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Cider Digest #1747
Subject: Cider Digest #1747, 21 November 2012
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1747 21 November 2012
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
Cider Conference 2013/New Cider Association (James Kohn)
US Cider (Corrie Wolosin)
A Big Win for CiderCon (Bill Barton)
Cider Summit Chicago ("Alan M. Shapiro")
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Cider Conference 2013/New Cider Association
From: James Kohn <james@wanderingaengus.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:54:16 -0800
To the Cider Community,
The mission of Cider Conference is to offer a mix of education and
networking opportunities for commercial cider producers. Cider Conference
is, has been, and will continue to be a professional conference for the
Cider Industry. As in years past, time and space can be allocated to
discuss any and all issues cider companies want to discuss. However, the
focus of the entire conference can not be on one given topic or issue.
There is a great diversity of needs and wants of attendees this year and my
goal is to balance these desires while still achieving the overall mission
of Cider Conference.
This year, as in the previously two years, I am asking everyone for ideas
for workshops and sessions at the conference. Unlike the previous years, I
am in contact with a group of cider producers to further assist with the
overall schedule and content of the conference. The goal of introducing
this new oversight is to prime the process of moving the management of
Cider Conference from Wandering Aengus Ciderworks to a new cider
association. I had stated at the last conference my desire to hand the
responsibility of organizing the conference off to an association for 2013.
The lack of a timely formation of a new association, however, has delayed
this exchange. But I am more than happy to head up the effort again this
year.
While everyone at Wandering Aengus Ciderworks enjoys (mostly), the process
of planning and managing Cider Conference, it is definitely a task that
must be shared among the Cider Industry via an association going forward.
To facilitate this transition I want to provide any and all funds that
remain after expenses from CiderCON 2013 to the new cider association.
These funds will help the new association to afford to successfully manage
Cider Conference 2014 and beyond. Therefore, the success of CiderCON 2013
(as many attendees as possible achieving their individual wants and needs)
is paramount.
*
*Formation of a new national cider association*
*
On the second day of last year's CiderCON, I asked every person at check in
that day if they would join a national association if one existed. Nearly
every attendee (approximately 70 people) answered yes. There were only a
few people who said they would need more information before committing to
join.
Based on this information and more since then, I truly believe an
association (even in an intermediate form) can be and should be formed *
before* this year's Cider Conference. This was actually the expectation
created at last year's Cider Conference and *THE SOLE REASON* a small Seed
Group was formed. The goal was (and still should be) to form an association
*before* the upcoming conference (Cider CON 2013), not spend time at the
conference to form it. Making decisions and resolving the finer details of
how the organization is run, fees, etc, will be easier and quicker to
decide within a formal organization. The actual act of forming a new
association is not difficult or prohibitively costly. It can easily be done
in a manner that provides a framework to address commercial cidermakers'
current needs and concerns and those in the future. And given input from
the cider making community, there is no reason an association can be be
formed within the matter of a few months.
*Whether you agree with me or not, Right Now *the goal of everyone should
be to positively assist the Seed Group working on the formation of a new
national cider association. You should take the time and request that all
cidermakers you know take a few minutes to *comment on the mission
statement and structure* proposed by the Seed Group. You can either respond
with your comments by email to cidercomments@gmail.com, or via the Cider
Digest. You may also submit comments at
http://ciderconference.com/cider-association-formation/.
These comments will provide better feedback on shaping a new cider
association at a lower cost then any group gathering can achieve (expertly
facilitated or not). At the conference, there can be time to flesh out
details or have a formal membership meeting (please offer a
workshop/session idea to give more details yourself on how you want to see
this - http://podio.com/webforms/2449215/179608).
Again, I feel a national cider association can be sufficiently formed over
the next 2 months with the efforts of a small group of people dedicated to
see the formation through based on the comments received from the cider
community. Once the association is formed, cider companies will be able to
join and thus have a formal voice on how it shapes over time. If companies
can join the new association at or before Cider Conference this February,
then time at the conference can be spent carving out the agenda and goals
of the new association for the coming year within the context of a formal
decision making body. This would definitely be time well spent.
