with fragrant apple blossoms, jasmine, and rose petals. The end result is an aromatic and lively saison nose featuring notes of hay, citrus, and flowers. Underneath that bright exterior lies a dry farmhouse cider. We are delighted with the outcome and think you will be too.
Ceremony
January 2023 | Evil Twin Brewing
We teamed up with Evil Twin Brewing out of New York City to create Ceremony, a two-way collaboration.
Our side of the collaboration is a Yuzu Champagne Cider that tastes like popped natty Champagne, freshly squeezed yuzu, and ceremonial Japanese tea.
We co-fermented our cider with wild and champagne yeast on top of a yuzu emulsion and Riesling grape skins sourced from @brotherhoodwinery. After aging, we steeped a tea with silver needle white tea and ginger and added some more white grape juice to the final concoction before cranking the carbonation up on this for a sparkling beverage to bring in the new year.
@eviltwinbrewingnyc created a champagne blonde ale that’s brewed with champagne yeast & conditioned on yuzu, riesling grapes, ginger, & white tea
Foeder
Forces
November 2022 | Proclamation Ale Company
When foeders and Rock'em Sock'em robots come together, they create the ultimate fighting machine, FOEDER FORCES.
Foeder Force is a 2-way collaboration with Proclamation Ale Works in Warwick, RI.
Foeder Forces is part of our Shared Universe Collaboration line. The purpose of this line is to show how beverages, in this case, beer and cider, can create similar flavors and styles.
Both us and Proc enjoy a good aged sour beverage, so we opted to trade yeast cultures from our foeders. Don't worry; our side of the collaboration is still GLUTEN-FREE.
We co-fermented our juice with Procs Oakville culture, creating a tart flavor profile. Once fermentation was complete, we blended Balaton Cherries, Juniper Berries, Keffir Lime Leaves, and Black Pepper to finish the cider.
Tart, lightly sweet with a hint of dark cherry, gin, and pepper, this cider is ready for fight night.
Strange
Range
August 2022 | Crooked Stave
We teamed up with @crookedstave out of Denver, Colorado, to make Strange Range, a Brett Fermented Farmhouse Cider.
We have always admired Crooked Staves liquid, even from the beginning of Graft, so needless to say; we are excited to work with them. Every collaboration starts with deciding the style of the cider + beer. We landed on making a farmhouse-style cider.
We wanted the liquid to reflect traditional French-style cider nuances, so we fermented using high-tannin French apples for the base ferment.
Next, we co-fermented Crooked Staves house brett yeast strain with the high tannin juice, which created the perfect environment for the yeast to feed. Brett yeast loves high tannin juice. Through fermentation, the Brett produced leather, hay, and light bandaid notes synonymous with French cider.
Next, we added Spanish cedar staves to age on the liquid, resulting in light pepper and citrus notes. Finally, we blended our house foeder cider with the Brett fermented tannic cider, making the final blend.
Heat
Wave
July 2022 | Bronx Brewery
Heat Wave is a Spicy Watermelon Lime Cider we made with our local community-driven friends at The Bronx Brewery. The colab was based around an ingredient that could serve as a learning tool for Bronx elementary school kids in the form of eatable education. We headed to Randals Island to meet up with a Bronx-based elementary school. Randals Island hosts edible educational tours to schools in the surrounding area. The students toured the farm and sampled herbs and vegetables picked with their hands. The tour ended with each child getting a cayenne planter to grow and care for at home. We used this pepper as the link between both our cider and beer. Who knew learning could taste so delicious.
Forgotten Rituals
June 2022 | Ritual Hard Kombucha
We collaborated with ourselves, we don't know if that's cheating, but we did it.
We are super excited to announce that we are launching a hard kombucha brand named @drinkritual on June 1st. We noticed tons of west coast kombucha companies, but nothing crafted here on the east coast. Ritual is made here in New York, and since hard kombucha is gluten-free, we can make it at the same location where we make Graft. Ritual uses only organic ingredients and is brewed with the highest quality tea.
We are mentioning Ritual here because we believe if you enjoy Graft, you will like Ritual too. We noticed yall like low-sugar beverages, exciting flavors, and dope branding. That's Ritual. Give Ritual a follow @DrinkRitual if we have piqued your interest. This will help us grow and get the good word out there about our new project!
