Rocky Ground Cider

Cidery in Newburgh, Maine, United States 🇺🇸

Established in 2016

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2566 Kennebec Road, Newburgh, ME, 04444, United States

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8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

375ml bottle, drunk 12/3/25, as pictured.
Juicy, rich, baldwin apple, with red fruitiness and skin. Almost slightly mushy. Low but present acid and no hops that I can find at this point, which is not surprising. A bit of vanilla and very slight caramel-like oxidation.
Some hop bitterness with light vanilla, light wood tannin and big juice that immediately dries out. Despite the slight oxidation and old hop, the apples persist in juiciness and high attenuation at the same time, making it dangerously drinkable. Maybe just a shade too attenuated for its age, but nothing to scoff at. Complexity could be a tad higher, but the bar is so high for this cidery...

Tried from Bottle from Bow Street Beverage on 04 Dec 2025 at 00:56


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8.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5

750mL bottle, 2021 vintage, drunk 11/21/25, as pictured. From Bow Street Beverage, Portland, ME.
Farmy with moderate, playful Brett. No big acids or huge Brett dominance. Still quite a bit of juicy, fleshy apple. Clean, bright and lovely with no excessive tannin or sugar.
Still a good amount of residual sugar, but not too much, of course. Brett is fruity, gently tart, funky but not overbearing. Cider is on the dry side, but not too much so, with excellent tannic structure, but lower overall acidity. Not the most complex offering I've had from them, but certainly about as drinkable as it gets.

Tried from Bottle on 21 Nov 2025 at 22:45


7.8
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

2020 vintage I picked up at Bow Street Beverage in Wells, ME. 750ml bottle.  Clear gold, ring of white head.  Nose has green apple and champagne grape and some wood barrel.  Flavor has more prevalent apple.  Light lemon.  Tannins.  Some wood.  Dry.  Full bodied.  7 7.5 8 8 8

Tried from Bottle on 28 Aug 2025 at 13:42


7.5
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle at the DC Beer August Share. Poured a pale gold with light bubbles. Flavor was apple-forward with gentle sweetness and a dry finish, really nice for a 5 year old cider. A 2020 vintage cider that still holds up beautifully.

Tried from Bottle on 23 Aug 2025 at 00:00


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8.8
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5

2020 750mL drunk 12/31/24.
Clear, deep brass-honey with a hint of copper.
Initially tannic, lightly lactic, very earthy and green. Mild fruitiness, with oaky vanilla and a hint of sweetness.
With proper breathing time, over an hour, it loses most of the tannic dryness/acidity and softens in to a completely different cider. It still preserves the earthy complexity but becomes very round, juicy, moderately sweet and satisfying. Interestingly, this is spontaneously fermented and oaked and has no traditional Brett character whatsoever. Very minimally lactic, even. Soft, juicy, mildly oaky with fruit acidity to help balance but no/little yeast/bacteria-derived acid. I wonder why that is.

Tried from Bottle from Bier Cellar on 03 Jan 2025 at 03:52


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

At 2 Feet Brewing right before heading off. Made my wife wait so I could top it off. Clear, shiny gold, still from a previous opened bottle. Bittersweet, earthy, lemon, bready, middling astringent, slightly oily texture, watery, lingering floral. Leafy, cooked lemon, brine, slightly savory nose. Off-dry to dry. A bit watered down but good.

Tried from Bottle on 27 Aug 2024 at 03:20


9
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

Cute 187ml bottle at a nice restaurant in Bangor. After noticing some things off with the description, the waiter & sommelier came back & told me they gave me the wrong one(because it was out). This was probably better. Sparkly, active, clear, pale amber pour. Hard to tell exactly with the lighting. Mild, unassuming, bittersweet-sharp nose, bit of cantaloupe. Earthy, lemon-honey forward, earthy bittersweets, a little melon zing. Really tight & crispy, moisture wick/tannin heavy. Calcium, tasty yeasties, savory-tart lemon continues to the finish. Not enough honey to pinpoint exactly. Really, really good.

Tried from Bottle on 29 Jul 2024 at 00:59


8.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5

375 ml bottle shared by ClarkVV. Thank you! Aroma has pear, apple, and Brett. The Brett follows through in the flavor and gives a wonderful balance to the apple and pear nuances. Great tartness and mild funk. Really great!

Tried from Bottle on 21 Oct 2023 at 00:40


9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

2019 375mL bottle drunk 10/20/23. Clear bronze. Stunning nose, per usual, all beautiful Brett. Apple and light pepper from the honey. Not getting much a sense of Sorbus berry in the nose but that's ok as the cider and malo-lactic notes and Brett are all insane. Zippy, tannic, lightly acidic Sorbus up front quickly turning to heavy, wonderfully developed Brett and apple. Pepper, mineral, plaster, mellow malo-lactic character. Good body and juicy flavors with excellent attenuation.

Tried from Bottle on 21 Oct 2023 at 00:31


8

Tart apple pie. Smooth, nice.

Tried from Bottle on 20 Oct 2023 at 20:38