For Vinessa Karnofski, what’s transpired over the past 10 months is something between a success story and a fever dream. Her Ilwaco Cider Co. has exploded on the craft brewing scene in almost every way possible.
The 46-year-old former chef turned cider maker decided to go bold with her recipes from the start rather than play it safe, blending exotic ingredients and flavors, from zesty chiles to oolong tea and spruce tips. That proved to be a wise decision because her inventive ciders quickly generated buzz.
The welcoming taproom was also a hit as a Long Beach peninsula gathering place, with no-cover live music on weekends. And she and her business partner-husband wasted little time venturing into canning and distribution.
Far ahead of schedule, the cidery now has five employees and produces 60 barrels every three to four weeks. All of which is great news for Ilwaco, an historic fishing village poised for a resurgence.
Born in Nebraska, Karnofski grew up in Southern California. After graduating from culinary school in Portland, she worked as a chef in restaurants and did some catering before opening the cidery in June 2024. She and Jarrod, a peninsula native, have a combined five kids, ranging in age from 4 to 24.
We sat down with the cider maker recently for a wide-ranging Q/A:
Q: Ilwaco Cider has taken the region by storm. What do you make of your rapid-fire success?
A: [Cringes] Even you saying that makes me uncomfortable. I’m not good with that kind of light shined on me. I feel weird when people start pointing it out.
I’m so shocked by the growth. Incredibly humbled. At the same time, I’m trying to be really smart about our next move because I’ve heard so many places have expanded too fast, too soon. It’s almost like, Be careful, Vinessa.
We can’t over-promise. That’s ludicrous. It’s going to burn me out; it’s going to burn our staff out. It’s going to be too expensive. So, we’ve got to figure out what can we make within reason to satisfy a percentage of the vendors that would love to have our product.
We have had to hit the pause button a few times – until production is ready. Especially with Springrider Cran. It’s just so popular. I mean, the batch I’m working on right now is 1,000 gallons. It’s my first 1,000-gallon batch.
Having people as far south as Roseburg saying they want to have us on tap was super-exciting in the beginning, but now, almost a full year in, we’re like, We can’t do that. We can’t promise people that.
Q: When you and Jarrod set out on this venture, where did you realistically expect to be today, after 10 months?
A: I thought we would just have good ciders on tap, maybe have a slight reach in our region through self-distribution.
In our business plan, we had one employee. … But we started out with three employees and it quickly became five, and we’ve been able to keep all five through the winter.
Q: Your cider-making started as a hobby, making small batches at home for your family. What got you interested in the first place?
A: We had fruit trees and Jarrod’s parents had fruit trees and family friends had fruit trees. We’d already been gardening and canning. All that stuff that people did during Covid, I was already doing that for years. I was a homesteader, sorta.
… Craft beverages were so hip, since the early 2000s. So hip. You just appreciate what people can do with their hands. I always found it fascinating that they could make beer. It was kinda always in the back of my mind: I wanted to learn how to make craft beverages.
I wanted to know how to make beer, and then cider got popular and I thought, I can do this. Sure, I can do this.
Q: How did that first home batch turn out?
It was kind of skunky. … But I would take that and filter it through coffee filters and cheesecloth, and then add some juices to it. … It was strong. Very strong.
Q: But you really honed those skills. When did launching a cidery enter the picture?
A: It was around 2017. I was thinking, What can I do besides open a restaurant? What skills do I possess?And craft beverages was something I was very interested in.
I had this discussion with Jarrod one day, when my eyes got big as saucers. I said, ‘Cider, that’s what we need to do. Hard cider.’ And he was instantly excited about that idea.
We’ve got a great brewery [North Jetty Brewing] down the street. A cidery will complement the area. It’s unique. We’re not pulling from anyone – we’re bringing people in. It’s great. It’s perfect.
Q: You had a lot of local support, but you still had your doubts?
A: I’m not a negative person, I just tend to be too practical sometimes. To a fault. Like I was thinking: I don’t know, one out of every three restaurants that open close. I’m sure with cideries it’s higher. There’s not one that’s been successful in our area.
All these things came into my mind. But there was this positive reinforcement we were getting from the community. People were so excited for it. And if anybody knows me really well, they know it’s hard for me to let people down.
Q: What was your biggest fear in brewing on a much larger scale?
A: [Laughs] My biggest fear was not having the money to do it. It’s not cheap, and we didn’t have investors. We were doing it all on our own.
What also kept me up at night was whether people would like it. It’s weird. You trust everyone around you, but you still don’t know until the public comes in and says it’s okay.
The thing that has spoken volumes is all the [glowing] Google reviews, and just the people who come, that I don’t even know, who say this is good. The local people who show up every single week. … They have their own blends and the taptenders know it. They come in and know they want half Sister Berry, half Solitary Euphoria, or half Ancho Libre, half Cran.
