Mountain West Hard Cider
“Finally, something I actually enjoy drinking.” That was the reaction of Jennifer Carleton when she first tried hard cider in a pub outside Galway.” Jennifer is the founder of Mountain West Hard Cider along with her husband Jeff. Jennifer had always loved mulled cider - the warm, spiced, non-alcoholic kind served during the holidays. But it was not until a 2008 work trip to Ireland that she discovered its boozy cousin: crisp, refreshing, and poured like a pint of beer.
Back home in Philadelphia, options for cider were limited. Mass-produced brands like Angry Orchard and Strongbow were overly sweet and a far cry from what she had experienced abroad. Still, the idea stuck.
Two years later, in 2010, Jennifer and Jeff relocated to Salt Lake City for Jeff’s job. She was skeptical. “I had all the misconceptions,” she said. She was an east coast girl and felt that it was going to be cold. People were going to be conservative and religious. "There’s no diversity. I was dreading it.” Her first impression, however, was radically different. “I drove across the country, checked into a SLC hotel, and it was Pride Weekend. I saw all these gorgeous people everywhere and thought, wait, they celebrate Pride here?” It was the first of many surprises.
Mountain West Hard Cider opened its doors in 2015, becoming Utah’s first cidery. Finding the right space had its challenges. Their original lease - on the space that was Purgatory Bar - fell through when city regulations blocked wine manufacturing downtown. Fortunately, their landlord let them out of the lease, and they discovered a warehouse on 400 West. “It felt way too big at the time,” Jennifer said, “but we would’ve outgrown the first space within six months. This building was a blessing in disguise.” Jennifer, Jeff, and their team built it out from scratch - tasting room, production area, and eventually a lovely outdoor garden space.
While building the business, Jennifer kept working remotely for a major financial firm. Jeff retired to take over day-to-day operations. She still works full time, balancing both worlds. “I love what I’m doing,” she said. “Somehow, I manage to keep all balls in the air.” Although Jennifer wears multiple hats at the cidery, she is not involved in the production itself. That being said, she has a deep understanding of the process and a gift for explaining it in a way that makes it approachable, even for those unfamiliar with how cider is made.
The cider-making begins at Mountain West with fresh-pressed juice, most of it now sourced from large orchards in Washington State to meet their growing demand. Smaller batches still feature apples from local Utah sources, but the scale of production now requires a steady stream of bulk juice. That juice is transported in large food-grade totes by a dedicated team member who makes two roundtrips each month, bringing full containers down to Salt Lake and returning empties for reuse.
Once the juice arrives, it goes directly into fermentation tanks. Unlike beer, which is brewed and boiled, cider is made more like wine through the natural fermentation of fruit juice. For each variety, a specific yeast strain is selected that has been carefully matched to the flavor profile the cidery wants to highlight. “Ruby has one kind of yeast, Seven Mile has another,” Jennifer explained. “Each yeast brings out different characteristics: crispness, tartness, fruit-forwardness, mouthfeel.”
Fermentation typically takes two to three weeks, depending on temperature, sugar content, and yeast activity. During that time, the yeast consumes the natural sugars in the juice and converts them into alcohol. When fermentation is complete, the cider is “fined” - a process that removes solids and helps clarify the liquid - and then "sterile filtered." The result is a brilliantly clear cider without sediment or haze. “We wanted cider to feel accessible,” explained marketing director Chandra (Chan) Lloyd. “Especially for people trying it for the first time.”
Once filtered, the cider is carbonated and canned on-site using the cidery’s own packaging equipment. That sparkle - the light fizz when a can is cracked open - adds just the right amount of brightness to each sip. All packaging and distribution are handled in-house, with regular shipments going to Utah’s state-run liquor stores and local bars.
Mountain West now produces 30,000 - 35,000 gallons of cider a year. Their core lineup is sold in cans - easier to carry into Utah’s great outdoors - and each is named after a local canyon: Cottonwood, Desolation, Ruby, and more. They also release a rotating Little Orchard Series of seasonal, small-batch creations, many of which have become so popular that they are now part of the permanent collection.
Highlighting the team behind the production, Chan, the marketing director, is from Utah. She studied theater at BYU and spent time working in food-related jobs before pivoting to writing and marketing. She worked at the French bakery, Les Madeleine and freelanced in content creation. A chance encounter at a storytelling event hosted by Mountain West led to a conversation about marketing and soon after, an invitation to join the team. “I’ve always been drawn to places where people make things for others,” she said. “This just felt like the right fit.”
Their head cider maker, Marcio Buffolo, has been instrumental in expanding their offerings. Originally from Brazil, he studied at the University of Utah and came to Mountain West after leading beer production at Shades Brewing. “He’s brilliant,” Jennifer said. “He reads everything, retains it, and just creates these incredible products. He’s elevated everything we do.”
In 2024, Mountain West launched two wine lines: the Summit series, a canned wine for everyday drinking, and Capitol Hill, a bottled Napa-based label made in partnership with a family-owned winery. Eventually, Jennifer hopes to produce and age wine on-site.
The bar and cider house are open year-round, but the real magic happens from May through October when the The Garten hosts live local music Thursday through Saturday, trivia on Wednesdays, and a range of community events. “This is a place where people can feel welcome,” Chan said. “It’s dog-friendly, family-friendly, and always evolving.”
That sense of welcome is intentional. From the beginning, Jennifer and Jeff have prioritized community partnerships. One of their products, Ruby’s Gay, was designed to support Utah’s LGBTQ+ community. “I believe we were the first alcohol manufacturer in the state to release and label a product specifically for Pride,” she said. Since 2015, a portion of proceeds has gone to local organizations including the Utah Pride Center and the LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce.
Mountain West also hosts events like Gearn, a live storytelling series, as well as seasonal celebrations including the Fall Harvest Fest, complete with apple pressing, pumpkin painting, and cider made from backyard fruit collected through partnerships with organizations like Green Urban Lunchbox. “Kids love seeing the apples pressed and then coming back to taste the cider a few weeks later,” Chan said.
Jennifer credits their success not just to the quality of their product but to their philosophy of collaboration. “Other cideries - even in Idaho - have come to us for guidance. We all share equipment, ideas, support. It’s a small community, and we’re all stronger when we work together.” Jennifer went on to say, "We started Mountain West to bring people together, and if there’s a way we can use our space or our platform to support someone else, we will,” Jennifer said. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Though she still splits her time between careers, Jennifer hopes one day to devote herself fully to the cidery. “This was always meant to be my legacy,” she said. “It’s the thing I love most, and I want to give it everything I have.”
