CiderCon Contest!
How does a cider vacation sound? Pretty good? Well, here is a chance to go on one for FREE! To enter, simply book your room for CiderCon 2019 in Chicago at the Hilton by January 18!
GRAND PRIZE: We’re giving away “The Ultimate California Cider Vacation” to one lucky winner to attend CiderCon 2020 in California. What’s included?
- Airfare to Oakland or San Francisco, California (including transportation expenses from the airport to the hotel)
- 5 nights lodging at the Oakland Marriott
- FREE CiderCon 2020 registration in Oakland, CA–including tours (SONOMA! or SANTA CRUZ?!) & tastings!
- A $50 Gift Card to Redfield Cider or Crooked City Cider–winner’s choice
- VIP cider share entry
- Free tickets to the Bay Area Cider Week event of your choice
GRAND PRIZE RULES
- Airfare is for continental US only. Foreign tickets will be provided an equivalent travel stipend up to a max amount.
- Airfare is for 1 person.
- Airfare and hotel are only good for the week of CiderCon 2020: January 27-February 1, 2020.
- Winner’s name will be pulled at CiderCon 2019. Name on entry ticket is based on name given to reservation desk at the Hilton Chicago.
- Reservations at the Hilton CiderCon 2019 must be confirmed and fulfilled to qualify.
FIRST PRIZE: Want your Hilton Chicago room comped for CiderCon 2019? We’ll be choosing one lucky winner to do just that! We’ll through in a gift certificate for $50 to The Northman Chicago, too! We will comp up to 3 nights hotel maximum.
SECOND PRIZE: American Cider Association board member cider prize! 1 lucky person will go home with a box of cider from our board member’s respective cideries all over the country.
How to enter?
(1) To enter, you must stay at the Hilton Chicago when attending CiderCon 2019 in Chicago. CiderCon 2019 attendees staying offsite will not qualify.
(2) Hilton reservations must be made by January 18, 2019 to qualify for entry.
(3) Hilton reservations must be completed–canceled reservations will not qualify.
(4) Winner names will be pulled based on reservation holders name.
(5) Sorry, former or current American Cider Association board members or staff do not qualify for entry.
2019 Board Nomination Period is Open
Every year at CiderCon we honor the service of our board of directors throughout the previous year. We also hold elections for rotating board seats. About a third of the board is up for election each year. Our board is structured such that full members (active cidery level member employees) hold the seats. We have regional chairs and a limited number of designated large cidery seats. The remaining seats are designated “at large.” Service terms are for three years and these are strictly volunteer positions. Meetings are held monthly, via teleconference.
We are opening the self-nomination period for this year’s elections today.
Which seats are up for election?
- At Large Any full member producing under 1M gallons of cider a year qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members at large producing under 1M gallons. (There is a by law vote happening at CiderCon that would immediately open the At Large seat eligibility to large cideries. See next post).
- Large Cidery Any full member producing over 1M gallons of cider a year qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members in the large cidery category.
- Eastern Chair (CT, MA, ME, PA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT) Any full member producing under 1M gallons of cider a year with business headquarters in the American Cider Association Eastern Region qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members producing under 1M gallons in the Eastern Region.
- Southern Chair (AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV, MD, DE, DC) Any full member producing under 1M gallons of cider a year with business headquarters in the American Cider Association Sourthern Region qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members producing under 1M gallons in the Southern Region.
Candidates are encouraged to declare candidacy early so they may connect with American Cider Association’s executive director in advance of the membership meeting in Chicago. Candidates representing view points. currently underrepresented on the board are also encouraged to run.
These documents, always available on our website, may help you when considering candidacy:
To self-nominate, please fill out this form by clicking here.
Reach out if you have any questions!
Membership Forum
Have a question about filtering? Trying to sell a used brite tank? Selling juice? Looking for a cider job?
Our Membership Forum is a great place to post your cider industry specific classifieds.
