Ash Elm & Cider Co. is a relatively new family business run by the husband and wife team of Aaron and Andréa Homoya. After roughly two years of planning, they opened the craft cidery in the summer of 2016.
Aaron, the chief fermentation officer, has been brewing beer at home for more than a decade. But as the craft beer industry seemed to be crowding the market in Indy, he and Andréa decided to shift their focus to hard cider. A particularly tasty cider they tried in Ireland inspired them to start making their own. And they wanted to stand out from the local competition.
“No one in Indianapolis was making craft cider the way we wanted to, and as a category, cider was really becoming a lot more popular nationwide,” Andréa said. “The skills transferred pretty well between brewing and cider-making, so we decided to go for it.”
Aaron kept his day job as an electrical engineer, moonlighting as the manager of Ash & Elm’s cider-making process. As CEO, Andréa oversees the daily operations, making sure everything in the tasting room and kitchen runs smoothly and working with local bars and restaurants to get the company’s ciders on taps and retail shelves all around town.
Everything at Ash & Elm is local — from the Indiana-grown apples used to make the ciders to the meats and cheeses on its delicious pressed sandwiches. Aaron and Andréa take pride in the company’s Hoosier roots.
The Homoyas’ relationship with Sponsel CPA Group began when Ash & Elm was still in its infancy.
“Our lawyer, Dave Castor, recommended Sponsel back when we were still a business in planning,” Andréa said. “We were looking to secure some bank financing and needed help with our business projections. We hired Sponsel to help us with that project, and then we decided to continue the relationship after finding them great to work with and very knowledgeable.”
Ash & Elm continues to grow and thrive. Keep an eye out for its upcoming seasonal ciders — pumpkin, raspberry and winter spice. Click here to learn more about the company.