How an orchard became a distillery
How an orchard became a distillery
WARREN GROVE – Mike Beamish had an apple problem. It was 2012 and he was running Beamish Orchard and u-pick in Warren Grove.
Every fall, he lost countless apples that fell on the ground. If their juice wasn’t pasteurized, it couldn’t be sold. He couldn’t make enough juice to justify buying a pasteurizer, so the ground apples became compost.
But he kept looking for some way to use them. He tried jams and jellies, but they were a lot of work and many people already made their own.
Then one day he read about an alternative – alcohol. If he fermented and distilled the juice into a spirit, he could sell it.
“There’s my answer for what to do with all the apples off the ground,” Beamish thought.
He started investigating how to start such a business.
He got some help from Bio Food Tech, an organization that offers technical and educational services to food producers.
After attending a workshop they hosted on how to setup an operation, Beamish decided, “You know what, it’s something I think I can do.”
Beamish and his wife knew they would be on fixed incomes as retirees and had to plan carefully.
“If we’re going to do it, we’ve got to make sure we can do it on a certain budget.”
They did some research and saw it could work.
“Yeah, if we get into this game at a cost that we can afford and afford to lose.”
Sarah Underhay at Tipsy Farmers says apple farming is expensive.
“Our trees come from Ontario, so they have a tree cost and an additional cost for shipping.”
She and her husband, Lance, have planted thousands of apple trees since 2018 for cider and a u-pick.
They are investing in selfsufficiency to lower the operating costs, she said.
“We are in the process of getting a sprayer so that we’ll be able to take care of our own pesticide spraying. We’re investing in a bigger tractor, so we’ll be able to harvest all our trees next year.”
Beamish’s investments were a bit different, and a bit smaller.
He and his wife had already built a barn in anticipation of retirement. They planned to sell apples out of it and have a workshop. Instead, they did some renovations and bought equipment.
The legal process took a year and a half. First, the liquor commission had to make sure Deep Roots was a legitimate business before licensing sales. Second, a federal department had to approve the production and tax.
Deep Roots released its first bottles of apple-based alcohol in August 2014.
“It was a product we call Island Tide. It’s our version of a P.E.I. moonshine,” Beamish said.
He followed that up with an apple brandy, though he didn’t sell any for two years to let it age.
Today, Deep Roots offers a wide variety of spirits and liqueurs made with local ingredients. Beamish keeps his operation small and manageable. He supplies Island liquor stores and operates a stall at the Charlottetown Farmers' Market.
“It’s quite a bit of work to get into it, especially the way I do it, on a budget,” he said.
“It’s not for the faint of heart and it’s not a get rich quick.”