Calgary cidery wants to turn your leftover fruit into a drink for charity

For Calgarians wondering what to do with excess fruit from trees and bushes in their yards this season, Uncommon Cider has an answer help them turn it into a beverage.

In partnership with the Calgary Food Bank, the second annual Uncommon YYC Cider Fruit Drive is happening over the next few weeks, seeking leftover apples, pears, crabapples and berries.

"We're making a Calgary-based cider to really showcase the [terrain] of Calgary," said Brodie Thomas, co-founder of Uncommon Cider.

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"We're using completely natural yeast, so whatever yeast is on the skins of the apples when we juice it, to ferment, so it's going to be a very unique product."

Fruit drop-off points will be available at locations around the city until mid-September, including:

• Sidewalk Citizen East Village Aug. 25, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m .
• The Food Realm by Market Collective Aug. 30, 5 to 9 p.m.
• National on17th Sept. 2, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Citizen Brewing Company Sept. 7, 5 to 9 p.m.
• Cannibale in Bridgeland Sept. 9, noon to 4 p.m.
• Cannibale in Gravity Pope Sept. 14, 4 to 8 p.m.
• Last Best Brewing and Distillery Sept. 16, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• The Mashing Sept. 21 and 22.
• Dairy Lane Cafe Sept. 23, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Bruised fruits are OK, but anything rotten won't be accepted.

Volunteers are also being sought to help picktrees and bushes forCalgarians who aren't physically able to.

Cider from fruit gathered during last year's inaugural effort in conjunction with Inn From the Cold will be available this fall, and cider made from fruits gathered this year will be released in fall 2019.

A portion of proceeds fromeach pint or bottle of cider sold from last year's batch will go to Inn From the Cold and a portion of this year's proceeds will aid the Calgary Food Bank.

"I wanted to be able to collect [leftover fruit] and make it into something and give back to the community," said Thomas.

Colour, said Kelly Mandeville, a partner in Uncommon Cider, is a good way of knowing when fruit is ripe enough to be picked.

"The pinker the crabapple the better, I mean that's what I find when I'm eating them up in a tree," she said, describing the flavour as being, "a little bit tart and a little bit sweet, but then a little bit savoury."

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With files from Julie Debeljak