Cider Chat

New England is comprised of 6 states, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and is home to some of the United States' oldest commercial cideries. In what is known as western Massachusetts, the annual cider fest known as Franklin County CiderDays, takes place on the first weekend of November each year. This year is the 24th annual and takes place on November 2-4, 2...

There is Perry being made in Georgian Bay, Ontario! Windswept Orchard Cider is 2 years old (founded in 2016) and is the creation of Mark Skinner,   wife Courtney and their two kids. This couples background is culinary cooking which is part of the inspiration for the cidermaking and their ability to tend to orchards. The 100 acre farm is located in the souther region of Georgian Bay. They planted o...

Ironbark Ciderworks in Claremont, California opened its Tasting Room doors to the public in November of 2017. The large inviting Tasting Room has conical stainless steel tanks to one side and room for musicians to another, in the back. The front room has tables and chairs and a hot pink bar. There is also outside seating which offers a perfect place to sit and take in the dry, arid air of this sou...

Val Steinmann and Brent Klassen moved from the city to the 42 acre farm that is now called Heartwood Farm and Cidery in 2004. In the past 14 years, they created pasture and now have a herd of 20 cows each summer. They have planted an orchard and raised pigs, chickens and have two work horses. Val inspired the family to worked towards a "regenerative farm" and in short order Brent got into orchard...

Niagara College has two locations in Ontario, Canada. This chat features the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus which has a fully licensed winery on site (which is what is needed to make cider in Canada). It is here that past student and now the onsite winemaker, Gavin Robertson, works with students making cider to sell at the college's Tasting Room. The course work is very experiential in that there is a...

New Zealand's Peckham Cider is featured in this podcast episode #139. I was able to sit down with Alex Peckham at CiderCon2018 held in Baltimore, Maryland. CiderCon is the annual trade conference put on by the United States Association of Cider Makers every year. Because I live in the northern hemisphere, I have long been very curious about the apple growing and cidermaking schedule in the souther...

Richard Liu is the Chair of the  Ontario Craft Cider Association and owner of Ironwood Cider and Sunnybrook Winery . This chat was recorded while I was on tour with Ryan Monkman of Fieldbird Cider (Prince Edward County) who sponsored my cider tour of Ontario's craft cidermakers. Richard's Background Richard was born in Taiwan and his family moved to Canada when he was ten. Before buying Sunnybrook...

County Cider based in Prince Edward County in the Canadian Province of Ontario began selling cider in 1996. It was launched by Grant Howes a formidable man considered the Grandfather of Cider in Ontario. In 2000 Jenifer Dean who had studied winemaking joined up with County Cider. Her husband Grant passed away unexpectedly in January 2017 when he had a heart attack in his sleep. Jenifer Dean tells...

This is a mini version of the main podcast this week - as I am super duper busy - so I call this "Cider Chat Live" which is a mini me version of the main podcast - Subscribe to Cider Chat Live too via  https://anchor.fm/ciderchat In this episode, Nathan details how he made his winning Ice Cider that launched him into the US based National Homebrew Competition that was held in Portland Oregon at th...

Viejo is a barrel aged cider made by Joe Getz of Kurant Cider. This cider is a single varietal cider made with Winchester apples. Described on Kurants website as: "a blend of wild fermented ciders created by using some of the best apples we could source in Pennsylvania.  The ciders used to blend Viejo were aged for 6-18 months in oak before being used in the finished product.  Viejo is a still cid...

What are Medlars? Medlars are pommes. It can be either a tree or a large bush. The small brown medlars are picked in the fall. Because Medlars are eaten in the winter months they were very popular at a time when fruit was not easily accessible during winter months. To Blet a Medlar, means that this pomme is allowed to over ripen to the point of almost being rotten. How to eat a Medlar Wait until t...

Attention Cider Makers! Understand Your Cider's Chemical Fingerprints John Edwards presented "Cider's Chemical Fingerprints" at the  United States Association of Cider Makers  (now referred to as the American Cider Association) annual conference in Baltimore Maryland (CiderCon) in February 2018. The full title of this workshop was  The Complex Fingerprint Analysis of Cider and other Alcoholic Beve...

  Bâtonnage is a winemaking technique that is also used in Cidermaking. It involves raking the lees or what is seen as the heavy particulars of yeast cells that fall out of solution and down to the bottom of the barrel during primary fermentation. Bâtonnage is all about stirring the lees back into solution. Makers like Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider and Lee Baker of Keint-He Winery and Vineyards...

