Because We Can Get Citric Blasted

If you’ve ever wondered why there are no orange ciders, the requisite alchemy has confounded brewers for centuries and eluded the best efforts of Greater Portland’s designated zest man DJ Williams. “Citrus can be very finicky, difficult to capture, and finding the right balance requires a lot of patience,” says Williams, co-founder of Boring’s lime- and lemon-based Ruzzo Sparkling Hard Citrus—somehow still the only source within the state for fermented citric beverages.

Without that singular, perhaps nonexistent strain of yeast able to withstand surging levels of acidity, “every batch seems off,” he says. “Orange fermentation releases this foul, sulfury aroma that’s very off-putting, and we haven’t found a flavor even palatable.”

Six years ago, when Williams was pouring pints at Happy Valley Station’s 45-tap food pod bar, he became smitten with nearby Hi-Wheel Fizzy Wine Co.’s hard citrus specialty—a refreshing, full-bodied tipple that split the difference between trad ciders and the spiked seltzer brands. Williams couldn’t understand why nobody else in this cider-mad region had even tried offering their own citric variant. When word came that Hi-Wheel was closing its tanks, he took a small family investment and, teaching himself the craft from scratch, spent a year perfecting his own recipes for lime, then lemon brews that together formed a creamily tart quaff that paired exceptionally well with other fruits—raspberry- and hibiscus-steeped Razzleberry, say—yet tasted utterly unique.

Razzleberry and another four core flavors are now available by the can at New Seasons. An additional six seasonals (Peach Bellini just gave way to Salted Caramel Strawberry) sell out each year at bars across the city, and the brewery’s own recently acquired brewpub/live music venue Ruzzo’s Retreat in Damascus has served 160 experimental (Cake Batter! Cookie Crumble!) concoctions. The company is in talks with Safeway and Kroger and fully expects national distribution sometime soon. When life hands Williams lemons, he’s done pretty well thus far.