Cider Tax News
UPDATE: On 12/27/20 President Trump signed the bill making the reform included in the CBMTRA permanent.
On Monday night, Congress took the important step to pass permanent Federal excise tax credits for the nation’s cideries, meaderies, wineries, breweries, and distilleries. The tax reform measures for alcohol producers were originally introduced on a two-year basis in 2017 and renewed for one year late in 2019. The renewal was set to expire on December 31, 2020, but thanks to the inclusion of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) in the most recent COVID relief bill, the excise tax credits are now permanent. The transition from temporary tax bill to permanence was relatively rapid thanks to enormous bipartisan popularity in both the Senate and House of Representatives as well as unprecedented collaboration of cider, wine, beer, spirits, and mead.
The bill removes prior barriers to growth by increasing the defining production threshold of a small cidery or winery and maintaining tiered tax credits as cideries grow and meet those thresholds.
“Many cideries feared exceeding the original small producer threshold. The permanent passage of the CBMTRA removes that fear,” said Michelle McGrath, executive director of the American Cider Association (ACA).
CBMTRA had many Congressional champions that ensured its success including the Senate co-sponsors Senate Finance Ranking Member Senator Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), House co-sponsors Representative Kind (D-WI) and Representative Kelly (R-PA), House Ways and Means Committee Chair Representative Neal (D-MA), House Ways and Means Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senate Finance Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
“America’s cidermakers can take a deep breath knowing that not only will their Federal excise taxes not go up on January 1, but the annual cycle of uncertainty regarding those taxes will stay behind with 2020,” said Brooke Glover, vice president of the American Cider Association.
“These tax credits were passed relatively recently, but many new cideries have never known any other way. I’m grateful they aren’t facing a tax increase come January 1. This can provide a bit of much needed confidence to do business in 2021,” said McGrath.
ACA played a supportive role in the craft beverage coalition that lobbied to make the credits permanent.
“Our members have worked hard to host members of Congress at their cideries, visit their offices in DC and participate in collaborative days of action. I was really proud of ACA’s membership,” McGrath said. “We are also extremely grateful to our colleagues in wine, beer, spirits and mead for including us in the beverage coalition.”
The American Cider Association encourages its members to make sure they are taking advantage of these tax credits and to let the ACA know how they are investing the savings. The Association will be rolling out educational resources to explain the nuances of how the CBMTRA benefits cider businesses in the coming weeks.
“Thank you to our members for renewing your membership year after year. Your small annual investment in the ACA has added up to much bigger permanent tax savings for you,” added McGrath. “Cider has a seat at the table. We have increasing numbers of Congressional champions. Our association is working.”
The bill now heads to President Trump for his signature and he is anticipated to sign. In a time when it is desperately needed, the CBMTRA supports jobs, farms and craft manufacturing.
New CiderCon® Session: Strategies for Creating a Successful Blend
What does it take to make a successful blend? What’s the best way to do a blend? How can we use blending to create a cider with that perfect aroma and flavor profile?
A finished cider can be a combination of apple varieties that have been fermented separately, a blend of different vintages, or the amalgamation of a multiplicity of fermentation vessels combined to assure consistency in a release. Blending to create the perfect aroma and flavor profile in that cider is an essential skill, but one that takes time and effort to learn. Our panelists will share their many years of blending experience which will help you to jump start a new skill or give you tips that will take your blending game to a new level.
Join Darlene Hayes, Nicole Leibon, Autumn Stoscheck, and Chris Condos as they discuss these questions and more during their session at CiderCon® 2021.
This session is in the Cider Production Track sponsored by CINA.
Reflections on ACA’s Equity & Inclusion Training with Board Member Brooke Glover
I volunteer as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the American Cider Association (ACA) because I care deeply about the cider industry and appreciate that the Board is very involved and active in the ACA’s work and mission. As part of the ACA mission statement to create a diverse cider industry, and part of our commitment to antiracism we made back in June, the ACA recently hosted an equity and inclusion training for our Board of Directors on November 10th
Dr. J Jackson-Beckham, the principal at Crafted for All and a trusted advisor with the ACA, was tapped to lead the training on Building Foundations for Equity & Inclusion. During the training, Dr. J reminded us that we were in a safe space and that we needed to feel comfortable to ask questions and express ourselves freely without judgment. After a really funny icebreaker (what’s your superpower!?), she provided us with her definitions for Inclusion, Equity and Justice (you can find more on that through her Patreon account). Her reason for this was to ensure we had a shared language to use during the training. This became the basis for much of our conversation.