LET'S TALK COLLAB!
We (Graft) made a Peach match kombucha cider with Ritual. Forgotten Rituals (the collab cider) is co-fermented with NY apples and nonalcoholic kombucha. We added peach and matcha into the blend and left it alone to do its thing for a bit. By blending these two beverage styles, the collaboration cider ended up with a dynamic and diverse flavor profile.
With this collaboration, we wanted to take a little bit of what we were doing with Ritual, like using adaptations and whole leaf tea, then pairing it up with apothecary-like flavors.
Borrowed Design
April 2022 | Finback Brewery
Borrowed Design is a 6.9%abv Cab Franc Amaro Cider that has so many different components flying around in your mouth at one time like - earthy, bitter, and tannins.
We opted to use a Cab Franc grape-based cider aged on top of Cab Franc grape skins to impart tannin and different winey notes.
Sometimes, we make final decisions right at the tank based on how things are tasting, which is why we wrote "a blend of spices, roots, and citrus" on the ingredient label instead of listing all the bittering herbs individually.
When it comes to the simplest Amaros, most use at least ten ingredients off the bat; our rendition is no exception.
A few bittering ingredients we used are - birch bark (traditionally used in birch soda), orange peel (a classic), gentian root (for bittering), and sumac (tartness - herbaceousness) which you can find everywhere in the Hudson Valley.
Brave
Noise
February 2022 | BRAVE NOISE
TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD-ONE CIDER AT A TIME.
Our version of @BRAVENOISEBEER is a Hopped Lemon Sherbert Cider that tastes like Lemon Sherbert, Honeysuckle, and Hop Water. This cider is Gluten-free, 6.9% ABV, and gives back too.
We are donating $2,000 from our Brave Noise profits to @beerkulture. Beer Kulture has advanced and created opportunities that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion within the craft beverage space. In addition, @bluelabelpackaging (who we source our beautiful can labels from) provided our labels at no cost so we could donate an additional $500 to Beer Kulture for a total donation of $2,500.
The concept of Brave Noise came about when the question "Have you ever experienced sexism in the beer industry?" was asked by Brienne Allan @ratmagnet, a seasoned brewer, on IG last year.
We here at Graft were pretty shocked by some of the responses coming out of the industry. To put it lightly, the shocking part wasn't the shitty behavior people exhibited, the shocking part was the reactions of others who were surprised that "these things were going on".
To be clear, we here at Graft have a zero-tolerance policy for any type of negative behavior, be it micro sexual aggression, discrimination of any sort, or anything that just "feels wrong".
"Brienne's inquiry sent shockwaves throughout craft beer, subsequently inspiring a BEVOLUTION. To keep the momentum going; to honor those who have spoken out about their gender discrimination, racism, sexual assault, and harassment; and to bring further awareness to the issues that women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ individuals face in craft beer, a collaborative brew titled “Brave Noise” was created.
We may not brew beer here at Graft. But we didn't want that to stop us from MAKING NOISE.
To date, we only know of one other cidery that has created a BRAVE NOISE cider.
We invite the rest of the cider industry to join, create awareness, ferment some weird cider and help spread the message that all are welcome here.
Big
Farma
November 2021 | Cushwa Brewing Co
BIG FARMA is a smoked peach maple bourbon smash cider we made with our new friends from Cushwa BrewingCo in MD. The inspiration came from making a completely out there yet delicious cocktail perfect for the fall season. Starting with the fall classic, peach, we added layers of complexity with bourbon and light wood-smoked flavors, finishing it off with a touch of maple syrup and fall spices. You can expect notes of fire-roasted peaches, fall spices, and mulled cider. We cannot wait for you all to experience the flavors we were able to create together.
