Fort Collins cidery to keep operating through bankruptcy

A Fort Collins cidery that does most of its sales through its downtown taproom is bankrupt.

Summit Hard Cider sought Chapter 11 protection with its filing Aug. 13, but its owner says nothing will functionally change for the business.

“This was a difficult decision, but this was a way to shed much of our insurmountable COVID- and post-COVID-related debt and continue to move past the COVID hangover,” Summit President Jennifer Seiwald told BusinessDen in an email.

She said the move will keep Scrumpy’s Hard Cider Bar and Pub, the business’s taproom at 215 N. College Ave., open and continue wholesale operations. In filings, Seiwald said the business has $165,000 in assets and $2.7 million in liabilities, mostly in the form of loans.

The company’s largest creditor is Seiwald and her husband, Rodney, who lent the business over $1 million combined. The company also owes the Small Business Administration $550,000 and its landlord nearly $200,000 in months of back rent. Scrumpy’s has 11 years left on its lease.

Summit did $532,000 in revenue from the beginning of this year through the filing last week, losing $133,500 in the process, according to its bankruptcy filing. Eighty percent of revenue through July came from the taproom.

In 2024, Summit posted $777,000 in sales, down from $847,000 in 2023, the filing states.

The Seiwalds started Summit Hard Cider in 2012 and moved to its current location in 2016, according to the website for Scrumpy’s, which is named after a term for cider made from misfit and unwanted apples. The company has produced eclectic flavors such as chocolate cherry, strawberry basil and blueberry lavender.

“Our employees will retain their jobs. Our landlord will retain their tenant,” Seiwold told BusinessDen. “(Chapter 11) will allow us to continue to serve our very much appreciated customers. We hope that everyone will continue to support us and hope to see you more often.”

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