If you are a vendor or contractor, please contact us for forum sponsorship inquiries. Solicitations are not permitted on the forum otherwise.
PRESS RELEASE: Cider Association Releases 2018 Update to Cider Style Guide
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
American Cider Association
For follow up: Michelle@ciderassociation.org
US Cider Association Releases 2018 Updates to Hard Cider Style Guidelines; Adds Five New Styles
Portland, OR—The American Cider Association has released an update to their Cider Style Guide, first introduced in summer of 2017. American Cider Association’s original reason for releasing a guide was to unify the language used to discuss hard cider in the marketplace. This intention remains true. In the new release, minor language changes were made to the standard styles of modern cider and heritage cider. Additionally, five new specialty styles were added to the guide, bringing the new total to 15 styles.
The new additions include the following. (1) Botanical ciders were split up from spiced ciders. Two sub-categories of rosé cider were added: (2) heritage rosé, which gets its color from red-fleshed apples, and (3) modern rosé, which gets its color from other fruits or botanicals. (4) The lesser-known but traditional New England Style Cider was added, sometimes described as apple wine with raisins. Lastly, a catch all category for outliers is now included, referred to as (5) specialty cider and perry.
American Cider Association’s executive director Michelle McGrath, commented on the process, “A lot of thought went into these updates—stakeholders supplied comments and some very intense conversations about the implications were held. But in the end, the consensus from the board was strong. We felt like these changes reflect the growing diversification of the market, and we want to arm cider makers, distributors, retailers, servers and consumers with the ability to understand and discuss that diversity.”
Two of the new styles added to the guide fall under the hugely popular rosé cider category. “Defining the two substyles of rosé cider was a very exciting proposition for American Cider Association,” said Paul Vander Heide, American Cider Association board president.
For modern ciders, rosé describes the color of the product. That color nuance can be produced with many different fruits or botanicals which will also change the flavor profile of the cider. For heritage rosé ciders, a pink color is achieved through the use of widely unknown red-fleshed apple varieties.
“Our mission here is to educate folks about the amazing diversity of cider products available in the US today,” added Vander Heide.
McGrath reports that the marketplace is beginning to adopt the terms introduced in Version 1.0 of the style guide. “Cider makers are embracing themselves as modern or heritage producers, because it helps them provide expectations to their consumers. I’ve seen it used on labels, by tasting room employees, on cans and bottles, and now—in New Hampshire—there is even an ‘American Heritage Cider’ section in their state liquor stores. Perhaps most importantly, the media is beginning to talk about cider as a category with diverse options. It’s working and we’re so excited,” McGrath exclaimed.
American Cider Association will release an illustrated style poster this winter for tap rooms and tasting rooms. The updated guidelines can be found on American Cider Association’s website (download here). They will open the guide for comment every summer and will make annual updates when warranted.
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The American Cider Association is an organization of cider and perry producers in the United States. Their mission is to grow a diverse and successful U.S. cider industry by providing valuable information, resources and services to our members and by advocating on their behalf.
Our Executive Director Made Wine Enthusiast’s Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers List!
PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release
Contact helenkanebaldus@gmail.com for follow up or images
Article Link: https://www.winemag.com/
Featured image by Scott McDermott
Cider Association Executive Director Makes 40 Under 40 Tastemakers List By Wine Enthusiast
Portland, OR [August 21, 2018] – The American Cider Association (American Cider Association) is thrilled to announce that its executive director, Michelle McGrath, has been named a 2018 40 Under 40 Tastemaker in the U.S. by Wine Enthusiast magazine. The Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 list recognizes the young winemakers, brewers, beverage directors, grape growers, and other movers and shakers who are changing today’s beverage industry.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this distinction,” exclaimed McGrath. “The most thrilling part is the well-deserved national recognition it means for cider.”
American Cider Association is a young association, formally designated in 2014. McGrath became the association’s first executive director in the summer of 2016. In just two years her impact and leadership is visible through increased membership, a growing general awareness of cider styles and an ever-improving CiderCon—the industry’s annual conference.
