About Brick River Cider Company

Brick River Cider Company is St. Louis’ first dedicated cider works, committed to crafting great hard cider made from fresh pressed Midwestern fruit, never concentrate.

Brick River Cider is named to honor the connection between the City of St. Louis and its connection to the regional rural communities. From its early days, St. Louis was a significant source of brickmaking, and the rivers carried those bricks in every direction, building communities throughout our region. Those bricks remind us that we are all connected. Brick River continues that tradition today, bringing the region’s fruits back to the city and crafting authentic hard ciders to celebrate with their friends and family.

The story of connections flowing back and forth with St Louis and the wider region has repeated repeatedly across countless families and generations. Brick River founder Russ John’s family started in America when his great-grandfather Theodore enlisted in the Union Cavalry in 1862 at Jefferson Barracks, St Louis. In 1869 Theodore established a homestead farm and orchards in southeast Nebraska, and the John family has been growing apples in the Midwest ever since.  Today his great-grandson is proud to bring a family tradition of hard cider back to St. Louis with the city’s first dedicated cider works.

Brick River Cider’s mission is to work with regional fruit growers to craft authentic hard cider using only fresh-pressed fruit juices. Our ciders range from classic and traditional to bold and innovative, but whatever the style they are all 100% gluten-free from fresh pressed regional fruit, never concentrate.

In 2022 Brick River expanded into Kansas City with its first taproom located outside of St. Louis with Kansas City location.