Locust Cider Coming to Belmar Plaza

It feels like a million years since last January, which is also the last time anything seemed to be going right with Downtown Lakewood, America, or the world. 

Belmar has felt like a ghost town for much of 2020. During the mandatory shelter in place orders, the lights were literally turned off throughout the shopping district. Cars gathered dust in the parking lots, untouched and undriven for weeks. Store shelves were emptied at Target and King Soopers. It became hard to find toilet paper, bleach, meat, milk.

Then, as the nation reckoned with protesters demanding an end to police brutality and affirming that Black Lives Matter, storefronts in Belmar were literally boarded up by owners fearful of looters. 

Later, as the virus spread unchecked and the economy plunged into depression, a dozen or so businesses in Belmar shut their doors permanently. 

Yes, it's been quite the year. 

So when a sign appeared on the boarded up Crazy Mountain Brewery space, I couldn't help but feel like a weary traveller who has stumbled across single flower sticking up in a field of snow. 

Locust Cider is based out of Washington state, but has locations all over the western US. They specialize in flavored ciders like Dark Cherry, Pineapple Smoked Pepper, and Hibiscus, but make a traditional dry cider as well.

Now, I love hard cider. The first time I encountered it was as a university student in Wales, where cider was the preferred drink of coal miners, fisherman, and other hard-working types. This was over thirty years ago. Since then, I've sampled ciders in England, France, and Spain. Some are sweeter, while others are indistinguishable from a dry sparkling wine. But cider was always hard to find in this country. 

That's changed in recent years. Our own local Lakewood event, Cider Days, has for several years now hosted a cider tasting event, and Denver's RINO is home to several boutique cideries. But the thought of a cidery in downtown Lakewood, right on the Belmar Plaza, has me flashing back to my days wandering the streets of Europe.

If, that is, restaurants and tap rooms are allowed to stay open. The coronavirus is currently spreading uncontrollably in Jeffco, with Lakewood as the hottest of hot spots. New restrictions could be announced any day. It's a brave bet, opening a cidery in the middle of pandemic, just as the weather outside is getting cold. But if Locust Cider does open, I'll be there, mask on, to get a case of bottles to go.