WHO WE ARE

Cider, Creativity, & Community

Is our passion. There is more to our business than just creating crisp and flavorful hard cider. The core of what we do, our passion, is creating connection. Like a carefully fashioned cider cocktail, we are one part family, one part agriculture, one part tourism, one part expertise, with a splash of bittersweet apples- shake it up, pour it in a glass, and garnish it with community support.

For Generations,

Our family background, on both sides, has been centered around farming. For the last 20 years, we’ve grown and harvested mostly Timothy & Alfalfa hay, a famous Ellensburg, WA crop, with other rotational crops in the Upper Badger Pocket area. Seven years ago, we set aside 8 acres to plant bittersweet heritage apples, and thus, the inception of Wheel Line Cider! As seasoned travelers, we discovered a wide range of ciders along the way and fell in love with the complex flavors that a fermented apple can possess. Our namesake and inspiration came from the historic part of our agricultural background. Arthur E. Jensen, our beloved father, grandfather, and inventor of the Thunderbird Wheel Line, influenced our name and brand. His drive for creation and problem-solving inspired us to create and refine the best ciders in Kittitas County. We honor his influence and innovation by calling ourselves Wheel Line Cider.

  • Maryanna Schane

    Director of Marketing and Sales

    Maryanna is the daughter of Wheel Line Ciders visionary, Susie! She graduated in 2010 from Fort Lewis College in Durango CO with a BA in Marketing. She has 3 kids and loves the outdoors. Maryanna is our community outreach/event coordinator and loves connecting with people!

  • Susie Bremer Jensen

    Owner

    Susie's great grandfather was Jacob Schmidt (of Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company), so you might have thought she would get into crafting beer, but she has always enjoyed the crisp and refreshing taste of hard cider. Her main residence which is tucked in at the base of the Cascade mountains, has apple trees on it from years before, when it had been an orchard. As a family they would pick and press the apples every fall and made cider. One thing led to another and next thing she knew, she was planting old varietals of bittersweet apples at their farm in Ellensburg, WA. They now have a thriving orchard and once she retired as an art teacher, her focus shifted to developing her own cidery which was named after the wheel line irrigation system that her father in law developed. The old barn has been converted into the cidery and the barndominium they used to live in, is now our office space.

    Susie loves to garden and entertain. The beauty of Eastern Wa has inspired her to create a space where her three passions can co-exist. She has thoughtfully designed a gathering space where the community can come and experience the slower pace of country life while sipping on a crafted cider.

  • Nate Lambert

    Cider Maker

    The journey to becoming a Cider Maker has been a long and circuitous one for Nate. He graduated with a B.A. degree in Applied Linguistics in 2005. After an internship and teaching a fair amount of English as a Second Language courses during and after college, he was drawn to teaching and received his Master’s in Teaching from Heritage University in 2009. He was able to live and teach in a few villages and towns in the Alaskan Bush and on the Yakama Reservation in Wapato, Washington. After more than a decade of teaching, he was ready for his next adventure. From gardening as a kid, to brewing beer with his dad as a young adult, fermenting homegrown vegetables, and becoming an avid home wine, cider, and mead maker, He became fascinated with the intersection of agriculture and fermentation. Nate graduated with a Winery Technology Degree from Yakima Valley College in the Spring of 2020. He worked as cellar crew, laboratory technician, vineyard technician, and wine tracker at a few wineries located in the Yakima Valley. Being from Central Washington, Nate is very excited to be working with apples and cider at Wheel Line Cider. When not producing delicious fermented beverages, Nate loves to spend time with his son and wonderful wife Maria. You may find him in the garden, out in nature, or simply relaxing with the family at home.

  • Cody Barthels

    Description goeCody is the assistant cider maker at Wheel Line Cider, where he combines his passion for craft brewing and business acumen to help create standout ciders. A graduate of Central Washington University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Craft Brewing and a minor in Business, Cody found his way to cider-making after years of honing his skills in fermentation. Cody is thrilled to be part of the Wheel Line team, blending his love of nature with his dedication to crafting quality ciders. He’s an outdoors enthusiast who loves camping and hunting, often joined by his wife Esther and their dog Mina.

  • Ruperto Vicente

    Orchard Manager

Art Jensen Grew Up

As a farm boy in Idaho in the early 1900’s. He had a strong agricultural background, but his future as an inventor was inevitable due to his natural knack for tinkering and problem-solving. Art’s mechanical drive and talent for fixing machines, like clocks and typewriters, led to him pursuing a higher education in engineering and Horology- the science of measuring time and the design and construction of measuring devices. The 1930’s and early 40’s were an exciting time in Art’s life- in short, he was a watch maker for a time, owned his own jewelry store and repair shop in Los Angeles, invented the notoriously known Sunbeam Shavemaster, and contributed his inventive talent to WWII. The war changed things for Arthur Jensen. On a impressionable trip to Germany just after the war ended, Art saw how the devastation affected the countryside and the cities, and how they were recovering differently. Although the farmlands were recovering faster, he noticed that their common irrigation tactics could be improved. This gave him an idea- instead of flooding the soil, water could be sprayed from above. He was inspired to come back to Idaho, buy some land, and dive back into the ag industry. Back on American soil, Art’s tinkering mind got to work on his irrigation idea, and soon created and refined the Thurderbird Wheel Line. Before his invention American farmers would have to physically pick up and move their long sprinklers by hand, at least 60,’ and then reassemble the device every time. Art created and refined the wheel structure and a sub liner that would keep the sprinkler straight, weighted (for spray direction) and more easily mobile. His Thunderbird improvements are still used to this day.

It Runs in the Family

Our family prides itself on its strong historical and familial ties with brewing and alcohol. Our owner, Susie's great grandfather was Jacob Schmidt (of Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company), so you might have thought she would get into crafting beer, but she has always enjoyed the crisp and refreshing taste of hard cider. And even though our immediate family has pursued the fermentation world of Cider, we’re committed to continue to embrace our history and “Grow with the Great (Pacific) Northwest”. Schmidt Brewing Company (1900-1954) will always have a special place in our hearts and act as a model of perseverance, and innovation.

 

“Amazing cider and beautiful atmosphere. Definitely a must to visit!”

— Reesa D.