Colorado is well known for its beer scene, and the Western Slope is putting the state’s wineries on the map. But beyond the hops and grapes, Cedaredge — on the southern slopes of the Grand Mesa — is home to Snow Capped Cider, a cidery thatap reshaping how Americans think about cider and drawing enthusiasts from near and far.
Related: Colorado cideries win impressive 24 medals at national competition
What began as a fifth-generation orchard’s effort to use surplus apples has grown into one of the most decorated cideries in the country.
In July 2024, Snow Capped Cider opened a taproom in a restored 1940s gas station in downtown Cedaredge, welcoming both cider connoisseurs and curious newcomers.
Snow Capped Cider is rooted in the Williams family farm, which has been growing fruit in western Colorado for more than 100 years. Kari Williams, the cidermaker and owner, started the cider company in 2014. She had noticed that the category was starting to gain stateside popularity, and she had a love for French and English-style ciders. Her cider-making journey started small, bottling ciders for her family’s wine tasting room, Williams Cellars.
Today, the cidery produces a wide variety of ciders with fruit grown exclusively in Colorado, which delivers a fresh taste without the need for added sugars. Snow Capped Cider has 100 varieties of apples, 40 varieties of peaches and a half dozen kinds of Winter and Perry pears.
The orchard is at 6,130 feet, making it one of the highest-elevation orchards and cideries in the world. The unique terroir benefits from the high altitude, warm days, cool nights and pure, gravity-fed snowmelt water. Growing at a high elevation causes the trees to think they are always in distress, Williams explains. They pump acid to protect themselves from UV exposure, causing the fruit to clock in with a high sugar content.
“This terroir cannot be replicated anywhere in the world,” said Williams, who works in the orchard with her husband, Ty Williams, a fourth-generation apple grower.
Snow Capped Cider has made a national impression. In 2024, the cidery earned two medals at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival Competition (GABF) — a gold and a silver medal in the No/Low-Tannin Cider category — during the first year that the festival included cider-specific awards.
The cidery has consistently earned medals at prestigious competitions like GLINTCAP and the Cidercraft Awards. This June, Snow Capped Cider in Cedaredge won a total of 22 medals, including five platinum, which is the competition’s highest honor, in the Cidercraft Awards.
Consumer interest in cider is still showing strong growth: From July 2023 to July 2024, regional and independent cider sales reached $806.7 million, up 3.4% from the previous year, according to NielsenIQ figures.
As interest continues to climb, Snow Capped Cider offers cider lovers a chance to stay connected through a new cider club. Members receive four shipments of award-winning cider throughout the year.
For those looking to explore cider in person, Snow Capped Cider’s taproom is a place to geek out over different styles and sample small-batch releases, tasting everything from Kingston Black (a famed English cider apple thatap dry with a saucy apple flavor and spicy warmth) to a Sparkling Rosé cider (which has a sweet and tart finish).
“Learning about apples feels like a calling to me,” said Williams, who loves educating people about the history of cider. “When you leave the tap room, you’re going to understand what a Foxwhelp is supposed to taste like and what its history is.” (Answer: Itap a historic English cider apple that dates back 300 years.)
Snow Capped Cider, 105 Grand Mesa Drive in Cedaredge. Open Thursday 3 to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 9 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. The cider is sold at the taproom, at retail stores like Total Wine and Argonaut Liquors, or online at .