“Michelle has brought real professionalism to a young organization,” shared Paul Vander Heide, owner of Vander Mill Cider and American Cider Association Board President. “Her engagement with members, industry stakeholders, and policy makers has dramatically advanced our mission to support and grow the US cider industry.”
McGrath credits her success to the association’s passionate members, especially its board of directors. “I’ve worked with several boards in past roles, and I’ve never come across one as effective as American Cider Association’s. It’s why we can do so much with so little. All of our volunteers deserve so much credit.”
McGrath has managed to lead an extremely diverse industry towards category-wide standards, by overseeing the creation and development of the association’s consumer-facing cider style guide—the first of its kind, adopted in October 2017.
“Cider as a category is not just one thing, but an incredible variety of styles and points of view,” said American Cider Association member and cider author, Darlene Hayes. “It’s a challenge to represent such diversity.”
McGrath is up for that challenge, according to Stephen Wood, founder of Farnum Hill Cider and American Cider Association volunteer. “McGrath has shown herself to be equally adept at working among the diverse continuum of groups that make up the U.S. cider industry, from large market-driven cider makers to smaller orchard-based cider makers, processors and suppliers to advisors and advocates.”
Under her strategic direction, the association is attacking the development of new programming to support and grow the cider industry. From promoting cider education through the association’s Certified Cider Professional Program (CCP), to advocating for the fair and accurate treatment of cider with the government and the media to leading the creation of cider-specific market data, she’s taken the role of championing cider seriously and fiercely.
“Michelle is the real deal. She works tirelessly and diligently with cider makers across all regions of the US to help raise the profile and market share of American cider,” said Jolie Devoto, founder of Golden State Cider and American Cider Association Member. “She’s supporting a dialogue about cider on a massive scale.”
McGrath’s goals are not quaint. “I want US cider to be the most coveted cider in the world. I want every bar in America to feature multiple styles and understand the story behind our category. I want to double our market share. US cider deserves to be celebrated. I applaud Wine Enthusiast for doing that within their 40 Under 40 program.”
The October issue of Wine Enthusiast will feature the 40 Under 40 tastemakers selected for 2018, including McGrath.
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Congratulations to Michelle!
What is “DRY”?
American Cider Association Board endorses dryness language
We are encouraging transparency and communication from cidermakers to build fidelity with consumers—don’t betray the consumer with marketing. Discussing flavor, ingredients, and sweetness honestly is how we help a drinker find the cider they will like before they open the bottle or can. Using poignant descriptive language on cans and bottles will reduce palate mismatches. Tell the drinker what your cider will taste like.
In doing so, it is important that our industry work toward a language that is (a) accurate (b) illustrative (c) unified.
The following organizations have embraced shared terms for communicating dryness: American Cider Association, BJCP, GLINTCAP, and NYCA. The four categories of sweetness are:
- Dry
- Semi-Dry
- Semi-Sweet
- Sweet
American Cider Association encourages our members to embrace the same terminology for the sake of consistency and educating the consumer.
Perceived vs. absolute dryness
The differences between mechanisms for measuring dryness chiefly come down to an actual measure of sugar vs. perceived dryness. A scientific dialogue on the precise impact of tannins and acids on perceived dryness is underway. The New York Cider Association has been working with Cornell to develop a perceived dryness scale that integrates the impact of tannins and acid (see their CiderCon presentation here). The team at GLINTCAP has started considering these impacts as well. We think this dialogue is healthy and we are closely watching it.
On the other hand, many cidermakers have taken the path of simply reporting brix or residual sugar. Measuring residual sugar is something easily done by most cideries in the comfort of their own production facility. Is it true that a dry fruity cider will taste sweeter than the residual sugar level suggests? Is it true that a high-acid cider will taste drier than the residual sugar level suggests? Yes, and yes. But the same things may be said about brix for wine or IBUs for beer. Perfect solutions are hard to find.
