New cidery Providence Farms puts down roots in Chesterfield

John and Allie Beard. (Images courtesy Providence Farms Cidery)

During the pandemic, John and Allie Beard began making hard cider in their kitchen as a hobby to pass the time. Now, after selling their products at local farmers markets and festivals in recent years, that hobby has a home of its own. 

The married couple recently opened Providence Farms Cidery at 1315 S. Providence Road in Chesterfield County. 

The cidery sits on a roughly 24-acre farm along Pocoshock Creek south of Midlothian Turnpike. The Beards bought the land in a series of deals between 2019 and 2024. Allie said initially, they didn’t know how they’d use the land and weren’t using it for cider making. 

“(John) put two and two together and said, ‘Hey, I think I found a way to develop this land that we just came across. What would you think about turning it into an orchard?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m not totally against it. What kind of a money pit are we talking about?’” Allie said. 

It’s the Beards’ first time as business owners, and their day jobs set them up well to get into cidermaking and the expansion on the farm: Allie is a medical lab scientist at VCU Health and John is a welder and boilermaker.

“The chemistry for cider making came easy to me, and he did all the construction for the tasting room, so it was a really nice skill set marriage, and then having the acreage for the trees was just icing on the cake,” Allie said. 

Most of the cidery’s seating area is outdoors.

A few years ago they planted apple, peach, pear and cherry trees that are still maturing, so in the meantime the Beards are leasing an orchard in Winchester from which they source the fruit for Providence Farms’ ciders. 

On their one-barrel brewing system, the Beards have been producing sweet and dry ciders, along with peach, sangria and blackberry ciders, the last of which Allie said is among their more popular brews. 

“It’s still a hard apple cider, but it’s flavored after fermentation with blackberries that we grew on the property,” she said. “So it’s a very orchard-to-table experience, which we really love.”

She added they recently picked up a 5-barrel carbonation tank that’ll allow them to increase Providence Farms’ output and menu. 

“It’ll increase our efficiency by leaps and bounds. You’ve heard of the term ‘microbrewery.’ We’re the next step down. We’re like a nano-brewery,” she  said. 

Providence Farms’ blackberry cider is among its more popular.

The tasting room is highlighted by a bar made from the wood from an oak tree they had to cut down on the orchard, and Allie  said most of their seating is outdoors. “My husband calls it an urban oasis, which I think is totally cheesy, but it’s a great little spot,” she said, laughing. 

She said they’ve been bringing in food trucks and also stock packaged foods from local producers Route 11 Potato Chips, Nifty Nuttery pecans and River City Chocolate. 

Providence Farms is open Friday through Sunday as they continue their day jobs, and Allie said they’re looking to increase their days and hours of operation to include Thursdays. 

County records show they paid a total of around $240,000 for the land for Providence Farms, and Allie said they’ve been able to take on the whole project without taking out any loans. 

“It’s pretty wild, the way it worked out,” she said. “It’s been a really fun adventure.”

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