About Ploughman
Making cider in the heart of Adams County, PA
Edwin Winzeler, cidermaker (left), and Ben Wenk, owner (right).
Ploughman farm ciders are as unique as the place in which they are created. For over a century, the Wenk family has tended the deep, fertile soils of our orchards in Adams County, PA – one of the finest fruit growing regions in the United States.
Each year at Three Springs Fruit Farm, we cultivate apple varieties specifically for our cidery. We work with American heirlooms like Spitzenburg, Golden Russet, and Stayman and select apples like Dabinett, Stoke Red, and Kingston Black for their bittersharp and bittersweet flavor profiles. Every year the apples we use for cider are a little different, which adds layers of complexity to the cider and connection to the farm.
In addition to ciders we also make perries and incorporate other fruits grown at Three Springs; peaches, chokeberries, pears, and plums. Here at Ploughman, we embrace the "frontier" mentality –an eagerness to try new things, but always with authenticity and quality in mind. We are not purists, but we will never cut corners and never use engineered essences, flavors, or artificial nonsense. Our eagerness to experiment with new things is almost completely farm based – we use whatever is exceptional and abundant at Three Springs Fruit Farm on any given year.
While we're committed to minimal intervention and traditional cidermaking, this is not to suggest that these beverages make themselves. We believe our passion for producing these products the hard way comes through in every product we make. The steady hands and creative spirit behind these beverages starts with cidermaker Luke Eperthener and cellarman Joshua Gulas and extends to every individual who grows and harvests the apples making these ciders.
Cidery Location
1606 Bendersville-Wenksville Road
Aspers, PA 17304