Inside CiderCon, From Our Cider Maker Stuart Madany
CiderCon just happened this last week, and it seems like a perfect time to give a glimpse into the world’s largest cider event. CiderCon started sometime around 2008 (give or take), with the very first one held in someone’s kitchen. My first CiderCon was the third of the series and had about 300 attendees braving early February in Chicago. If memory serves, the fourth CiderCon started with the creation of the American Cider Association, and so, was the first ‘official’ instance of the conference. This year’s was held in Portland, OR and hosted over 1,100 participants from 40 states, DC, and 14 countries. The ACA reports 1,250 registrants, but just about everyone I spoke with had a travel story given the widespread snow and ice storms across much of the country. I’m sure a lot of people could not make the travel work out. My first flight was canceled and I missed “cider share.” One gentleman related that his 14 hour ride up the west coast stretched to 48 hours.
Despite the logistical challenges, this year’s event was filled with fascinating sessions on cider making, cider business and sales, as well as cider tours in the area, and a scion wood exchange. Certainly most of the attendees are members of the industry, but there are always some pure enthusiasts as well. Some of my favorite sessions were on maintaining some natural sweetness in cider, low ABV cider, Nordic approaches to cider making, and international perry. Perry is a delicious beverage akin to cider, but made from pears. Top grade Perry is very hard to find, so it’s a great treat to get to taste a few wonderful examples, and to hear about the specific challenges and processes they went through.
One of the things that has really hooked me about the cider industry is the supportive and inclusive nature of the people. From my first encounters with cider makers, I was struck by how open and willing to share their knowledge and experience they were. This was great not just because it was possible to access information, but because this attitude of ‘let’s lift each other up’ is just such a great atmosphere to work in. The ACA has also made a real effort to make cider accessible. This year they awarded 9 Cider is for Everyone scholarships to CiderCon. The ACA describes this program in these terms, “This scholarship is designed to bring individuals from historically marginalized populations within the beverage industry to CiderCon® to increase the accessibility of cider education and catalyze the careers and ownership pathways of these burgeoning cider professionals.”
Before the regular sessions started 30 people sat for the pommelier test -the rigorous level of cider expertise certification, which is so key to having cider understood and appreciated in the world.
It’s always great to touch base, and hear stories of how things are going, with my colleagues. I was a cider maker and orchardist in Virginia for 10 years before moving up to Seminary Hill in the Catskills, so it’s fun to run into friends from New York and Virginia, as well as from other locales in the cider world.
Sharing cider is, of course, a huge high point of the event. Although the weather kept me from the initial cider share, we got to share our cider at a New York Cider Association pop-up tasting on Thursday evening. This is the second year in a row we’ve had NYCA pop-up tastings at CiderCon—shout out to Executive Director Scott Ramsey for organizing, and to Angry Orchard for sponsoring! It’s great to share cider and answer questions with a mixed crowd of cider professionals and members of the public. I love when people are surprised by the range of ciders we make. At the pop-up we were pouring the fully sparkling, very acidic and firmly tannic November Nonsense 2022, the off-dry, light bodied Tom’s Beard 2021, and the warm, woody, low acid, high ABV Hen’s Teeth dessert cider. And there are always plenty of more or less informal chances to share cider at CiderCon. As fun as it is to introduce the public to more of the range of the cider world, it’s also great to taste and pour for colleagues who fully understand the time, effort, the responding to exigencies, and risks involved in making this type of cider. It somehow makes all the more wonderful.
It’s hard to leave, but the cellar is full of things that need attention. And one is always returning from CiderCon with at least a few new ideas to experiment with.
