Cider Chat

Dr. John Cline and Derek Plotkowski chat on the study of pomes, i.e., Pomology and their current research on cider apples. They are based at the  University of Guelph  in Ontario Canada. John Cline               Pomology and Cider in Ontario The  Ontario Craft Cider Association  approached Dr. Cline looking for access to cider varieties and to get an understanding of how they would grow in Canada....

Meet Sebastian Lousada Flag Hill Farm makers of what they call Vermont Organic Hard Cider, is fully off the grid, certified organic, and producers of both cider and Pomme-de-vie AND I bet you haven't heard of it! So Grab a Glass and Join in Chat with the cider maker, Sebastian Lousada as we discuss his journey to cider and the products he makes today! Flag Hill is an OG in the US Cider Market Seba...

Colin Davis is Production Manager and cidermaker at Shacksbury, a cidery based in northern Vermont in the town of Shoreham.  Shacksbury was incorporated in 2013 and began selling ciders in 2014. Unlike many new startups that focus locally, the decision was made early on, to sell broadly. David and Colin Shacksbury Beginnings The immediate success of Shacksbury can be credited to both Colin Davis a...

Jennifer Smith the Executive Director of New York Cider Association and Sara Grady Founder of NY Cider Week discuss the state's commitment to cider and upcoming events. I sat down for a chat with these two women who are cider beacons for the Empire State. We were all attending Cider Feast 2016  a Food Karma Projec t created by restauranteur and all around good guy and one of my picks for NYC's Bes...

Emily Ritchie is the Executive Director of the  Northwest Cider Association  a region covering Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia.  This region's cider scene is on fire and growing! Emily Ritchie The Northwest Cider Association was formed in 2010. The following Washington State cideries listed below initially kick started the Association. Tieton Cider Works Whitewood Cider Sno...

Quebrada del Chucao is a family owned cidery in Villarica (vee aree-ka), a village located in southern Chile. The Nahrwold family along with cousin Diego Rivera have been making cider commercially since 2012. Villarica is located approximately 746 kilometers/463 miles south of the capital of Santiago. In view of the town is a volcano that Diego will describe during this chat as active and illumina...

For Andreas' Brännland Cider is Ice Cider Andreas Sundgren of Brännland Cider discusses iscider (ice cider) in this chat. A winner of multiple awards for his ice cider, he follows traditional techniques that are "true to the quality denomination of Quebec". He reached out to renown American ice cider maker Eleanor Leger of  Eden Cider  of Newport Vermont, crediting her for helping him understand t...

Stem Cider was started by Eric Foster and Phil Kao, Michigan natives who founded their urban cidery in Denver Colorado. Since opening in 2014, they have already been awarded a bevy of cider medals at the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition (GLINTCAP)  see list below. Eric Foster Stem brings apple and "single strength" juice in from Colorado's western Slope towns of Paonia, Hotchk...

Who is Tim? Tim Larsen was at the all day event,  Pour the Core in Brooklyn , NYC waiting on a long line of thirsty cider drinkers. During a the break between sessions I was able to squirrel away with Tim in a back corner of the Brooklyn Expo Center and chat Snowdrift ciders and their perry. Tim Larsen In this Cider Chat Snowdrift Ciders – 9 ciders that won awards in April of 2016. cider making co...

Shannon Edgar's historical Cider town of Sherborn Massachusetts Stormalong is already winning awards! In spring of 2016, at Michigan's Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition (GLINTCAP) Stormalong Hard Cider took home 5 medals!  Look at the bottom of the page for the listing. This chat begins with Shannon and Benjamin Roberts-Sano who works with Shannon creating their delicious cider...

Danielle von Scheiner is putting the "BIG" back into New York City's apple love, with her new cidery  Big Apple Hard Cider . Danielle von Scheiner Danielle began learning the science of fermentation at the age of 12 while helping her dad make wine. More recently she began experimenting with apples and then after a motorcycle accident (she was hit by a NY cab) she thought of the old saying "We all...

Adam Krakowsk's new book  Vermont Prohibition: Teetotalers, Bootleggers & Corruption  (2016 Arcadia Press) carves out the   state of Vermont's cider, beer, and spirits history in relationship to prohibition. Vermont Prohition: Teetotalers, Bootleggers & Corruption Vermont Prohibition  covers, the politics, policy, economics, religion and social impact that prohibition had on Vermont. Read about th...

