Ben Kuethe and Lori Spears stood inside their newly finished cidery last weekend, watching friends and family sip from glasses filled with cider made from their land. After years of planning and planting, they were finally able to share — literally — the fruits of their labor.
The couple held a soft opening of Cache Valley’s first cidery, Hobbled Dog Cidery, ahead of officially opening to the public Friday. For Kuethe and Spears, it was the moment a dream that began in 2019 came true.
“We’re finally here,” Spears said, beaming.
For nearly two decades, Kuethe had been making wine and other types of alcohol at home. When he and Spears moved to Paradise in 2014 and found themselves with extra land, they saw an opportunity to take the hobby further.
That’s when the idea of planting cider apple trees took root.
Once they began growing apples and experimenting, Kuethe found joy in sharing samples with friends, comparing apples like Pink Lady and Virginia Crab and crafting complex, dry ciders with no added sugar.
“Friends would come over, or people that we didn’t know, and we would just share it with them,” he said, “and talk about the apples, talk about tasting notes, aromas, just trying to perfect it.”
Eventually, that passion for sharing inspired the pair to share their ciders more widely, and in 2019, they began the journey of opening their own cidery. Now, Hobbled Dog features more than a dozen apple varieties, some grown on trees planted by Kuethe and Spears, with many others sourced from local Utah orchards.
The new cidery, located at 918 W. 700 North in Logan, will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
One thing that sets Hobbled Dog apart from other cideries is its focus on dry cider, Kuethe said, adding that it is unlike the sweet, commercial kind most people are used to. The duo behind the new cidery like to experiment, too, co-fermenting apples with other elements like cherries, strawberries and ginger. Some batches come out more tart, others more tannic.
“If you don’t have much experience with cider,” Kuethe said, “it can be an educational experience.”
And that’s what he’s most excited about — finally sharing his passion with Cache Valley. “I love talking about it,” he added.
The cidery’s name comes from the couple’s love for rescuing three-legged and disabled dogs, who also inspired the names of their cider tanks.
Over the years, they’ve adopted various blind, three-legged dogs. When they first moved to Paradise, friends began calling their place the “Hobbled Dog Farm,” and the name stuck.
“Even now, we have a blind dog and we have a boxer that’s missing a leg,” Kuethe said. “It just fits us.”
Part of their long-term goal is to support shelters and animal welfare organizations through their business.
Friend and longtime supporter Tien Lindsay, who attended the cidery’s soft opening last week, said the launch of Hobbled Dog is something special for Logan and Cache Valley. She said the area has a real need for more spaces that bring together people who drink.
“It’s beautiful to see from the beginning, the orchard farms at their house in Paradise, to what it is now,” Lindsay said. “It’s a beautiful love story of their love for the community, their love for each other and their love for cider. What else can you ask for?”