Cider Barrel Maintenance The craft of making an oak barrel is called "cooperage" and the person who applies this craft is called a "cooper". The skills of this trade have been passed down through the centuries. The tree and the wood chosen to become a barrel has to meet specific criteria, such as having a tight grain and flavor profiles that lend the tannin qualities often sought in a cider barrel...

Cider Voices from Grand Rapids Cider Week and the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition On the evening of May 14th Joby Willson, Mark Gryska, Charlie Olchowski and William Grote and myself headed out in a big old van to Grand Rapids, thanks to Mike Beck who invited us and hosted us throughout the week. Beck who he is lovingly called by all manages  GLINTCAP  and hires a team of peo...

Carlo Hein has always loved cider. That cider love and perhaps his work in renovation and sustainable energy spurred him and his friends to start a cidery. Upon noticing the fallen fruit and neglected apples trees in his area of Luxembourg. He realized, "We need to save these orchards" And so he did. Ramborn Cider Co began selling cider in 2015 and is Luxembourg's only cidery. To make cider he fir...

Cider won big at the 23rd Annual Home-brew Competition held in Boston and put on by the Wort Processors - a home-brew club. Tom Bell's New World Cider won both Best in Show for cider and placed 3rd in the Best Overall in Show. This means that Tom's winning cider was placed in the final competition for Best Overall with 37 winning beers. Best of Show Winners Circle 1st Maurice Dalton's -   Gueze 2r...

Matt DeLong grew up making cider and what he once called "Apple Wine". Western Michigan has what is known as the wine trail and there are lots of fruit wines, so it is no surprise that Matt first considered a career in the wine industry. Things started to change around 2009 - 2010 when he noticed a whole lot of ciders in his area of west Michigan popping up. He credits the support of his wife Vale...

Little Pomona's makers and founders, Susanna and James Forbes have a long history with libations. James worked as a wine buyer and marketer, while Susanna who started in physics became one of the UK's leading libation writers. Her book Cider Insider will be released later this year. James is amazing and with Susanna who also did a spell as drinks editor of Imbibe magazine and as a member of the Gu...

Paul Vander Heide opened Vander Mill a cidery based in Spring Lake Michigan in 2008. Some might think that 3000 square feet is a good size for a start up cidery and they would be right. But as Paul reminisces in this chat, they had to expand quickly when they had to move outdoors to continue production. In 2016, a new location was open in Grand Rapids. Both locations have a Tap Room and Restaurant...

Kirk Billingsley has been charmed by cider ever since he was a kid. Coming home from school he fondly remembers being mentored by his dad who had a barrel of sweet cider (non fermented apple juice) outside the family's home in the same county of Highland where he still lives today. In 2015 he opened Big Fish Cider Company after making cider non commercially for 25 years in his home. This chat was...

Poiré Fermier is French for Perry Farmer, which is only part of the story for the featured guest in this episode 123. Cidermaker Philippe and wife Marie-Claire Derouault also manage a herd of dairy cows who graze and laze among orchards of apples and pears on their 120 hectares (297 acres) situated in Loré, France. There are 14 Poiré producers in this region of southern Normandy and the Perry they...

Find this episode with photos and show notes and all episodes at the page for  Cider Chat's podcasts . Cider enthusiast Michel Dargent hosted   Ria at his home in September 2017. Monsieur Dargent is a cider aficionado, making the two night stay at his gîte (bed & breakfast) the perfect stop on Ria's cider tour of Normandy. Listen in on this intimate conversation as we discuss the ancient pear tree...

Tieton Cider Works was founded by Marcus Roberts and is based in Yakima Washington. Tieton works with Harmony Orchards which has 55 acres of cider apples and perry pears. Marcus who takes a scientific approach to making cider and perry, is the General Manager of Tieton Cider Works overseeing both a modern and traditional approach to cider making. In this chat Marcus shares how Tieton using the tec...

Noble Cider in Asheville, North Carolina opened in 2013 after Trevor Baker lost his job in online retail. He wasn't a cidermaker at the time, but he and his wife Joanna both enjoyed drinking cider. After taking a cidermaking course with Peter Mitchell at WSU Mount Vernon, he delved straightaway into getting his own commercial cidery with his wife and business partner Lief Stevens. Noble was starte...