Craft Cider Houses in North Georgia
Apple season in the North Georgia mountains isn’t just about picking crisp fruit from the orchard; it’s also about raising a glass to one of the season’s most refreshing drinks: hard cider. 🍎🍺 With local orchards brimming with apples, it’s the perfect time to taste how North Georgia cider houses turn that harvest into something fizzy and flavorful.
Whether you’re after a crisp, dry sip on a warm afternoon or something a little sweeter by the fire, these cider spots offer a unique way to enjoy the region’s apple bounty. And with only a handful of cideries tucked into the mountains, visiting them feels like discovering one of North Georgia’s best-kept secrets. Don’t wait too long, though; fall is peak season, and the taps are flowing now. 🍂✨
Hard Cider in North Georgia
Support local orchards, meet the makers, and discover your new favorite Georgia craft cider—one pour at a time. 🍎🍺🍏🍻
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Craft Cider in North Georgia
Sip something crisp in apple country. 🍎✨ Explore craft cider houses in North Georgia and experience small-batch hard cider made from local fruit in the Georgia Mountains! Expect rotating cider flights, to-go cans & growlers, live music, plus seasonal small batches you won’t find anywhere else.
Discover tasting rooms offering flights ranging from dry to semi-sweet, seasonal releases (think peach, blackberry, and spiced), and patio vibes with stunning views. No matter the season, these hard-cider houses make a perfect add-on to your North Georgia visits to Ellijay and Blue Ridge. 🥂
North Georgia Cider Map
Georgia is home to many fantastic wineries, breweries, and distilleries, and you may not even know that there are also great places to find fruit-based hard ciders in North Georgia! This interactive map can help you locate the local meadery or cider house closest to you. Click the checkboxes to add nearby wineries and/or meaderies to the map.
In addition to the great local cider, there are a lot of nearby North Georgia’s u-pick apple orchards in the Ellijay area too!
Local Ciders in North Georgia
While in North Georgia, take advantage of the local places to sample unique craft ciders made locally in the Georgia mountains. Use the map to find the closest location and plan a great trip with your friends and family.
Mercier Orchards (Blue Ridge)
🍏 Mercier Orchards has been in business for over 75 years and is known for its U-pick events and bakery cafe.
Mercier Orchards Hard Cider Flight
Mercier Orchard in Blue Ridge, GA, offers an orchard and market experience that begins at the original farm location at 8660 Blue Ridge Drive. This family-friendly destination opens early every day and invites you to dine at their cafe, to pick your own fruit (seasonal), to try the adventure/obstacle course, fish in the catch-and-release pond, and purchase a flight or glass of their hard ciders and fruit wines! The large market store is packed with locally made treats that make great gifts.
The primary market and bakery are open daily, while the farm café is open on Saturdays through Mondays. Other events are seasonal and depend on harvest dates. Mercier Orchards is closed on holidays.
Dogs are allowed outside on the Hard Cider Deck but not inside the market or in the orchards.
- ☎️ Phone: +1 (800) 361-7731
- 📍 Address: 8660 Blue Ridge Drive, Blue Ridge, GA
- 🌐 Website: mercier-orchards.com
- 👍 Facebook: Mercier Orchards has 129,000+ followers
- 🗨️ TripAdvisor: Mercier Orchards is rated 4.6 with 2,525+ reviews
- 🍻 Untappd: Mercier Orchards is rated 3.6 with 5,925+ ratings
Reece’s Cider Company (Ellijay)
Hard Ciders at Reece’s Cider Co in Ellijay GA
North Georgia’s only dedicated hard cidery, Reece’s Cider Co, is all about hard apple cider, and it shows in the sheer number of flavors on tap. 🍎 From crisp and dry to sweet and seasonal, this Ellijay spot offers the most variety and focus for cider lovers in the mountains. ✨
🍎 Reece’s Cider Company opened in September 2021 and produces a wide variety of delicious hard ciders on-site. The craft ciders are available by the glass, flight, or bottle, and range from semi-dry (Ellijay Apple) to semi-sweet (Ol’ Red) and sweet (Poppy’s Pick). Additionally, you’ll also find unexpected flavors offered in limited batches (Hops of Jupiter, The Tango, and Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies). 🍻 The tasting room at Reece’s Cider also offers craft beer, local wines, and a selection of snack foods. Food trucks visit on weekends.
💡🍏🍎 Pro Tip: Ask for a mix of ciders in your pints or take-home growlers (our current favorite is a 50/50 blend of Frostbite and Ellijay Apple).