Part 2 at Farnum Hill Cider Delve into tasting 7- ciders with the Farnum Hill Cider team. This is Part 2 with this OG cidery and orchard. Steve Woods, whom along with his wife Louisa D. Spencer who founded the cidery, explains how this tasting, which takes place 3-4 times per week, is conducted. Nicole Leibon, Steve Wood, Louisa Spencer In this Cider Chat The descriptors fly, laughter follows and...

Enjoy Part 1 of a two part chat with the founders and cider makers of Farnum Hill Cider, in Lebanon New Hampshire.  This OG cidery sits on the slope of Farnum Hill with nearby town of White River Junction and the Connecticut River to the east. Like many New England orchards and farms there is not necessarily open continuous land, but small acreage here and there, wherein the case of FHC- cider app...

Sam Reid is based in Tasmania, a state of Australia. He is a partner at Willie Smith's Cider and President of Cider Australia. Sam Reid Cider in Australia Tasmania is what Sam calls the smallest state of Australia…which by the way mainland Australia is equal in size to the continental United States. It was colonized by the English who used it in the 1700's as a penal colony. It is also in the sout...

"There is always something going on" say Nat West at his Reverend Nat Taproom in Portland Oregon. Nat West in the 3500 square foot Packing Room In this Cider Chat Ria met with Nat before she headed over to CiderCon2016 later that same day. This chat provides a tour of the taproom and production space. Discussed are some of his crazy ass fermentations that aren't cider, but does show Nat's passion...

Tom Oliver shares his approach to hopped cider and the best of what the US and UK have to look forward to in the cider market. What he saw in US hopped ciders back in 2013 ignited his desire to try his hand at adding hops to cider to his bittersweet cider. He worked with 3-different cider blends and Cascade hops, and in turn "ramped up" the bittersweet element to give a bit more of the drying fini...

When John Bunker talks or teaches Apple Identification he doesn't begin with the apple. He always goes back to the root of the tree…unless it is one of the Eric Clapton apples, i.e., you immediately recognize it as a variety that you all ready know. John provides a great metaphor for recognizing apples that you have learned to instantly know, much like you would a riff from your favorite musician....

Austin Eastciders is helping to make Austin Texas a cider mecca in a land where the apple root faces harsh growing conditions. Aaron Anderson is the R&D Coordinator at this growing cidery. He sat down for a chat with me at CiderCon2016 in Portland Oregon during the United States Association of Cider Makers conference. The head cidermaker is Preston Nickens. Aaron Anderson Austin Eastciders opened...

Keeving Made Simple, but oh so Dandy at Worleys Cider Neil Worley's makes cider in the area of Great Britain called Somerset. Climb the high hill at the farm and your can see the Bristol Channel. It is a remote location by UK standards and the soil at the farm is only 3 inches in depth before you hit limestone. Thus, instead of growing apples at the farm, the apples are brought up the hill from th...

Jim Wallace is a cheese maker and cheese tech a.k.a the "Cheese Guru" at New England Cheesemaking Supply in Ashfield Massachusetts. When not helping the cheese world sort through problematic cheeses, he teaches classes at his home...in his cellar where he also ferments wine, beer, and cider and has his beloved cheese cave. Our goal for this chat was to have a cider and cheese pairing and discuss a...

Leonard Koningswijk owner/cidermaker of Bear Cider in the Netherlands is turning his country towards cider one palate at a time. The idea was sprouted at his family home in the rural village of Beerze on the border of Germany. (Beerze means bear in Dutch.) Like many cider folk he saw the bounty of apples laden on the trees and thought something must be done with those apples. Via the internet he l...

Alec Steinmetz, Will Correll and Matthew Meyer are sharing their story of starting an urban cidery. This is Part 1 of what will be an ongoing story of the start-up Buskey Cider of Richmond, Virginia.  The cidermaking tanks arrived in February 2016. 5 wine tanks 4 brewing tanks, which are conical They pitched the yeast for Buskey's first cider on March 16, 2016 2 - 30 barrels tank pitched with one...

Getting to cider for Gregory Hall, was one part luck and a whole lot of beer. When his father John Hall founded the Chicago based Goose Island Brewery in 1988, it took only 3 years before Greg was at the helm of brewing. Twenty years later in 2011 the brewery would be sold to Anheuser Busch-B InBev. The 2011 sale set Greg free to move on to his next great adventure - Virtue Cider.  I was curious t...

Bill Bradshaw is a photographer, an author of three cider books and consider by many to be a Cider Ambassador for UK ciders.  I met with Bill at the United States Association of Cider Makers annual conference in Portland Oregon in February 2016. Later that same day, Bill was to present an overview of UK ciders to the conference attendees.   For this chat I asked Bill to give us a peek on some of h...