Canada’s farm crafted cider culture is thriving, and Ontario’s scene is no exception.
Enter 1818 Farm and Cidery in Carp, where Wesley Hunter, Denise Hoppner, Ken Hoppner and Karl Hoppner are contributing to Ontario’s ongoing agricultural legacy with their now four-year old cidery, established in 2023 on their family farm. “Our story truly started from the ground up,” Hunter regales. “A family, isolating together at the beginning of 2020 decided to make a go of it with land we owned but were not using.”
Hunter and the Hoppners intended to begin their cider journey by using apples grown on their property, but a flash frost in their first year left them without a harvest. So, they turned to their online community for support. One Facebook post later, and they found themselves with more than 80,000 pounds of wild apples from 16 surrounding properties with varieties including ornamental Geneva Crab Apple and an abundance of Golden Russet apples.
Flash forward just a few years later, and 1818 Farm and Cidery has 680 cider-specific varieties in the ground and notoriety as a top cider producer in Ontario. Along the way, 1818 reinvented an abandoned post office as a farm stand and community gathering space that opened last year.
“Our cider at 1818 focuses on the relationship between the apple, orchard and maker,” explains Hunter. Their ciders change in flavors from vintage to vintage as a celebration of where they came from. They’re always experimenting with different apple combinations, wild and cultured yeasts, and types of barrels like rum, tequila, brandy and bourbon. Hunter explains that they ferment slowly at cold temperatures with “as little intervention as possible” when it comes to sulphite additions to encourage natural expressions of the land from which the cider comes from.
1818’s heralded flagship cider, Golden Child, “is an expression of everything from our love of Golden Russet and an Ontario apple in Macintosh, barrel fermentation using wild yeast, long slow fermentations and low intervention,” Hunter says. “Bubbles are created naturally with bottle conditioning giving a light pétillant naturel mouthfeel.” Golden Child was just named Canadian Cider of the Year at the WineAlign 2026 National Wine Awards of Canada.
Guests at 1818 can enjoy Golden Child alongside selections like the rum barrel-aged Hyslop crab apple cider Nowhere To Rhum and their dry hopped cider expression, Boys Brunch — just to name a few. 1818 also has an onsite restaurant that features a seasonal menu crafted with organic produce grown on the farm, as well as activities like tours, live music and sunset yoga.
The land on this farm was first surveyed in 1818, but believe it or not that’s not even the story behind this cidery’s namesake. While this team was building from the ground up, they used an existing address on the property as home base. “It became common to say ‘let’s meet at 1818, what’s happening at 1818’,” Hunter remembers. “When we realized that number meant more than an address, it was where we set our roots down. Our current address is actually 1811!”
Hunter and fellow owners attribute their rapid growth and success to the community that has supported 1818 since day one. Beyond their generous neighbors, organizations like Cider Canada, Drink Ontario Apples, Cider Saloon Canada and Ontario Apple Growers are helping them, and the entire province, flourish.
“Ontario is becoming a strong representative of small batch craft cider focusing on our unique terroir and apple selections in Canada,” says Hunter. “We have such a strong cider community here in Ontario that work hard to support each other and lift one another up. Our entire family and friends have helped make this happen.”
