IN-CIDER SERIES™:INTRODUCTION TO CIDER

Dan Daugherty

co-founder & cidermaker,

St. Vrain Cidery

Overview

■ Introductions

■ Topics For This Session:

1. What is Cider?

• A Brief History of Apples and Cider

2. Cidermaking Approaches

• Cider Styles

• Tastings (Interspersed)

3. Upcoming Sessions

WHAT IS CIDER?

The Short Answer: Fermented Apple Juice

Cider Terms You May Have Heard:

■ “Cider” Is (for purposes of this presentation):

■ The fermented juice of apples and/or pears

– Fermented pears can be either “cider” or “perry”

– “Cider” can also include juice made from concentrate

– Additional ingredients may be included

(co-fermented or added later)

■ An often confusing term in the U.S.

■ “Hard Cider” is:

■ A U.S. term for fermented cider

– A product of Prohibition and U.S. tax laws

– Not a term you hear much outside of the U.S. when

referencing fermented apple juice (it’s generally called “cider”)

The Basics

■ At a 15% annual growth rate, cider will be equivalent

to 2% of the beer market in 2020(from a Cidercon 2016 presentation)

■ About 30 million cases $1 billion in cider sales in 2015 (source)

■ Cider is still very small relative to the beer market,

but growing fast…

A Growing Market

Craft Beer Volume(source: Brewers Association)

■ Cider 2015:

– $1 billion

– 30 million cases

(approx. 70 million

gallons)

The Basic Process

■ Basic Cidermaking Process:

1. Grow apples

2. Harvest apples

3. Grind apples

4. Press apples into juice

5. Ferment juice (naturally or with cultivated yeast)

6. Maturation – barrels, tanks, totes, etc

7. Packaging – bottles, cans, kegs

8. Serving -- bottles, cans, draft

The Basic Process

A (VERY) BRIEF HISTORY OF APPLES AND CIDER

To Your Glass Via The Silk Road

■ Member of Rosaceae family

– Descended from Malus Sieversii, (Kazakhstan origin)

■ Transported west on the Silk Road

■ Requires a temperate climate (won’t fruit without enough cold winter days)

■ Extremely variable and diverse by nature but less so by human cultivation

– 1,000’s of varieties, but the industry is dominated by a few dozen

– Doesn’t grow true to seed

– Clonally/vegetatively propagated

■ Extremely well-integrated into Western culture, with innumerable historical,

folk, biblical, and mythological references

Apple OverviewMalus Pumila / Malus Domestica:

The Domesticated Apple

■ M. Domestica (M. Pumila) originated from M. Sieversii

■ M. Domestica is relatively recent in its introduction to the west

■ Wild crab apples preceeded it.

– M. Sylvestris – European Crab

– M. Orientalis – Caucasus region

– North American crabs

■ 8000 - 3500 B.C.E. apples depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings

■ 6500 B.C.E. remains of apples in human settlements

The Apple – A Brief History(from Cider: Hard And Sweet, by Ben Watson)

■ Romans brought orcharding techniques and introduced apple varieties

to what is now Western Europe

■ Northern Spain (Asturius and The Basque) likely has the oldest

European apple growing tradition

■ 1600’s started M. Domestica came to America with European colonists

– By various chance, seedlings in America became today’s heirloom

varieties

■ 1775, one out of 10 farms in New England operated a cider mill

The Apple – A Brief History

■ Most seedlings are virtually inedibly tart and/or tannic,

but good for cider

– 1919 Prohibition - Many farmers ripped out their cider tree orchards

■ Poor quality, adulterated cider also hastened cider’s decline

– 1899 - 55 million gallons

– 1919 - 13 million gallons (when Prohibition was enacted)

The Apple – A Brief History

■ First written reference:

– 55 B.C.E., Romans invaded what is now Britain and noticed

native Celts fermenting native crab apples

(a different species that is wider-spread than M. Pumila)

■ 1371 Normandy - Cider had caught up with wine in sales

■ 17th century, Golden Age Of Apples in England

– Significant orchard plantings in Western and Southern

England and great interest in cider varieties

The Apple – A Brief History

■ 1767 Massachusetts

– One report stated that the per capita average of cider

consumption in Massachusetts was 1.14 barrels per

person per year (35 gallons)

■ Present Day U.S.