Please take the time to comment about the proposed mission and structure of
a new cider association, offer what you want to see for workshop/session
ideas at Cider Conference, and ask our colleagues to do the same.
Call directly if you have any questions or comments.
Cheers,
James Kohn
503-361-2400
------------------------------
Subject: US Cider
From: Corrie Wolosin <corrie@farnumhillciders.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:27:29 -0500
Hello.
There will be a meeting in Chicago on Wednesday, February 6 to discuss
the formation of a national cider association, and any legislative work
it might undertake. This will be a free meeting (no registration fee),
preceding the February 7 and 8 Cider Conference (CiderCon). The exact
location and agenda will be sent to all before the end of the year.
Cider makers, distributors, orchardists, wineries, and other interested
parties are welcome to come -- it is truly open to all. Please share
this information with others in your network.
Last year in Chicago, cider conference attendees asked a group of three
people (Brad Page, Dan Rowell, and Corrie Wolosin) to examine the
formation of a national cider organization, and to plan for another
meeting to discuss this topic in 2013. Conference attendees asked
another group of seven -- four regional representatives from the Midwest
(Mike Beck), West (James Kohn), South (Charlotte Shelton), and East
(Steve Wood), plus three representatives of larger producers (Bruce
Nissen, Mark Boulos, Dan Rowell/Amy Stinson) -- to examine the federal
legislative/regulatory/tax construct governing the production and sale
of cider, and to report back to us all.
These two groups' current proposals are below -- neither of them is set
in stone. We hope that you will think about them before the meeting, so
that we can have an informed, considered discussion on February 6.
We hope that the timing of this meeting (the day before CiderCon) will
make it convenient for the largest possible number of cidermakers to
attend. Discussions and correspondence with various members of our
groups, with folks at Glynwood, and with colleagues in the industry have
convinced us that a concentrated, separate meeting should be dedicated
to these two issues. Specifics of place and organization will follow.
Members of the two committees, with participation from Glynwood, will be
organizing the meeting. Expect more detail soon on the work of the two
committees and the meeting agenda.
We invite open communication about this proposal. Your comments will be
used to set the agenda for the meeting in Chicago. To that end, you have
been added to a new Google group called US Cider and we invite your
input there:
* To post to this group, send email to uscider@googlegroups.com
* To unsubscribe from this group, send email to:
uscider+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
* To review posts and to manage your delivery settings, visit
this link (requires logging in to Google):
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/uscider
Please remember that if you respond directly to an email, it will be
sent to ALL group members.
If you have difficulty using this group, please contact:
Corrie Wolosin, cor...@farnumhillciders.com
Sara Grady, sgr...@glynwood.org
For information about the cider conference on February 7-8, visit
http://ciderconference.com/or contact the CiderCon organizer, James
Kohn, ja...@wanderingaengus.com.
As ever, you can also post comments on the Cider Digest at
cider@talisman.com.
We look forward to a healthy discussion and a great set of meetings in
Chicago. Thanks.
Best,
Steve Wood sw...@farnumhillciders.com
Corrie Wolosin cor...@farnumhillciders.com
CURRENT PROPOSAL of the 'seed group' for a cider trade association:
United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM) is an organization of
cider and perry producers in the United States. It gathers and shares
information about cider production, cider regulations, and cider apple
growing, to help members improve their operations and advance cider in
the market.
FULL VOTING MEMBERS:
Cidery Member: TTB Licensed Winery with at least 75% of total liquid
volume production dedicated to cider as defined by the TTB.
NON VOTING MEMBERS:
Grower Member: Orchardists growing fruit for cider production
Winery Member: TTB Licensed Winery with less than 75% of total liquid
volume production dedicated to cider as defined by the TTB.
Associate Members: Allied Trade members, individuals or students. (This
would accommodate broader cider industry, press, students and other
interested parties.)
