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Cider Digest #1656
Subject: Cider Digest #1656, 14 September 2011
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1656 14 September 2011
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
historical footnote (Dick Dunn)
Cider Days (Lynn Nichols)
Summary of the Great Lakes Cider & Perry Festival ("Mike Beck")
Great Lakes cider festival (Dick Dunn)
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
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Subject: historical footnote
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 13:11:59 -0600
Re Jay Hersh's notes on the Digest history and 20th anniversary thing:
[back then...]
> ... At my the request of my then girlfriend (now wife) I
> also set up the Mead Maker's digest which I think Dick also still
> hosts. I don't recall the date that one got started.
I think that one must have been stillborn.
The mead digest which I host nowadays is called the Mead-Lover's Digest (and
always has been, give or take a hyphen:-). It was started by John Dilley,
then of HP. I took over the MLD about a year before I picked up the CD.
There were various digests related to alcoholic beverages which started
in the US in the very early 1990's. Only a few have survived.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Cider Days
From: Lynn Nichols <lynn@starstruckdesign.com>
Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:36:59 -0400
The 2011 Franklin County CiderDays event is almost here! Tickets are
available online for the Saturday salons and dinner and Sunday
workshops. These events typically sell out fast, so if you're planning
to come to CiderDays (November 5th and 6th in Franklin County, MA), see
the schedule and buy your tickets ASAP at http://www.ciderday.org
- ------
Thanks!
------------------------------
Subject: Summary of the Great Lakes Cider & Perry Festival
From: "Mike Beck" <mjbeck@ujcidermill.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:17:00 -0400
4th Annual Great Lakes Cider & Perry Festival Recap
This years festival was a huge success. Attendance far outpaced all
previous years combined. We had well over 100 different ciders available
for sampling. Ciders from our Great Lakes region(including Ontario) were
represented as well as ciders from the Northwest Cider Association and cider
from New England(NH,VT,MA), plus, ciders from Virginia, Colorado, and
California. There was also ciders available from England, France & Spain.
We also had many Cider Makers and Luminaries in the crowd as well. From
Michigan, representatives from Northern Natural, Black Star Farms, Crow's
Cider, Tandem Cider, Left Foot Charlie, Spicers, Robinette's, Northville
Winery, VanderMill, & Host Cidery, Uncle John's. Charles McGonegal
(AeppelTreow) came in from Wisconsin, Chuck Shelton (Albermarle Ciderworks -
VA), Gidon Coll (Original Sin - NY) Mike & Mark Vansteenstickle (Twin Pines
- - Ontario) all made the trip. American Homebrew Association past Cider
Makers of the year Gary Awdey from Indiana and Jeff Carlson from Grand
Rapids made the trip. As well as cider blogger/enthusiast Al Yelvington from
Pennsylvania and Editor of the Cider Digest, Dick Dunn from Colorado. We
also had in attendance our very special guests from England, Bill Bradshaw
and Pete Brown. Bill & Pete are working on an International Book on the
subject of Hard Cider. They really had a great time on their travels
throughout the states. And they both have volumes of material for their
book.
This event also featured a VIP hour prior to the regular show hours. The
VIP hour featured an international & local cheese selection and special
pours of Ice Ciders from the Vermont Ice Cider Association and Reserve
ciders from participating Cideries. Dick Dunn gave presentation about the
current BJCP guidelines as it pertains cider judging and talk about the 20th
Anniversary of the Cider Digest. Our English guests also gave us a
slideshow presentation of some history and traditions of the English Cider
Scene. (The Information on Wassailing was especially cool!)
We also had a great set of volunteers pouring the cider for our event. The
crowd appreciated it the most. It was billed as a cider & perry only event;
So the crowd was keen on cider and many lingered to try all they could and
learn from the cider makers in attendance.
Thank You to all that participated or sent ciders. Mark your date on your
calendar for next year, The weekend after Labor Day. (some press coverage
below)
Mike Beck _ Host Cidery
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110911/NEWS01/109110491/Cider-F
est-St-Johns-draws-hundreds
http://mittenbrew.com/2011/09/cider-perry-fest-showcases-strong-community/
------------------------------
Subject: Great Lakes cider festival
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:20:56 -0600
I was some sort of honored guest at the Great Lakes Cider and Perry
festival this past weekend. It was a very good time and a notably
successful event. I'm sure there will be other postings, but here's mine.