– 20 gal of beer per person per year

The Apple – A Brief History

■ U.S. Apple Industry Stats (from the U.S. Apple Association):

– 7,500 major producers growing 240 million bushels

– $4 billion annual crop

– Top 15 varieties account for 90% of production

• Top Varieties: Red Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji,

Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Rome,

Cripps Pink/Pink Lady®, Empire

• Very few cider-specific apples are available commercially

in the U.S.

– Primarily grown in intensive plantings – dwarf trees close

together

The U.S. Apple Industry

Complicating Factors

1. U.S. Excise Tax Law

– Cider is a wine under U.S. tax law

■ More complex than beer (ABV, carbonation limits)

• Under 7% ABV, cider has a special excise tax (lower)

• At or Above 7% ABV, taxed as table wine (about 4x)

• Above certain CO2 limits, cider is considered

champagne (3x as much as table wine)

Wine Excise and Tax Rates(source: Tax And Trade Bureau)

VS. Beer Tax Rates($.22/gal if you’re under 60k barrels,

regardless of CO2 or ABV)

2. Historical

– Refrigeration

■ All juice naturally fermented itself before refrigeration

(or pasteurization), as yeast is naturally present on the fruit

– 1st refrigerated rail car patent in the U.S. was in 1867

– Prohibition

■ Resulted in the ‘re-branding’ of apple juice (‘sweet cider’)

as ‘cider’

■ Resulted in the loss of cider orchards in the U.S.

Complicating Factors

CIDERMAKINGAPPROACHES

The Old, The New, And The Odd

■ An apple contains:

– 80% water

(varies with irrigation practices and weather conditions)

– 10% carbohydrate

• Sugars (primarily simple sugar fructose, with some glucose)

• Fiber/cellulose

– 4% vitamins/minerals

– 6% of:

• Organic acids (primarily malic acid)

• Pectin

• Polyphenols – flavonoids and, to a varying degree, tannins

• Very small amounts of proteins

Apple Contents

Cider Flavors And Aromas■ Balance between elements is often a priority

■ Common flavor elements:

1. Tartness – derived from the acidity of the apples

and other ingredients (e.g., tart cherry, berries)

2. Sweetness – residual or added sugar post-fermentation

3. Tannin-derived – astringency & bitterness

• Astringency

- Mouthfeel perception of ‘dryness’ (e.g., undiluted black tea)

• Bitterness

- From tannins in the fruit, from storage in oak, or from added

ingredients (e.g., blueberry, black currant, powdered tannin)

4. Aromatics – often fruity or floral; sometimes earthy; others possible

Apples Used In Cidermaking

■ In reality, can be any apple

■ Ideally, includes apples not commonly grown on a large scale

■ Ideally, a blend of:

– Sharps (high acid, low tannin) –e.g., Granny Smith, Newtown Pippin

– Sweets (low acid, low tannin) – e.g., most dessert varieties

– Bittersweets (high tannin, low acid) –rare in the U.S.

– Bittersharps (high tannin, high acid) –rare in the U.S.

■ Sugar levels vary within these categories

i.e., a ‘sharp’ can have high sugar content

Cider Apple Categories(Source: Andrew Lea)

Category % Acid (TA) % Tannin

Sharp >0.45 % <0.2 %

Bittersharp >0.45 % >0.2 %

Bittersweet <0.45 % >0.2 %

Sweet <0.45 % <0.2 %

Example Blend Ratio(source: Cider: Making, Using, & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider)

Juice Type Percent of Juice Total

Astringent [tannic] 5 - 20%

Neutral Base 30 - 60%

Tart 10 - 20%

Aromatic 10 - 20%

Cider Apple Examples(source: ciderschool (Dan’s site); various)

Variety Type Acidity Sugar Content Tannin Notes

Kingston

Black

English

Bittersharp

high

(5.8 g/L)

medium

(SG 1.061)

high

(1.9 g/L)

Slightly smoky

and brandy-like

Bramley's

Seedling

English

Cooking

high

(>10 g/L)

low

(SG 1.040)

low

(<.5 g/L)

Very tart

CortlandAmerican

Heirloom

high

(7.3 g/L)

medium

(SG 1.059)low

Aromatic

(McIntosh

variant)

Porter's

Perfection

English

Bittersharp

very high

(15 g/L)

high

(SG 1.060)medium

Apples often fuse

together

Somerset

Redstreak

English

Bittersweet

Low

(1.9 g/L)

Medium

(SG 1.060)

high

(3.5 g/L)