I love that. It makes me so happy.
Q: Other brewers who were former cooks have had success on the North Coast. How valuable were those skills when you dove into the cider biz?
A: I could not do this well at all without those skills. … I didn’t know until my very first batch. I could taste it. Oh yeah, this needs more apple juice, or fig, or spruce tips, or whatever.
It’s unique to look at a cider’s flavor profile and realize that someone took the time to make it. It just makes me so excited, for [customers] to take a drink and say, ‘I can taste all these flavors and it’s so delicious.’
Q: What is your process for developing a recipe?
A: First, I think about what I have available to use. The Pacific Northwest has an abundance of native growing plants and fruits.
So, I have these goumi berries. My mother-in-law has two plants that produce maybe 15 gallons each. I saved last year’s batch. It’s in my freezer here. I meant to make a small, hundred-gallon batch of goumi berry cider and I ran out of time.
What do I want to do? I know goumi is the main ingredient. It’s popular in Asia, so what are other Asian fruits or elements that complement that? … How cool would it be if it’s sake style? That’s a perfect small batch.
Nobody knows what a goumi berry is. So, I’m going to build a recipe that kind of tells its story.
Q: What’s the most creative blend you’ve done since opening?
A: Columbia Fog. Coming up with the right balance of lavender, vanilla, oolong tea and orange. I definitely played with that. I feel it’s my personal flagship recipe.
It speaks to a lot of people, because there’s quite a few people who love tea, who know what London Fog tea is. I’ve made it local, turning it into a craft cider.
Q: There’s been a fair amount of trial by fire. What have been the biggest lessons so far?
A: I probably should have bought a more expensive filter. [Laughs].
I used too much sulfites in my very first batch. Luckily, not danger zone, but I could taste it. That hasn’t happened since.
Then I lost 20 percent of my cans in a [pasteurization] faux pas. A huge loss. [Fort George Brewery owner] Chris Nemlowill was here not too long after. He just shook his head and said, ‘I remember those days when every ounce mattered and any mistake was devastating. You’ll get through it.’
It was good for me to hear other people in the industry admit that they also have not gotten everything right from the beginning. They, too, have tripped up.
Q: Ilwaco Cider was recently named Best Brewpub in the Readers’ Choice Awards. I know you were blown away by that. Has it sunk in yet?
A: I don’t think we deserve that award. I’m serious. … We haven’t even been open a year. We’re just hitting our stride.
Now I feel like there’s even more pressure. I don’t want to let anyone down.
Q: What’s it like being part of Ilwaco’s renaissance?
A: We have always appreciated how lucky we are to live where we live. All the wonderful people who live here. All the talents.
We want to help reinvigorate Ilwaco. When my husband was young it was bustling. Fishing season would start and there would be lines of trucks pulling their boats, and they’d be lined up from the port all the way through the intersection down toward city hall, waiting their turn to put their boats in the water. We don’t see that anymore.
How do we get people to come here versus other places for vacation? How do we get them to come here versus maybe Cannon Beach and Manzanita, that have more boutique shops and are more of a walking community?
We have to become a walking community, where people just pull over and park, and then they can just stroll for blocks. They won’t do that unless there are businesses to go to. We’ve started seeing that growth here, slowly. If we can just keep the coffee pot perking …
Q: You’ve decided to delay putting in a kitchen and adding a food menu. Is that part of you wanting to control your growth?
A: [Nods] I think what we need to do is stabilize. I really want to make good cider, fine-tune all my recipes.
We just placed an ad on Facebook Marketplace looking for a food truck vendor. We will start doing some interviews and see if we can get someone here this summer, so there’s food.
I just have to remember that I’m already using my [culinary] skills, and there will come a day when I’ll be able to do more.
Q: You and Jarrod are raising a bunch of kids. How challenging has that been, given the demands of a new business?
A: It’s a good question because I find myself all the time thinking how the hell do people do this? And then you just take another step forward.
I haven’t found myself crumpled up in a corner of my closet, sobbing. Obviously, it’s not that bad, but there are days when you feel like you’re short in every category. You’re falling short in being a good mom, you’re falling short in being a good business owner, a cider maker, a wife. Whatever.
I always have to tell myself that’s okay. That’s okay. You are doing the best you can.
Q: What’s your favorite part of the job?
A: [Glances around the taproom] This space is my love. I’ll be the first one in here, turn on all the lights and the music, and I’m like, I can’t believe this is f—ing mine!
There’s so much of my personality in this space. Sometimes I just geek out over the smallest things. You know, decorating.
Other days, I come in and I’m so excited about the cider. … I got an herb order in the other day, and I was just smelling all the bags.
