WALDEN, N.Y. -- On Friday, Angry Orchard celebrated the opening of its home, The Angry Orchard Innovation Cider House in Walden, with a toast for employees and public officials.
"From a cider making perspective, we are already well on our way," said Head Cider Maker Ryan Burk.
In the afternoon, the cider house opened for the public to enjoy. A 60-acre apple orchard in Walden is now home to the Angry Orchard Innovation Cider House.
"This is a $300 million-a-year industry," Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney said. "New York is second in apple production."
The company’s home will be a place for cider makers to test out new recipes.
"So the ciders that you get to try here in Walden will be ciders that you won’t get to try anywhere else," Burk said, "so all the little projects that I’ll be working with, I’ll get to share with drinkers that come by."
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said this cider house is good for more than just hard cider. He said the new home will lead to more tourism and bring in more business for the county.
"As recently as Legoland a week ago, when we brought the CEOs and the board of directors out to Orange County to pitch our locations here," he said, "we made sure that we mentioned companies like Angry Orchard, a household name is moving here and it peaked their interests."