Striped

appearance

Cidermaking Variations

■ Regional differences can be very large

– Process, ingredients, and serving approaches

■ We’ll focus on the U.S. today

■ Using Jeff Alworth’s Three Schools Of American Cider

in Cider Made Simple:

1. The Traditionalists

2. The Modernists

3. The Experimentalists

1. Traditionalists

■ Orchard-focused

– ‘Great Wine Is Made In The Vineyard’

– Blending for balance

• Not highly specific / variety-by-variety

■ Minimal intervention with the fermentation

– Often wild-fermented with the native yeast on the fruit

– Few or no additives

– Products often resemble English and/or French traditional styles

■ Examples:

– EZ Orchards (Salem, OR)

2. Modernists

■ Process-oriented

– Control fermentation conditions

– Use cultivated yeast

– Use SO2

■ Fruit-centric flavor profiles

– Neutral, white wine yeasts

– Targeted blends of specific apples

– Produces more modern and ‘designed’ flavor-wise

vs. a traditional cider

■ Examples:

– Farnum Hill (Lebanon, NH)

3. Experimentalists

■ Diverse products with diverse products to match

– Flavor is the goal

– Tradition isn’t necessarily ignored

but isn’t the priority

■ Frequent use of non-traditional ingredients

– Spices, hops, tropical fruits, spirit barrel aging

■ Examples:

– Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider (Portland, OR)

CIDER STYLES

Diverse Approaches To A Diverse Fruit

Dimensions Of Variance

■ Cider can vary substantially along many lines, such as:

1. Acidity / tartness

2. Sweetness (zero residual sugars quite sweet)

3. Alcohol content (between 5-8% with typical apples)

4. Non-apple ingredients

5. Storage / maturation (barrels, steel, other inert containers)

6. Carbonation (completely still to naturally sparkling,

or force-carbonated)

7. Refrigeration (both in storage and serving)

■ Categories generally based on regional and stylistic variances

in ingredients and technique

Systems Of Categorization

■ Can vary

■ The systems with fairly wide acceptance in the U.S. are:

– Brew Judge Certification Program (BJCP)

– Great Lakes INTernational Cider And Perry competition (GLINTCAP)

■ This presentation uses primarily these GLINTCAP categories

– Standard Styles

– Specialty Styles

GLINTCAP Standard Category(source: GLINTCAP Style Guidelines – Standard)

■ New World Cider

– Modern

• Made with common dessert-fruit varieties

• Examples: Stem Ciders Malice (CO), Old Mine Handlebar (CO)

– Heritage

• Made with cider-oriented apples

• Example: Stem Ciders Le’Chene (CO)

■ English Cider

– Made with bittersweet and bittersharp apples, often quite dry

– Often undergoes Malolactic fermentation (conversion of malic lactic acid)

– Example: Oliver’s Traditional Dry (UK)

■ French Cider

– Made with bittersweet and bittersharp apples

– Often sweeter than English ciders

• Sometimes via arrested fermentation (keeving)

– Often naturally sparkling via bottle conditioning

– Example: Etienne Dupont (Normandy, France)

■ Spanish Cider

– Made with sharp or semi-sharp apples

– Uncarbonated, wild-fermented, sometimes acetic

– Example: Snow Capped Sidra (CO)

GLINTCAP Standard Category(source: GLINTCAP Style Guidelines – Standard)

■ New World Perry

– Fermented from dessert/culinary pears like Bartlett

– Low tannin

– Moderate sweetness (never completely dry as pears contain sorbitol)

– Near-example (since it’s mostly apple): CO Cider Company’s

Pearsnickity

■ Traditional Perry

– Fermented from tannic perry pears

– Example: Æppeltreow Orchard Oriole Perry (WI), Oliver’s Classic Perry

(UK)

GLINTCAP Standard Category(source: GLINTCAP Style Guidelines – Standard)

■ New England Cider

– Made with Heirloom / sharp apples

– Fortified with raisins, molasses, or maple syrup

– High ABV, often oaked

■ Fruit Cider

– Low-tannin/New World Modern cider (usually) with fruit juices added

– May be tannic from the added fruit

– Example: Snow Capped Sour Cherry (CO)

■ Apple Wine

– Cider with added sugar to achieve higher alcohol

GLINTCAP Specialty Category(source: GLINTCAP Style Guidelines – Standard)

■ Hopped/Herbal Cider

– Cider with added botanicals

– Example: Stem Ciders Remedy (CO)