Nouveau
Riche
September 2021 | Hoof Hearted Brewing
A collaboration born out of love for natural wines and funky fruit fermentations. We decided to approach NY-grown English Morello cherries in the same fashion that wine grapes are treated by fermenting using a technique called carbonic maceration. Carbonic maceration creates esters (fruity-smelling chemical compounds) that give certain unmistakable flavors to red wines and in our case, cherries. During the carbonic maceration processes, the entire cherry was fermented until the skins burst inside the tank. We then took this spontaneously fermented cherry juice and blended California white wine concentrate with champagne yeast, wild yeast, and bacteria to enhance the natural wine characteristics found in this style of wine. Finally, the ferment was finished off by blending in barrel-aged New York cider. Deliciously juicy and elevated in flavor, this nontraditional style is hella nouveau rich and spits in the face of convention.
Girl
Crush
May 2021 | Talea Beer Co
WHO RUNS THE WORLD? GIRLS!
We collaborated with our friends from Talea Beer Co to create Girl Crush. Inspired by a Paloma, a tequila-based cocktail, we fermented grapefruit and agave for the base of the cider, then layered in more grapefruit, agave, and a touch of sea salt for a more complex flavor. Girl Crush uses the whole grapefruit for a touch of bitterness, lime to add brightness, NY apples, hibiscus for a natural colorant, and sea salt to enhance all flavors.
Luminous Ascent
April 2021 | Folksbier
Luminous Ascent was made in collaboration with our Brooklyn-based buds at @Folksbier. We drew inspiration from Folksbier’s “Glow Up” gose series that utilizes citrus and salt in each brew. We wanted our cider to “Glow Up” too, thus gave way to our version, a Bergamot Tangelo Gose Cider. Folksbier likes to work with whole citrus fruit, so we zested and juiced whole Minneola Tangelos and Bergamot Oranges, then left the juice and zest to ferment with our sour cider and NY honey. Finished with a touch more honey and a pinch of sea salt and Luminous Ascent is ready to grace your taste buds.
Defy
Empire
FEBRUARY 2021 | Lamplighter Brewing Co
This Shared Universe collaboration tastes like our classic Cloud City, but with a twist. Inspired by Lamp’s use of Stratta hops, we dumped a figurative ton into our cider. Strata hops are known to be bright and tropical hops that end with light bittering notes. We knew that we would be using a blended mix of fermented and unfermented passion fruit, strawberry, orange zest, and vanilla; ingredients that trick the taste buds into thinking they are sampling a sweet flavor. By utilizing the bitterness of Strata hops, we were able to create a balanced fruity dry cider.
Sweet
Berry
Wine!
DECEMBER 2020 | Aslin Beer Co
Sweet berry Wine!; is a Gluten-Free collaboration cider we made with Aslin Beer Co’s new winery, Blüm, is a Cab Franc Blueberry Blackberry Cider that tastes like its namesake, Sweet Berry Wine!. When natural wine meets dark juicy fruit, you get Sweet Berry Wine, supposed to spit it out but no way José
Far Away
From Home
NOVEMBER 2020 | Collective Arts Brewery
We teamed up with Collective Arts Brewing out of Canada, to create Far Away From Home. Our mutual love for all things Gin inspired us to create this Alpine Negroni cider. Our side of the collaboration uses NY Apples and wild brett yeast. After fermentation was complete, we blended Juniper berries, Rosemary & Spruce Infused Simple Syrup, which made us feel like we were standing next to a fresh-cut Christmas tree. Next, we steeped Dried Blood Orange and Lapsang Souchong Smoked Tea to extract the flavors locked inside. Finishing the blend with hibiscus, which added a reddish hue to the cider as well as mouth-puckering tartness. We hope you enjoy this wild inspiration that blurs the lines once again!
Red
Spacecar
AUGUST 2020 | Stillwater Artisanal
Red Spacecar is an oak-aged red wine cider hybrid that tastes like black currant jam, red licorice, and black pepper. We dreamt up this collab with Stillwater Artisanal while hiking the Great Wall in China together. Wanting to bring the convergence of three beverages cider, beer & wine, we decided on making a cider spontaneously fermented with fresh-pressed cab franc grape skins for two weeks, then racked and aged in oak for ten months. Next, we dry-hopped Pacific Gem hops, which match the cab franc's flavors with forest berries, pepper, and warm oak flavors. For the label, we chose to use the iconic red Tesla car launched into space to showcase the innovation of the weird and strange.