The event was held at Uncle John's Cider Mill, north of the town of St
John's, MI--kinda middle-ish in the lower peninsula of MI. This place
is very interesting. The main idea is that they produce "cider" (sweet
cider as we know it in the US), but also "hard cider" or fermented juice,
or what the rest of the world knows as cider. Beyond that, the place is
some combination of family fun park, theme park, etc. It is a serious
cider mill (some tens of thousands of gallons). It is also a real working
farm: beyond a large production orchard, they have substantial areas of
field corn, blueberries, asparagus, some beekeeping, etc. IOW it's not
- -really- a theme park so much as a window into real agriculture. There
are also various "family-friendly" parts--orchard ride, kiddie train ride
and play area, pie barn, gift shop, food area, snack shop...I can't even
imagine how they keep track of all that's going on.
(This is Mike Beck's business. He was the host of the event, and did
right by all the cidermakers who attended.)
Back to cider: They have a winery, with tasting room. They produce
cider, perry, various fruit wines, and cider brandy. The cider and perry
are of a standard American sort--relatively low tannin, carbonated. They
are clean and tasty. The cider brandy is excellent...what I mean is that
you've likely had other standard (but full-juice) ciders elsewhere, and
these measure up well, but you really need to have the cider brandy.
The cider festival was held in one of the buildings on this remarkable
farm. It was an hour of "VIP" stuff--some short talks along with cheese
tasting--followed by a general tasting. The cheeses were paired with
some of the more unusual entries: ice-ciders, pommeaux, and brandies.
In the VIP session, I blathered for a bit about the Cider Digest and how
it was growing, then about the BJCP cider guidelines for competition and
how I thought that was helping people improve their ciders, and finally
about the direction of cider in the US. To the point, I think we are
- -finally- on a real up-slope with cider.
After that, Pete Brown and Bill Bradshaw did a presentation on their
forthcoming book. Bill is the photographer, and really outstanding.
Pete is the writer, and just as good; you can find several of his books
via on-line purchase. Pete did some readings from the new book.
I don't know the numbers, but it seemed like there must have been close to
a hundred ciders. There was major representation from Michigan (of course)
and the Pacific Northwest. As I understand, the Northwest folks had their
own event this same weekend; I hope someone will post notes about that.
There were also ciders from various other parts of the country, including
even Colorado! There were a few international entries.
As a buffer against overconsumption, there was an (apparently endless!)
supply of great donuts and apple juice.
At the end of the event, all the cidermakers plus a few hangers-on such
as myself enjoyed a great meal of 'cue...and this, as with so much else
of this event, courtesy Mike Beck, our very gracious host.
The following evening (Saturday) there was a gathering for cidermakers
at Tandem Cider. This is up at the north-east end of the lower peninsula
(the mitten). What a wonderful evening! Tandem is in an idyllic spot;
you need to see it! I hold no illusions about a cidery being a place of
quiet repose in the fall--I'm sure they're up to their wellies in work.
But the surroundings must make them feel good as they toil. Our hosts
there--Dan Young and Nikki Rothwell--put on a "locavore" dinner, with
most (?all?) of the produce coming from their garden, and it was like
the best of "farm dinners" you'd hope for...except that it also featured
the best of craft ciders. Plus, everyone was interested in cider, so
the conversation had a certain pleasant bias.
I shouldn't play favorites, but I must say that Tandem had the widest
variety of ciders, in terms of characters, of any single cidery I tasted
over this past weekend. Go visit them!!
We visited other cideries along the way. One of note is Vandermill, run
by Paul Vanderheide. He's got a lot of unusual ciders and some of them
would challenge the purists--like a Wit style cider--but you need to give
them a try. If I may posit a description, the main thrust of Paul's work
is to use local apples and promote them, through a plethora of styles.
His emphasis on local fruit is a credit to the area.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
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End of Cider Digest #1656
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