I left with a few takeaways from Dr. J’s training that I think will help guide the ACA toward continuing our important work in this space:
- Filling quotas is not the goal. Our goal is having a diverse industry and that is not attained by simply checking boxes nor will be attained overnight, as much as we want that to happen. To achieve our goal of a diverse industry we must have process and progress.
- Setting small goals over and over again will keep the organization (and our world) moving forward.
- We are beginning to set small goals to track mechanisms for progress and process by:
- Tracking the demographics of speakers at CiderCon
- Continuing to make it known that we want to be inclusive and that all are welcome
- Refining processes for board and committee member development
- Making tools available to members such as policy templates, signage, and job description example verbiage
- We need to continue to be supportive and understanding toward others. We are trying to grow an amazing and robust cider industry and we are all on the same team
- A diverse industry means encouraging all to be a part of the industry— including people who think differently from each other and come from different backgrounds
Lastly, Dr. J gave us some homework to do before we meet again in order to make sure we have action items that come out of the training. We had some amazing discussions over the course of our training and it helped me to think about progress, education, and setting small goals. The ACA and our members seem to be excited to continue to work toward these goals and our overall mission. I am very appreciative of the volunteer work of our Equity & Inclusion Committee and the support of our members. I look forward to growing together as we work toward our shared vision for the industry.
—Brooke Glover, Co-owner of Swilled Dog Cider and ACA Vice President
Bulk Company Discounts for CiderCon® 2021!
There has never been a better time to bring your whole team to CiderCon®!
The best thing about CiderCon® going virtual this year is that it means you can bring more of your team to the party! With lower registration fees, not to mention no airfare, hotel, and travel expenses to limit you, so many more of your team members can enjoy the knowledge, camaraderie, and fun that CiderCon® has to offer, all from the comfort of their home or office.
Not only that, but we are offering some awesome discounts when you register your crew together! Bulk discounts are available to team members working for the same company. Check out the discount table below and then contact Ellen for your discount code!
Still on the fence about how many people to bring? Check out why Mark Ray, owner of Stowe Cider, is bringing his whole team for CiderCon® 2021!
“Since first attending CiderCon in 2016 we haven’t missed one yet. The diverse educational sessions and networking opportunities offer something for every focus and each member of your team. I can safely say we wouldn’t be where we are today without those experiences and are beyond grateful for the community that this conference has created. We are so excited to include the entire team in CiderCon this year and have no doubt that although it will be different, it will be just as beneficial in building the knowledge of our team while raising the cider community up in a time of need.”
Mark Ray, Owner & Cidermaker, Stowe Cider
Certified Pommelier Exam Prep Workshops Now Available!
We are bringing you two online Certified Pommelier™ cider evaluation workshops. The Certified Pommelier™ exam is a rigorous test of a beverage professional’s cider knowledge, including one’s ability to taste and evaluate an apple-driven cider. These workshops are an opportunity for students to practice using the formulated evaluation schema used in the tasting exam. The cost for each of these workshops is $35 for non-ACA members and $15 for members. The instructors will be teaching using a live evaluation of three featured ciders.
Certified Pommelier™ Guided Tasting – January 20, 2021 – $35 non-members, $15 members
The first workshop on January 20, 2021 will feature the Rare Apples Series: Variety 4-pack from Stormalong Cider. Registered students will be sent information on how to purchase those ciders. Cider purchases are entirely optional and are limited to states with amenable shipping laws. You can review the states that Stormalong can ship to here. The workshop will be led by Jenny Dorsey and Brian Rutzen. This workshop can be purchased here. *The deadline to purchase cider for this workshop on 1/20 has passed, but the workshop will be available on-demand and may be viewed at any time.