People
Power
JULY 2020 | ACLU + People Power Beer
CIDER THAT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER...Let's start off with these statements: Black lives matter and trans lives matter. The gender wage gap is real; women should not have to fight for reproductive rights continually, and please stop separating immigrant families at the border.
.
We here at Graft are presented with a unique opportunity in partnership with @peoplepowerbeer to help raise awareness and money for the @aclu_nationwide by utilizing our distribution network. Our version of People Power, a blackberry blueberry gose cider that tastes like blueberry Fun Dip, blackberry jam, and blueberry pancakes.
Borrowed Design
MAY 2020 | Finback Brewery
We reunited with Finback Brewery (Queens) to bring you Borrowed Design. Last fall, we took a field trip to Brotherhood Winery (oldest U.S. winery) in pursuit of Riesling skins. We let our respective brews spontaneously ferment on the skins for two months before racking and aging, similar to an orange wine. These intriguing flavors excited us and sparked an idea to create an amaro-inspired cider, as we found similarities to vermouth. Borrowed Design, a RIESLING AMARO CIDER tastes like DEEP CHERRY, CAMPARI, ALPINE VERMOUTH, AND ORANGE WINE. We hope you enjoy this wild inspiration that blurs the lines once again!
Binary
Stars
APRIL 2020 | LIC Beer Project
We teamed up with LIC Beer Project out of Queens, New York, to create Binary Stars. Dan, an owner of LIC, expressed interest in fermenting with Melon, an ingredient we have yet to use in our cider line. The aromatics from this cider stems from dry hopping with Huell Melon and Mandarin Bavaria hops, which smell like honeydew melon and faint strawberry. Don’t let these spring ingredients deceive you; Binary Stars is as complex as the galaxy itself. Taste like briney melon, curacao amaro, and orange crush.
Verdant
Planet
MARCH 2020 | THIN MAN BREWERY
Dry-hopped with Hallertau Blanc & Pekko Hops for white grape, fresh lemongrass stalk, grapefruit flavors followed up with woody earthy characteristics from Spanish Cedar. We co-fermented with NY apples and quince for an appley and astringent - tart backbone. Think El Cedro from Jester King but in cider form!
Monkey
Business
FEBRUARY 2020 I CROOKED RUN BREWING
We teamed up with Crooked Run Brewing out of Sterling, VA, who is known for their experimental and innovative beer program; to create a banana coconut cream cider named“Money Business”. Jake, owner of Crooked Run is a lover of dessert pies and wanted to create a “drinkable” pie which gave way to the creation of Monkey Business. 🍌Let the drooling commence with flavors of coconut cream pie, french vanilla pudding, fresh cut bananas, and milk chocolate shavings to tickle your pallet.
Martian
Agriculture
NOVEMBER 2019 | DOUBLE NICKEL BREWING CO.
"The terraforming efforts of mars could not be accomplished by human hands alone. Self Replicating robots instead were sent en masse to complete the tasks that would seem routine on earth. within 500 years the planet would be ready for human settlement but for now, the martian planet would be home to the robots alone."
CIDER BY GRAFT
MARTIAN AGRICULTURE | Bourbon peach country cider infused peach cider aged with oak, cinnamon, & vanilla. (12oz can)
BEER BY DOUBLE NICKEL BREWING CO.
RUSTLER COUNTRY BEER | Brewed with freshly harvested and pressed New York apples, Ceylon cinnamon, & Madagascan vanilla. (16oz can)
Worlds
Collide
SEPTEMBER 2019 I REVEL CIDER
This collaboration with @revelcider was an attempt to show the duality of the current cider industry from fast turn forced carb canned products to long term aging in oak with natural carbonation. 80% of the orange wine - cider hybrid was canned for the first collaboration, WORLDS APART which was released last December. The remaining 20% was aged for an additional 9 months in neutral oak barrels, then bottle conditioned with champagne yeast. We hope you get a chance to enjoy both renditions!
NOTES: A wine cider hybrid that bridges fruit, ideology & borders.