■ Spiced Cider

– Cider with added spices (e.g., ‘apple pie spice’)

– Example: Climb Hard Cider Chai Spiced (CO)

■ Wood-Aged Cider And Perry

– Wood-aged ciders in which the wood character is substantial

– Example: Stem Ciders Le’Chene (CO)

GLINTCAP Specialty Category(source: GLINTCAP Style Guidelines – Standard)

■ Specialty Cider & Perry

– Open-ended category for ciders

– Examples: Summit Hard Ciders Blueberry Lavender (CO),

Summit Hard Ciders Hopricot (CO)

■ Unlimited Cider & Perry

– Catch-all for cider and perry that don’t fit other categories

■ Mead

– GLINTCAP is only concerned about Cyser (Fermented mead

and honey with a substantial honey component

– Example: Moonlight Meadery Kurt’s Apple Pie (NH)

GLINTCAP Specialty Category(source: GLINTCAP Style Guidelines – Standard)

1. New World Cider Stem Ciders Malice (Denver)

2. New World Cider Old Mine Handlebar (Erie)

3. New World Modern St. Vrain Cidery Corting the Atomic (Longmont)

4. New World Heritage Cider Stem Ciders Le’Chene (Denver)

5. English Cider Colorado Cider Co Ol’ Stumpy (Denver)

6. Spanish Cider Snow Capped Cider Sidra (Cedaredge)

7. Fruit Cider Summit Hard Cider Sour Cherry (Fort Collins)

8. Specialty Cider & Perry Summit Hard Cider Hopricot (Fort Collins)

9. Specialty Cider & Perry Snow Capped Cider 6130 (Cedaredge)

Recap of What You’ve Tasted Today:

UPCOMING SESSIONS

Tangents In Apple Geekery

Future Session Ideas

■ Apple/Cider History – A Deep Dive

■ Cider Regions – A Deep Dive

■ Cidermaking session – home cidermaking

■ Cidermaking workshop – commercial cidermaking

■ Cider / Food pairing dinners

■ Other ideas? Let me know: dan@stvraincidery.com

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REFERENCES & RESOURCES

Down The Rabbit Hole…

Book Recommendations(from www.cidersage.com/books ; these are Dan’s affiliate links)

■ Cider, Hard and Sweet: History, Traditions, and Making Your Own, by Ben Watson. Ben Watson is a food writer and a key figure in the Slow Food movement. An extensive review can be found here on Ciderguide. Amazon link.

■ Cider Made Simple, by Jeff Alworth. A cider primer with an emphasis on cider regions–England, Normandy, Northern Spain, and Quebec–as well as discussion of the American cider renaissance and the different cidermaking approaches (Traditionalist, Modernist, and Experimentalist) therein. Amazon link.

■ World’s Best Ciders by Pete Brown and Bill Bradshaw. An epic tome which surveys the major cider styles and regions of the world. Covers 500 unique cider examples, complete with tasting notes and outstanding photography by Bill Bradshaw of iamcider.. Quite the ambitious project…I admire the, uh, ‘sacrifice’ it took to sample all of these ciders, and I’m now the proud owner of an autographed copy as Bradshaw was in attendance at Cidercon 2016. Amazon link.

Book Recommendations(from www.cidersage.com/books ; these are Dan’s affiliate links)

■ Apple: A Global History, by Erika Janik. An excellent, concise history of the apple,

from its ancient origins in the Tian Shan mountains to its representation in myths, its

spread around the world, and the impact of modern agriculture, globalization, and

grocery store systems on its cultivation. Part of the Edible Series, each dedicated to

a specific type of food with a similar historical and cultural emphasis. If the apple

book is any indicator, this is a worthwhile series to explore. Amazon link.

■ The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, by Michael Pollan. A

fascinating account of the reciprocal relationship between human desires and the

plants that interact with them. Includes a large section on The Apple, to include its

co-evolution with humanity and the legacy of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) in

the U.S. Amazon link. Audible Link.

Other Recommendations

■ Cider Periodicals

– Cidercraft (print/online)

– Cider Culture – (online)

■ Websites

– Cidersage -- general cider info with a CO focus -- event coverage, cider reviews,

cider and mead miscellany.

– Ciderschool -- how-to content (cidermaking/orcharding) and cidery startup topics

– Along Came A Cider – cider reviews, event reviews, cider news

Q & A(pple)

IN-CIDER SERIES™:INTRODUCTION TO CIDER

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!

Dan@StVrainCidery.com