The second workshop will feature different ciders from three different producers (TBD). That workshop is tentatively scheduled for February 17, 2021. The workshop will be led by Darlene Hayes and Tim Godfrey. Purchase this workshop here.
Get to Know Your New Board Member: Philippe Bishop
Meet Philippe Bishop, who was elected to the board as an at large member in 2020!
Where do you work and what is your position?
I am a partner with my folks at Alpenfire Cider, primarily I handle our sales, designs and the marketing side of things… But as every small business owner I wear many hats when needed. For instance, I’m currently sitting on the ferry heading over to the orchard to off-load a trailer of bottles for our 2019 releases.
Do you work in cider full time? If not, what is your other job?
I am with Alpenfire full time.
How did you get into cider?
I blame my parents . My first sips of cider that I remember were around 1990 sailing up in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. It was super sweet, came in a 2 liter plastic bottle and was flavored with peach or berries or something. Perfect for my young palate. That sparked my interest, then when we decided to get into the business and feeling the connection to the land after years of clearing it, working the soil, and planting trees is really what firmed up my love for cider. As time and Alpenfire progressed we needed ways to sell it, I jumped on that and haven’t looked back.
Why did you decide to run for a position on the board?
I am passionate about the cider industry and felt I could help give a voice to the über small orchard based producers out there.
What are your hopes for the future of the US Cider Industry?
For cider to grow, from the trees to the glass. I would like to see the industry help spur a younger generation into growing trees and working the land. I would like to see the cider lexicon educate the buyers, the media and the influencers, plus help consumers find a cider they like and realize not every cider is the same. I want people to want to learn about cider, know their apples and celebrate the differences from large to small and urban to orchard based producers like us.
How do you describe your cider region?
We have a lot of passionate good people up here making primarily modern interpretations of cider spurred by an abundance and availability of eating apples. It has closely followed the beer industry and the term “innovation.” I’m not a big fan of that word but it seems to fit where we are. We as a whole have done a great job of offering a wide selection to the consumers. That has paid off by a fair amount of shelf space and lots of taps dedicated to local cider but I feel we have a ways to go on the educational front and helping people to better understand cider.
What’s your favorite apple to work with and why?
Our Foxwhelp apple. It may not be the “real” one but it has all the great characteristics of the traditional bittersharp apple and does very well in our orchard. It is also a very large apple, so easy to pick though they have gotten smaller as our orchard has matured. It ferments well, and given the proper time (roughly 1.5 years), makes a stellar single varietal cider!
What is your favorite cider/food pairing?
Too many to list really! I believe what grows together goes together and being in the maritime climate 1/2 mile or so from the beach I really enjoy most seafood with our Pirates Plank Bone Dry. The earthy tannins, subtle acids, and hints of salinity make things like oysters POP!
What is your favorite nature/cider pairing?
Our Ember Bittersweet by the glow of a campfire.
What would you like our members to know about you that they might not know?
There’s life outside of cider? My wife Shannon and I live in Seattle with our kids Sierra & Cortland along with our old cranky dog Zephyr. I love and crave being outdoors, specifically either deep in the woods or at the beach. The further away from crowds I can get the better.
Learn about the rest of your board members HERE!
New CiderCon® Session: Artisan Japanese Cooking with Japanese Craft Cider
Japan is home to centuries old culinary tradition that is still thriving. It is also home to a relatively new but growing cider scene. Join Lee Reeve of inCiderJapan and world renowned cookbook author Nancy Singleton Hachisu for this exploration of cider today in Japan and how it can be incorporated in both traditional and modern Japanese food traditions. Lee will open this session with a review of what’s happening in Japan’s cider scene and it will be followed by a cooking demonstration with Nancy.
Nancy Singleton Hachisu is a native Californian, Stanford graduate who has lived with her Japanese farmer husband in a 90-year-old farmhouse in rural Saitama since 1988. Author of four cookbooks: Japanese Farm Food (Andrews McMeel, Sept. 2012), Preserving the Japanese Way, (Andrews McMeel, Aug. 2015), Japan: The Cookbook (Phaidon, April 2018), and Food Artisans of Japan (Hardie Grant, Nov. 2019). Hachisu’s work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese.
