And in Bob Ullrich's case, a glass of cider helped convince him to buy the farm. He stopped one October day, back in 1977, at the old Rothman farm along Ohio 48 north of Lebanon on his commute from Cincinnati to Dayton. While drinking cider, Ullrich learned the farm was for sale. Three days later, he made an offer.

"I guess I was young and stupid," he says.

Ullrich still owns the farm - now called Hidden Valley. And he still makes cider the old fashioned-way - pressing a select blend of sweet and tart apples grown in his orchard.

FRESH CIDER

A & M Farm Orchard, 22141 Ohio 251, Midland. 875-2500. Beiersdorfer Orchard, 21874 Kuebel Road, Guilford, Ind. (812) 487-2695. (Cider also available at many Kroger stores, Madison's Produce in Glendale and Madison's Market at Findlay Market.) Hidden Valley Fruit Farm, 5474 N. Ohio 48, Lebanon. (513) 932-1869. Hollmeyer's Orchards Farm Market, 3241 Fiddlers Green Road, Green Township. (513) 574-0663. Irons' Fruit Farm, 1640 Stubbs Mill Road, Lebanon. (513) 932-2853. www.ironsfruitfarm.com. McGlassen's Farm, Ky. 8, Taylorsport. (859) 689-5229. Rouster's Apple House, 1986 Ohio 131, Milford. (513) 625-5504. • Recipe: Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Sauce

COUNTRY APPLEFEST

• Celebrate apples and cider at Country Applefest 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday in Lebanon. Information: (513) 932-6585 or www.countryapplefest.com. • Hidden Valley Fruit Farm, north of Lebanon on Ohio 48, hosts Apple Daze 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Hidden Valley celebrates apple cider with the Ohio Cider Festival, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 2 and 3. Information: (513) 932-2853.

"The best cider should be sweet to the tongue and aromatic, with mellow background flavors of apples like McIntosh," Ullrich says, sounding like a practiced wine-maker.

He is so particular about the flavor of his cider, Ullrich refuses to pasteurize or treat it to kill microorganisms that could cause food-borne illness. The cider operation is clean and sanitary, he says. He washes the apples at least twice before pressing them, and he doesn't use fruit that falls to the ground.

"If it's pasteurized, you might as well buy it from the grocery store," Ullrich says.

Under state and federal regulations, Ullrich and other producers who don't treat their cider (there are about 50 in Ohio) must put labels on the containers warning consumers the juice could be hazardous to their health. For now, anyway, that's fine with Ullrich, who says many customers buy his cider because it tastes better.

"If they make me pasteurize it, I'll stop making cider," he says.

Handle untreated cider with care

Health concerns over untreated fresh apple cider go back to 1996, when an outbreak of food-borne illness in Colorado was traced to cider infested with E. coli bacteria. One person died and 70 people were hospitalized in that outbreak. Last year, investigators tracked at least one case of illness in northeastern Ohio to apple cider that contained the parasite, cryptosporidium. Possible sources of cider contamination include the apples and the water used to clean the cider press, holding tanks and other equipment.

Under federal guidelines, apple cider producers must be inspected by the state and/or local health departments. If the producers use well water to wash their equipment, the water must be tested every year. And producers can not use apples that have dropped to the ground to make cider.

Producers have the option of treating their cider with pasteurization, ozone or ultraviolet light. If they choose not to treat their cider, they are required to put a warning label on the containers advising consumers the cider can cause food-borne illness. Those at highest risk are the very young, the elderly and people who suffer from an immune deficiency. Untreated cider can only be sold retail, on the premises of the production facility.

Other things to remember to keep your cider safe.

• Refrigerate fresh cider (untreated and treated) as soon as possible at 40 degrees or below. Like milk, drink or discard it within a week of purchase.

• Pasteurize cider at home by heating it to 160 degrees (use a food thermometer) for at least six seconds.

• Frozen cider will keep up to a year. To freeze, pour off enough cider to allow for expansion during freezing. Cap the container securely and store at 0 degrees. To thaw the cider, move the container to the refrigerator for a day or so. If the cider separates after thawing, shake it well before pouring.

E-mail cmartin@enquirer.com