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Muller's Cider House is a bar in Culver/University/East. They serve local and imported craft hard ciders and food. Mullers, at 1344 University Ave., sells many varieties of hard ciders on tap and in bottles, but doesn’t make it. Bly said it’s easier now than just a few years ago to source the apples needed for hard cider, as more growers are planting the varieties that make the best traditional ciders. As with wine, the Blys make their cider seasonally.“The apples we use don’t cold-store well,” Bill Bly said. “Some of them you’ve got to use by January or else they’re done.” As a result, Bly produces cider in the fall and early winter, fermenting in barrels and bottles but not in cans, which can allow changes to occur over time.
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The new owners as of Nov. 1 are Michael DiFranco of Buffalo and William Kellerman, who moved to Rochester to manage the bar. DiFranco said he had worked at Verizon with the previous owners and asked Kellerman to join him in the cider venture. According to Jaouen, there were just five hard cider producers in this state five years ago. Other changes at the bar include a pizza oven as DiFranco and Kellerman strive to broader Mullers’ reputation to include its food, too. Co-owner Bill Bly came out of retirement to create a business that would lure his daughter, Chris, back to the area.
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The longevity of the visit improves if there’s an alternative to cider on the menu, he said. Urbanites have already found the bar, making it popular place to be on a Friday evening. Seed + Stone’s regular hours are Thursdays through Saturdays.
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Jaouen and Conjerti Jr. envision Mullers, located next to Joe Bean Coffee Roasters on the outskirts of Rochester's Neighborhood of the Arts, settling into that community comfortably. After searching for a location for six months, the pair picked the University Avenue location for its access to great restaurants, other bars and breweries, and craft-centric consumers. Both cider bars offer beer, which was something DiFranco and Kellerman introduced to Mullers in order to broaden its appeal and deepen its relationship with customers. Rochester can now boast not one but two urban cider bars that operate without a trace of apple trees nearby, and both have seen some recent developments in their businesses. With such a narrow focus, gathering the ciders has proven to be one of the bigger challenges. Where a traditional bar might have to deal with only four or five distributors when building a portfolio, Mullers has had to dig deeper to assemble its offerings.
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Customers settle onto metal stools lined up along wood-topped bar tables. The walls feature vintage photos of cider making. "We want to bring back that mix of the American and what they’re doing over there in Europe," Jaouen said, noting that cider was the alcoholic drink of choice prior to Prohibition. "It’s kind of like what people are doing with craft beer right now, something like those hopped ciders and different casked stuff. Once you get into it, you fall into drinking nothing but cider." There also will be a focus on gourmet kettle corn as the staple food item. Mullers had a specialized kettle corn cooker constructed for its space.
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With the explosive growth of craft beverages in the state, one can’t help wondering if a bust will come soon, particularly in a niche drink like cider. “I want it to be a place where you can enjoy beverages, but also a place where you want to eat,” DiFranco said. Mullers is also planning a variety of special events, such as a tap takeover by the Syracuse area’s 1911 Established Distillery on Dec. 11 and a pub crawl with other bars inviting patrons to arrive in Santa Claus costumes. “You get couples that come in and one likes cider, one doesn’t,” DiFranco said.
Every cider on draft is from New York State, including local selections from Blue Toad Cider. Half of the bottles are a mix of mostly New York and domestic ciders, while the other half are imported from European countries like France, Ireland, and Scotland. The cider house serves a selection of panini, soups, salads, and charcuterie, and the bread is sourced locally from Baker Street Bakery. "Initially we weren't able to source everything locally," Jaouen says, "but our goal is to switch to all local or Upstate New York products."
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The two business partners and friends met through connections in the music industry. Jaouen is a musician and Conjerti Jr. works in licensing. They discussed how they could partner and thoughts drifted to a beverage that they are both passionate about. The whole process began in November of last year. "That’s why education from our perspective is important," Conjerti Jr. added.
Formerly the co-owner of a company that made acrylic plaques, Bly retired in 2013 but said after a few years he got bored not working. And they are excited to share their passion with the Rochester community. "These places specialize in making that one product or making that one experience for that product perfect. I think that you can see that people appreciate that here. Those type of businesses succeed." "In Rochester, you have the ability to do something craft," said Jaouen. Learn how to make them on Tuesday, February 2, 6 p.m., at The Daily Refresher (293 Alexander Street).
“We will never can our cider,” Bly said, noting that he has opened a cider he bottled five years ago and it tasted just as good as when it was bottled. Bly strives to create ciders in the traditional vein – they taste more like gently sparkling wines than a sweet alternative to beer. You won’t find a super-sweet beverage at Seed + Stone. The cider maker uses juice from varieties of apples known as bittersweet and bittersharp grown in the Finger Lakes specifically for making heritage style cider. Seed + Stone has the industrial-chic look common in new food and beverage businesses. The space was a former engine repair shop that the pair gutted and cleaned to make an airy space.
"There’s not a lot of exposure to these ciders in our area. We want to bring the world to Rochester." "I think that with the passion we have for this, that we have for cider, we’re going to be able to expose people to a whole other world that they weren’t aware of." Following up from the previous Chow Hound, The Playhouse/Swillburger has obtained its liquor license — so prepare for classic arcade game battle with a beer in your hand.
Meanwhile, the newer cider operation, Seed + Stone Cidery, was making hard cider for two years in the basement of the Hungerford Building on East Main Street and selling it wholesale before it opened a tasting room. Seed + Stone’s retail space opened on the first floor of the Hungerford, 1115 East Main St., in September. Besides a range of house-made ciders and guest ciders, Seed + Stone carries a selection of beers on tap, mead, and Black Button Distillery products.
They plan to feature a specialty kettle corn creation for each season (think peppermint bark-flavored kettle corn for the holidays). The kitchen will feature simple salads, soups and panini (with numerous gluten-free options). Four, 5-ounce flights are available for tasting from any of the draft ciders. If you're new to the cider game, the bartenders are more than willing to help find a cider that matches with your taste. "Cider is a happy medium between beer and wine," Conjerti says. "They are different than anywhere else in the world," Jaouen said.
Don Cotter from Naked Dove Brewing Company will make six different beer cocktails with a selection of Naked Dove beers. Appetizers and an informative lecture on cocktail history round out the evening. Tickets are $43 and can be purchased by searching for the event name at eventbrite.com. Please give us your information to read Jagged Mountain Brewery’s story of survival and community building in a post-pandemic world. I was as stunned as any when I first heard the news 30 years ago that O.J. Applications are now being accepted for the sixth annual Grow-NY food and agriculture business competition.
The last few years have seen the rapid expansion of the craft beer market, and a similar trend has begun with hard ciders. Supermarkets like Wegmans and smaller businesses such as Nathaniel Corner Store now carry a wide selection of ciders — and most bars and restaurants have at least one cider available. Patrick Jaouen and Sam Conjerti noticed this trend and opened Mullers Cider House (1344 University Avenue), the only cider bar in upstate New York. Mullers Cider House has 11 to 12 ciders on tap at any given time and nearly 100 varities in bottles.
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