Hachisu appears frequently in Japanese media, documenting her preserving and farm food life as well as visits to artisanal producers in more remote areas of Japan to advocate for Japan’s disappearing food traditions. Recipient of a James Beard award, she has written for The Art of Eating, Lucky Peach, Saveur, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Food, BBC Travel, and Fool Magazine.
Hachisu also assisted on and appeared in the Salt episode of Netflix’s runaway hit: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.
Lee Reeve is the Owner-operator of inCiderJapan G.K., a marketing & promotion creative consulting company, as well as an importer, retailer, and producer of cider and cider-related goods. He is also the publisher of inCiderJapan, Asia’s first and only bilingual magazine dedicated to all things cider.
Lee is widely regarded as a leading authority on Japan’s cider scene, market, and industry, and is often asked to present seminars on said topics. He has been a keynote speaker for several distinguished conferences including the Australian Cider Festival (2018), Second World Beverage Conference & International Symposium on Beverage Crops in Xi’an, China (2018), and was scheduled to speak at the Global Cider Forum (2020) before its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Lee is the representative for Japan at the international cider tourism network, Ciderlands, as well as co-organizer of the Global Cider Connect project, a world-first six-nation cider collaboration to be held in Japan in 2021.
Now Available: Q3 Nielsen Reports
Complimentary custom, quarterly market trend reports are part of your American Cider Association membership. To access these reports at any time, sign into our login page. The landing page is full of helpful tools like our custom Nielsen reports and more.
Just looking to download Quarter 3? Log in and click here.
Q3 Highlights:
- The impact of the pandemic is stark. On-premise cider sales declined an estimated 40% when comparing 52-week periods and nearly 70% when comparing 12-week periods for the previous year.
- Total cider was up 10% for Q3 in off-premise channels measured by Nielsen. This does not make up for the massive pandemic-induced on-premise declines.
- Regional brands drove off-premise growth–up 34% vs national brand declines of 6%.
- Both on- and off-premise cider sales for regional brands are expected to eclipse national brand sales in Q4.
Find more insights by region, packaging and ingredients in our custom reports.
Now Available: Q3 Nielsen Reports – MEMBERS ONLY
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What’s New for CiderCon® 2021 This Week!
The 11th annual CiderCon is happening during February 3-5, 2021. Ready to grab your tickets? Click here! (Ask us about bulk discounts for your company.)
Each week we’re highlighting a few of our talented speakers and CiderCon® features with you. It’s going to be a virtual cider extravaganza!
Stephanie Hartman
For more than 20 years, Stephanie Hartman has provided Leader, Team and Organization Effectiveness support to large and small businesses in wide ranging industries such as financial services, technology, B2B professional services, restaurants and home services. Her client experience spans the range of large corporations to small family farms. Through her consulting firm, Catalyst Consulting, Stephanie has adapted planning and team development methods typically used in large corporate settings for practical use by small businesses. Stephanie’s presentation is brought to us by the sponsorship of Ciderpros.com
Julie Rhodes
Julie Rhodes is an authority on beverage sales, marketing, team management, distributor partnership management, supply chain logistics, and customer service. She is the owner of Not Your Hobby Marketing Solutions, a consulting company that offers online educational programs and customized coaching services designed specifically to teach business skills to craft beverage professionals. We’re excited to bring Julie to CiderCon as a featured speaker. If you missed her dynamite webinar on managing distributor relationships, check the webinar archives on our member page.
Belinda Kemp, PhD
Belinda is the Senior Staff Scientist in Oenology at CCOVI, Brock University, and Adjunct Professor of the Department of Biological Science, in the Faculty of Math and Science at Brock University, Ontario. As well as a wine scientist, Kemp gained previous practical still and sparkling winemaking experience in commercial wineries in NZ and the UK. Her current research is focused on the Maillard reaction in sparkling wines, wine flavor chemistry, the impact of sugar on wine aroma and flavor, leaf removal strategies according to grape variety and wine style, the influence of sour rot on sparkling and still wine flavors, and phenolic management of sparkling and red wines.