Molley Chomper Cider set up shop inside the old Lansing School, a fitting home for a cidery built around the idea of putting a small mountain community’s fruit — foraged, farmed and forgotten varieties alike — into the bottle. It’s about 25 minutes from Boone in Lansing, in Ashe County, and it has become one of the more distinctive stops in the High Country precisely because it isn’t trying to make wine taste like cider or cider taste like beer. It’s doing its own thing with real, whole fruit from real regional farms.
From farm to old schoolhouse
The cidery grew out of Bent Apple Farm, the Ashe County property where the founders first got curious about the apple trees already growing on their land and started a small experimental orchard they now call The Little Orchard. What began as a way to make a small farm work turned into a full cidery and wine bar housed in the old Lansing School building on Piney Creek Road. Cidermaker Tim Arscott has described the sourcing side of the business simply: “Farmers keep showing up with wonderful stuff. Foraged apples, pawpaws, purple raspberries, trailer loads of pumpkins.” That relationship with small growers is the backbone of everything they make — in 2024 alone they fermented 109 different apple varieties, and more than 90% of their fruit came from farms within 60 miles of the cidery.
What to taste
Because Molley Chomper works on a harvest cycle rather than a fixed recipe, the lineup changes year to year, but a few ciders have become signatures. Mountain Maelstrom blends more than thirty apple varieties sourced from small farms across Ashe, Watauga and Avery counties. Barrel 19 uses old-fashioned Winesap apples grown at Bent Apple Farm, left to spontaneously ferment on the pomace before aging in barrel — dry, a little funky, with deep red-apple character. Carpenter Hill is made with organic purple raspberries grown along Helton Creek in Ashe County, using a heirloom variety developed by a local family in the 1960s. There’s also Old Orchard Creek, a bubbly fruit wine built on Ashe County blueberries and blended with long-aged cider, and a ginger cider made with fresh ginger pressed from a Zionville, NC farm. None of it uses concentrates, aseptic purees or artificial flavoring — everything starts as whole fruit.
The setting
The cidery occupies the old Lansing School, with a dog-friendly patio and a policy of welcoming outside food, so it’s an easy place to turn a tasting into an afternoon. Alongside their own ciders and fruit wines, they pour a curated selection of natural and organic wines by the glass or bottle — recent visits have featured Jones von Drehle, another North Carolina winery, as a rotating guest pour. Bottles are available to take home, and cider club members get first access to limited releases.
Beyond the tasting room
Lansing sits close to both West Jefferson and Boone, in a stretch of Ashe County known for hiking, fishing and cycling, and Molley Chomper’s own Bent Apple Farm has a rental cottage available for guests who want to stay in the area overnight. If you’re spending a day in Ashe County, this is a natural anchor for a farm-to-glass afternoon that doesn’t require a formal wine-tour itinerary to enjoy.
Planning your visit
Current posted hours show the cidery closed Monday and Tuesday, open afternoons into evening Wednesday through Sunday — but hours have shifted between seasons on their own site, so confirm before you drive out, especially midweek. From Boone it’s roughly 30–40 minutes depending on route, and it pairs naturally with a swing through West Jefferson or a stop at another Ashe County producer on the same trip.
Wine Tour Transportation to Molley Chomper Hard Cider
Ashe County Livery offers private, chauffeured wine tour transportation to Molley Chomper Hard Cider from Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, West Jefferson and across NC’s High Country. Our Molley Chomper Hard Cider trip-planning page covers drive times, tasting-room hours, group sizes and pricing.
Travel in a luxury SUV, sedan, or Sprinter van with a professional chauffeur — everyone in your group gets to taste, nobody has to drive. Plan your Molley Chomper Hard Cider tour or call (336) 484-1350.
Other High Country wineries we serve: Williamson Mead and Brewing · Mill Camp Wines & Ciders · Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Cidery — or browse every High Country winery, cidery and meadery we provide transportation to.
Explore More from Ashe County Livery
- High Country Wine Tours — Mountain winery shuttle service
- Yadkin Valley Wine Tours — Explore NC’s premier wine region
- Wine Loop Shuttle — Hop-on hop-off winery tours
- Wedding Transportation — Luxury shuttles for your big day
- Wedding venues we serve — 40+ High Country venues
- Airport Shuttle Service — CLT, AVL, GSO & TRI transfers
- Airport shuttles by town: Boone · Blowing Rock · Banner Elk · West Jefferson · Linville · Beech Mountain
- Ashe County Livery — Premium transportation in NC’s High Country
- Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350
🍷 Planning a Wine Tour in the NC High Country?
Ashe County Livery offers private, luxury wine tour transportation throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains. Skip the driving and let our professional chauffeurs take you from winery to winery in comfort and style.
Serving Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Boone, and all NC High Country destinations • (336) 484-1350
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