Last Chance Story
The Last Chance Cider Mill is in a renovated 100-year-old brick building, originally a tractor dealership, at the east end of Montana Avenue on the east end of downtown Billings. It features a wide selection of house-made craft ciders and beer on tap with an artisanal menu for food pairings at the on site pub.
Founder and brewer Sam Hoffmann had long noticed that hand crafted cider was hard to come by in Montana. In 2016, he changed that dynamic by beginning cider operations at the cider mill. To this day, the next closest commercial cideries are 500 miles away going north, east, and south.
Last Chance Cider proudly ferments only apples selected for their cider qualities from Montana, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington. No commercial juices or concentrates are used. The quality is evident in the finished cider.
Good to Find, Easy to Enjoy.
The Pressing Process
All of our ciders are made in-house at our cider mill. As stated above, we receive most of our apples from Montana, Michigan and Oregon, but our Full Montana is made from all Montana grown apples.
We press about 40,000 pounds of apples per week during pressing season and produce 3,500 gallons of juice. The press is a 12–14 hour day with two shifts. All leftover, ground-up apples (pomace) go to a farmers for their livestock.
The fermentation process takes about two weeks and another month or two to clarify. We then blend and back-sweeten, depending on the specific brand, carbonate and package into kegs, cans or bottles. Finally, you get to enjoy!
Head Cidermaker: Travis Charboneau