Reece’s Cider Company is open daily and has live music on weekends. Picnic tables are next to the tasting room, and outdoor seating is available. The indoor and outdoor spaces are both family-friendly and pet-friendly. 🐶
- ☎️ Phone: +1 (706) 635-2775
- 📍 Address: 9110 Georgia Highway 52, Ellijay, GA
- 🌐 Website: reecescidercompany.com
- 👍 Facebook: Reece’s Cider Co. has 8,000+ followers
- 🗨️ TripAdvisor: Reece’s Cider Co. is rated 4.8 with 15+ reviews
- 🍻 Untappd: Reece’s Cider Company is rated 3.8 with 2,250+ ratings
Roo Mountain Vineyards (Ellijay)
🍷🍏 Best known for wine, Roo Mountain also crafts a few hard ciders, which make a refreshing option for visitors looking to try something different between vineyard tastings.
Roo Mountain Hard Cider
Roo Mountain Vineyards opened in July 2023 with three varieties of hard cider for sale. Pick up a glass or growler of the craft cider, or try one of the other drinks available.
Roo Mountain Vineyards is now open daily to adults 21 and older, featuring live music on weekends. The outdoor spaces are dog-friendly for leashed dogs. The indoor tasting room is now open and serving, offering more comfortable tasting options, regardless of the weather.
- ☎️ Phone: +1 (706) 502-3935
- 📍 Address: 1493 Old Flat Branch Road, Ellijay, GA
- 🌐 Website: roomountainvineyards.com
- 👍 Facebook: Roo Mountain Vineyards has 9,900+ followers
- 🗨️ Tripadvisor: Roo Mountain Vineyards is rated 4.0 with 20+ reviews
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Note that Waldmet Cellars in Jasper closed permanently on December 31, 2022.
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North Georgia Hard Cider at Reece’s Cider Co, Ellijay
What are your favorite hard ciders from North Georgia? 🍎🍺🍏🍻🥂🧃
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Visit these articles to learn about other types of locally produced alcoholic beverages:
- 🍺Craft Breweries of North Georgia
- 🍸North Georgia Distilleries
- 🍻Local Meaderies in North Georgia
- 🍷North Georgia Winery Guide
Cheers!
I just read your post on North Georgia scenic drives and wondering and checking the distance, place, etc from New York. My mind says, go now and behold the beauty of the fall. Unfortunately, I can’t make it now which is under 2 hr by plane and I have a Delta flight point to buy a ticket.
Picking up the Apple and having some fresh cider? What can be more enjoyable for a foodie?
I can only imagine the aroma visitng the different places and the places with ciders can relieve mental stress!
Thank you for the details of these places to enquire your need.
Thank you for this informative post.
The apple harvest (and festivals) will begin soon and it will be the perfect time to visit for fresh cider and apple treats. If you are able, plan to visit in the fall when you can enjoy picking apples at u-pick farms while enjoying the legendary autumn scenery!
Hi Alyce! Thanks so much for this excellent info! I LOVE the Blue Ridge Mountains as I used to live there, what an absolutely beautiful landscape it is :). I’ll have to check these spots out the next time I’m in the area, they all sound like so much fun! I’m particularly a fan of live outdoor music, it’s super cool that some of these locations offer that. We are just entering an excellent time of year for it too!
Hi Megan, I couldn’t agree more! What could be better than enjoying great weather, beautiful scenery, and live music, all while sampling delicious local ciders?!? 🙂
I was introduced to cider fairly recently and I particularly enjoy fruit ciders, so it is great to find that there are places to taste and try local ciders. Mercier Orchards seems to be a farm where one can actually spend the entire day and apart from picking your own fruit, you can also do fishing in the catch-and-release pond.
Do you know if any of these meaderies produce organic ciders or products? Thank you for sharing.
Hello and thanks for sharing! There is certainly a lot to do at Mercier Orchards in addition to sampling the ciders!!
I don’t recall seeing any certified organic cider during my cider house visits, but as the cider selection is rotated often, it is something I’ll keep an eye out for in the future.
Thanks for sharing these locations for local cider in Georgia. I honestly have not heard of these places before now. Ciders I believe are very helpful for the body when taken moderately. It is also good to know that some of the local ciders offer live music while customers enjoy cider sips, amazing.
Hi Bethel, These North GA cider houses are located among gorgeous scenery, so it’s great to have a tasty excuse to visit them often! Live music on the weekends makes it even better!!
It’s amazing how many places there are that we don’t know about. I would love to visit some of them just for the experience and to try out something different from the usual places. It’s always nice to have new experiences and some of these local ciders looks extremely nice. Thank you for the heads up!
Hi Stratos, You are so right — there is a strong appeal to seeing and visiting the cider houses that make these unique flavors in North Georgia! Plus, I’ve found some new favorites (including the semi-dry “Ellijay Apple” cider at Reece’s Cider Co) that I’m very excited to share with my friends and family!
Cheers!!