Recommended Membership Dues:
>100,000 gallons: $1,000
>50,000 to 99,999: $750
>25,000 to 49,999: $375
<24,999 $175
Recommended Board of Directors structure, to be selected in Chicago:
1. East
2. South
3. Midwest
4. West
5. At-Large Member
6. At-Large Member
7. At-Large Member
CURRENT PROPOSAL of the 'legislative group' for reforming regulations on
cider:
26 U.S.C. ? 5041(b)(6), which defines the tax categories of wines, now
reads as follows:
'On hard cider which is a still wine derived primarily from apples or
apple concentrate and water, containing no other fruit product, and
containing at least one-half of 1 percent and less than 7 percent
alcohol by volume, 22.6 cents per wine gallon.'
The 'legislative group' suggests that the cider industry propose
changing 26 U.S.C. ? 5041(b)(3) to read as follows:
'On hard cider which is a wine, whose carbonation level does not exceed
6.4 grams per liter, derived primarily from apples, apple juice
concentrate, pears or pear juice concentrate and water, containing no
other fruit product or fruit flavoring other than apple or pear, and
containing at least one-half of 1 percent and less than 8.5 percent
alcohol by volume, 22.6 cents per wine gallon.'
This definition matches the European Union definition of cider. The
'legislative group' decided, late last summer, to wait until the 2013
legislative session to present this proposed change.
------------------------------
Subject: A Big Win for CiderCon
From: Bill Barton <info@cidery.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:15:14 -0500
Several Weeks ago Steve Wood and I had a protracted phone conversation
about the upcoming CiderCon. Both of us felt that the program was going
to run into a serious time constraint. Specifically, the conference was
facing the proverbial problem of trying to stuff five pounds into a
three pound bag. Actually, it seemed even more extreme. Maybe ten
pounds into a three pound bag. James Kohn had come up with a terrific
program that we both wanted to participate in -- lots of technical
sessions and even a trade show. However, there was unfinished business
from last year, namely forming an association (or deciding not to) and
pursuing regulatory changes.
Many people Steve and I had spoken with felt that these two unfinished
topics were biggies. We were going to need significant time and effort
both before and during the conference to advance these topics. I quite
frankly think that these are multiyear topics with resolutions that may
be somewhat of a moving target, at least in the 1-5 year time frame.
The dilemma became how to give these topics the time they require
without disrupting the program that James has worked hard to put together.
My personal feeling at the time was that we couldn't do both within the
confines of the CiderCon schedule. I suggested to Steve that we may
have to hold a separate meeting. We both felt that doing so in Chicago
in conjunction with CiderCon was the way to go. Steve has been very
adamant that we do this on the cheap. Folks will already be in Chicago
for the conference, so why not make the separate meeting a low cost (or
free) gathering? In a less expensive venue. No frills. Peanuts and
cheap beer. Well, Steve and some other folks have taken the first step
to putting this solution into action.
Seems to me that this is a way for us to have our cake and eat it, too.
Come to Chicago a day early and kick these important (and admittedly
somewhat dry) topics around with your colleagues. Then move uptown and
enjoy a host of relevant and fun topics on cider making and cider
selling that are part of the CiderCon program. This is a win-win.
I urge everyone to weigh on this idea in public forums like Cider Digest
and the new Google group. This is a good idea, but it isn't a reality
yet. We all need to put support behind it and give suggestions as to
how it should take shape. Furthermore, this good idea will become a
really great idea if we make the effort to share thoughts on these
important topics over the next few months in the public forums available
to us.
See you in Chicago ... for a one day Association/Regulatory meeting,
followed by CiderCon!
Bill Barton, Bellwether Hard Cider
------------------------------
Subject: Cider Summit Chicago
From: "Alan M. Shapiro" <alanmshapiro@sbs-imports.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:36:44 -0800
As James alluded to on his original mailings regarding CiderCon 2013, the
first annual Cider Summit Chicago will take place on Saturday, February 9
from 11a-7p in the Lakeview Terrace Room at Navy Pier. This event will be
modeled on our Seattle & Portland events. You can view more info at:
www.cidersummit.com.
As this is the one time that cider companies from across the country are in
one place, I am hoping this can grow into a showcase event for our industry,
much like the Great American Beer Festival.
An introductory letter and registration form will be on the way to you
shortly. I hope as many of you as possible will choose to participate.
Cheers,
Alan Shapiro
SBS Imports
Seattle, Washington
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End of Cider Digest #1747
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