A Government-Backed Craft Cidery Will Open in Alexandria This Summer

The governor’s office of Virginia is providing seed money for a new craft cider company’s production facility and tasting room in a renovated Alexandria warehouse. Lost Boy Cider is expected to open in June, Alexandria Living reports.

The company bills itself as the first cider brewery in Northern Virginia. It’s new headquarters are in the Carlyle neighborhood at 317 Hooffs Run Drive, about half a mile away from the Eisenhower Avenue Metro Station.

Lost Boy hosted a ceremony yesterday to commemorate receiving a $30,000 grant from the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund overseen by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

According to a statement from the governor, the city will match the grant in collaboration with its Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, which helped the company secure the grant and find the 6,000-square-foot facility. The company’s ciders will be made with 100 percent Virginia apples.

Northam’s statement says that Lost Boy will put more than $668,000 into renovating its new home, which will include a handful of semi-dwarf golden apple trees that will grow to 9 feet tall and will be ready to produce cider by next year. Cider production is regulated like wine, so Lost Boy Cider will be Alexandria’s first Virginia Farm Winery-licensed production facility.

With Port City Brewing nearby and highly rated Aslin Beer Company opening its own new production nearby, Alexandria officials are touting the city as a burgeoning destination for fans of fermented beverages.

According to its website, Lost Boy Cider will co-ferment ciders with hops, cranberries, pineapples, and spices while also experimenting with aging in tequila, gin, and Kentucky bourbon barrels. Tristan Wright founded the company after developing a soy and gluten allergy that landed him in the hospital in 2015.

Cider production has taken off in D.C. in recent years, with Anxo, Supreme Core, and Capitol Cider House planting respective facilities in Shaw, Northeast, and Petworth.

• Lost Boy Cider to Open in June [Alexandria Living]
• Governor Northam Announces First Craft Cidery in City of Alexandria
• Aslin Beer Co. to Open Headquarters in Alexandria [Alexandria Living]
• Inside the Anticipated Anxo, Which Brings Cider and Pintxos to D.C. [EDC]
• Look Inside D.C.’s Supreme Core Cider’s Distillery and Taproom [EDC]
• Petworth’s Capitol Cider House Starts Pouring [EDC]