Modern
Tribes
MARCH 2019 I OLD WESTMINSTER WINERY
Modern Tribes is the first of a two part collaboration with natural winery, Old Westminster, out of Maryland. Their freshly picked Cab Franc grapes were pressed and trucked up to Graft. The grape skins spontaneously co-fermented with NY apples, utilizing the wild yeast found on the skins of the grapes & apples for several weeks. The cider-wine hybrid was then wracked off and aged in freshly dumped Syrah barrels from the Winery to age for 6 months.
NOTES: Rustic Rosè Cider
Worlds
Appart
DECEMBER 2018 I REVEL CIDER
Worlds Apart is the first of a two part collaboration with Ontario based Revel Cider. A cider that challenges both the modern and traditionalist cidermaking methods. Worlds Apart was spontaneously fermented on Gewurztraminer grape skins, blended with red & white wine grape concentrate & ferment to dryness.
NOTES: A wine cider hybrid that bridges fruit, ideology & borders.
GOJIRA!
OCTOBER 2018 I NEWBURGH BREWING CO.
While origins remain foggy, many suspect the beast was born out of neglect towards our planet after years of nuclear testing. Nearby military bases deny any connection, but were first to call upon Nomad and Dog for help. His skin seems to deflect all firepower...when provoked, he expels white-hot magma and his gruesome roars are ear-splitting. Who will find what it takes to strike Gojira down and end this madness?
NOTES: Dry hopped peach & apricot cider with Citra & Sorachi Ace hops and aged on Spanish Cedar.
Sidracca
AUGUST 2018 / OXBOW BREWING COMPANY
We worked to recreate one of our favorite farmhouse style beers created by Oxbow, Grizacca. We used a blend of cider fermented with our wild brett yeast strain then dry hopped with the same hops Oxbow uses for Grizacca. Hops sourced from Roy’s Farm, azacca & simcoe.
NOTES: A light and refreshingly dry hopped brett
fermented cider.
Filling
the Void
JULY 2018 / COLLECTIVE ARTS BREWING
The vast mysteries of the sea have remained unsolved since we were first drawn to it. To harness its power, depth and wisdom at once would be absurd. However, reason can be shattered as swiftly as assumption: without limitation, we can begin to fill the void.
NOTES: Hop soursop margarita cider with motueka
hops, lemon & lime zest, milk sugar & sea salt.
Hill
Country
APRIL 2018 / BIG HILL CIDERWORKS
As your trek continues, pay close attention to the culling whispers of the night. They will lead to you to tainted streams that bring on delirium and fever chills. Rather, listen for the warbler’s call which will lead you to fresh water and edible greens. Rely on strong cordage to hoist your supplies high from the thieving warren rabbits.
NOTES: A blend of wild yeast fermented barrel aged cider dry hopped with whole cone citra & spanish cedar.
Origami
MARCH 2018 / FINBACK
Accuracy Shines
Paper Kestrels With Gold Wings
Adapt To See Inside
NOTES: Hop strawberry mochi style cider with matcha, citra hops, milk sugar, and vanilla.
Banana
Them
All
to Hell
FEBRUARY 2018 / SLIM PICKENS
Left with a damaged shuttle and few options, Nomad roams the mysterious jungle surrounding him. He reaches a splintered statue proving that man has conquered this island before...but things don’t seem so “appealing.” Dr. Pickens’ admiration for tropical fruit led to his demise, but the natives are far from ending this party...
NOTES: Banana Fosters style cider with banana, milk sugar, dark rum and vanilla.
Strange
Lands
OCTOBER 2017 / ASLIN BEER CO
In between the thin line that divided his mind and reality, Nomad wandered. His world which had seemed so clear was distorting and shifting. At the edge of his madness he came upon his reflection, uniting with his other half.
NOTES: A juicy hopped gose cider with loads of peach, citra luplin powder, ginger, vanilla and sea salt.
Hivemind
SEPTEMBER 2017/CHARM CITY MEADWORKS
A world gone mad where bee’s have seized control over the minds of men. Our hero finds himself in a sticky situation as attack bees comb the hive. His only chance to survival is to destroy the mainframe and queen bee with it.
NOTES: Creamy and lemony hopped mochi cyser with matcha, citra hops, milk sugar and lemongrass.