UXBRIDGE LIVING A Trail of One Brewery and Two Cideries: The Second Wedge, Slabtown Cider, and Banjo Cider

A Trail of One Brewery and Two Cideries

The Second Wedge, Slabtown Cider, and Banjo Cider

BY LESLEY KENNY This summer the Uxbridge Beer and Cider Trail invites you to experience unique, handcrafted beer and ciders on generous patios, surrounded by historic fields.

The Second Wedge’s inviting and accessible beer garden. Photo courtsey of The Second Wedge Brewery.

THE SECOND WEDGE

It’s a hot day in July so let’s start with a cold pint at The Second Wedge brewery, tucked beside a brook, in downtown Uxbridge.

Named after the second wedge of the nearby Oak Ridges Moraine, owners Joanne Richter and Rob Garrard recently celebrated their microbrewery’s fifth anniversary.

The couple moved to Uxbridge in 2004 to raise their family in this small Ontario town, the trail capital of Canada. Tired of all the driving necessary for their big city jobs, they decided to pursue their passion for making great beer. “We threw ourselves into planning in January of 2013 and opened at the end of December, 2015, almost three years later,” says Joanne. “We’re lucky to have such a great local partner team.” And they do keep it local. The Second Wedge has used cacao from DesBarres, a chocolate maker in Uxbridge, hops and herbs from local farmers, and even the cherries growing on the bushes around their own beer garden, a welcoming venue strung with lights and open to dogs and kids. Their own pup, Echo, a nine-month-old black lab, is a greeter in training. In 2017, The Second Wedge invited the local Uxbridge farmers’ market to set up in their parking lot and now the Sunday market is so popular vendors and customers spill into the street. The Second Wedge doesn’t have a kitchen but they do serve snacks and you can order in from local restaurants. New this summer, another dream come true for Joanne and Rob: friends Steven Lovisa and Meaghan O’Hara, of Foundry Kitchen and Bar, have set a renovated shipping container on the grounds of The Second Wedge. >>

This unusual venue is home to Foundry Pi, a wood-fired oven pizza stand. “By then,” says Joanne, “we’re hopeful we’ll have live music outside again. We are big supporters of live local music.” This year The Second Wedge won “best bicycle friendly business” for York Durham Headwaters, awarded by Ontario By Bike. Fitting for a biz whose logo is a bike trail sign and whose flagship IPA, 3 Rocks, is named after a local bike trail.

SLABTOWN CIDER

Slabtown Cider’s large outdoor patio and BYOC (chair) spot. Photo courtesy of Slabtown Cider. Five minutes south of Uxbridge, Slabtown Cider is surrounded by the many trails the area is famous for. “We like to say we produce hard cider with a modern flair,” says co-owner Loreen Feddema. She and husband Jason live and work on 90 acres of historic fields. “We’re refurbishing and regenerating these fields that were cow pastures for years,” says Loreen. “We grow vegetables and fruit, including various varieties of heritage apple trees. We’re bringing everything back to life here!” In the Farmstore, as well as bottles of cider, they sell baked goods and local farm products including 3 Boyz Bees honey. The apiary’s beehives are located on the property at Slabtown Cider. “It’s a win-win,” explains Loreen. “They set up beehives in our orchard and we sell their honey. We also use their honey in our Honey Habanero cider. We regularly use produce from local farmers in our cider.” Planting an orchard is a long-term proposition. Until their trees are mature enough, Slabtown Cider sources its apples from Ontario farmers. “We think of them as farmers, not orchards,” says Loreen. Along with their Slabtown Cider team, Loreen and Jason are working hard to turn their 90 acres into one of Canada’s largest collections of unique heritage heirloom apple orchards. When covid hit, their large outdoor patio became a popular meeting place for socially distancing locals. Beside the patio, among the trees, there’s space to bring your own chair or blanket and enjoy a variety of their dry and sweet ciders. New in 2021, their delicious menu options include bison burgers (meat from local Thunder Ridge bison farm) butter chicken and wood-oven baked pizza. “We want to become an agritourism destination for Uxbridge and Durham,” says Loreen. “That’s our goal and within that we hope to have something for everyone.”

Banjo Cider’s patio, on heritage fields. Photo courtesy of Banjo Cider

BANJO CIDER

Five minutes north of Uxbridge, Patty Ewaschuk and partner Tony Brown operate Banjo Cider, a small-batch cidery offering handcrafted traditional cider. Like Slabtown Cider, they’re on a farm with old heritage buildings, built in the mid 1800s. “It has a real quaint Ontario farm feel about it,” says Patty. “We used to hobby farm on this property. We grew asparagus, raised cows, geese and chickens. When the kids got older, we wanted to try something bigger so we switched over to cider. It was Tony’s idea when he saw all the apples going to waste.” Until their orchards have matured, Banjo Cider sources certified organic apples from Ontario. “We use organic orchard practices in our own orchard,” explains Patty. “We use long grasses and wild plants, compost and mulches, and hand hoeing instead of herbicides to keep weeds down. We don’t use synthetic pesticides.” They hope to get enough apples this summer for a small batch of cider. Their Citizen’s Cider Project invites local residents to pick their own apples (and pears and quince) and sell them to Banjo Cider where they are pressed into a truly unique local cider. The apples are picked in late September and October but the cider isn’t ready until the following year. “We use a longer, traditional method, a longer fermentation process,” explains Patty. They made over 1,000 litres of Citizen’s Cider last year. The apples were picked from backyards, roadsides and farms. Pickers were given a free glass to savour on the patio. Last year’s Citizen’s Cider was so popular it sold out. This summer, The Second Wedge, Slabtown Cider and Banjo Cider look forward to welcoming new and returning customers on the Uxbridge Beer and Cider Trail.

thesecondwedge.ca 14 Victoria Street Uxbridge, Ontario, Phone: 905 852 3232 slabtowncider.com 4559 Concession Road 6, Uxbridge, Ontario, Phone: 416 853 3055 banjocider.ca 614 Sandford Rd Uxbridge, Ontario, Phone: 416 435 3886