In speaking with cider makers, however, we know that figuring out how to communicate perceived dryness is important to many. Residual sugar alone does not tell consumers how tart or astringent a cider will taste. It does not reflect the consumer’s experience based on acids or tannins.
What can we do as an industry right now to help consumers find a cider they like?
The industry is testing definitions of these terms on its own. Consumers will tell us the answer if we listen carefully.
The current levels used by GLINTCAP to delineate dryness are:
- Dry — Below 0.9% RS (Below 1.0 Brix)
- Semi-Dry — 0.9%-1.8% RS (1.0-1.8 Brix)
- Semi-Sweet — 1.8-4.5% RS (1.8-4.3 Brix)
- Sweet — Above 4.5% RS (Above 4.3 Brix)
Another scale used in the industry with the goal of being “consumer-friendly” is:
- Dry — ≤1% RS
- Semi-Dry — 1.1-2.0% RS
- Semi-Sweet — 2.1-3.0% RS
- Sweet — >3.0% RS
These scales don’t consider acid or tannin levels. Anyone can adopt them today with little special equipment or measures. However, scientists and cidermakers are trying to determine the precise impact of tannins and acids on perceived dryness. What can we do as an industry right now to help consumers find a cider they like? To start, embrace the terms semi-dry and semi-sweet. It hurts the whole industry when we confuse the consumer about what a dry cider truly is.
As this blog is being written, precisely where these categories land on the residual sugar scale and the known impact of tannins and acid are still up for discussion. We will keep our members updated on developments in this industry-wide conversation. We are also discussing dryness scale developments with our colleagues overseas. This issue is something on everyone’s mind right now.
In the meantime, dryness: measure it, illustrate it, discuss it, and be honest. That’s what we’re saying.
American Cider Association Member Updates for April 2018
We know how important industry statistics are to you and the rest of the cider community. We’ve been busy working to bring you the highest potential possible from our partnership with Nielsen. We’re excited to have several updates for our members about this partnership:
- Nielsen is extending a special packaging design offer to our active members with a multi-pack product (4- or 6-packs). This is an opt-in model-group study and thus costs 90% less than an independent study. On top of that savings, as an active member, you will receive a $300 discount to take part. Contact Nielsen by APRIL 12 to sign up. Want to learn how this audit will help launch your brand to next level? Read more here. To ensure that these benefits are reaching the industry members paying for their appropriate membership type, we will only be offering the Nielsen opt-in study to our active cidery-level members. If you are a member at the Home-Cider Maker or Cidery-in-planning levels and wish to participate in the discounted audit, please contact us to update your membership.
- On April 26, Nielsen is offering an encore webinar on the 2017 market trends. This will be like the CiderCon encore webinar offered last year except with current data. The webinar link will go out to our members with active, paid-up accounts.
- We will have the first annual report of on- and off-premise trends available to members shortly. This exclusive benefit includes an executive summary and in-depth spreadsheets from Nielsen containing on- and off-premise data for 2017. The data is broken down by aggregate national and regional brands as well as by total US market and regional markets. We will be sharing an option for subscribing to quarterly reports at the time of this first report’s release. Stay tuned!
These benefits are exclusively for our members. We deeply appreciate the critical support members like you provide us. Together, we can grow our voice and our resources to aggressively and strategically promote our innovative, apple-centered industry–a booming industry at that, with 30% growth of regional cider brands in 2017. American Cider Association is doggedly pursuing benefits like these to help our members succeed. Expect more to come.
Please log in to your account to make sure that your membership for John Doe is up to date. This will allow you to take advantage of these benefits. If you are an employee at John Doe, make sure you are linked to their account–the membership bundle admin at your company can log in and add you for free. If you need any assistance updating your membership, contact Ellen.
Exclusive Member Savings with Nielsen: Package Design Audit
Nielsen is extending a special packaging design offer to our active members with a multi-pack product (4- or 6-packs). This is an opt-in group study and therefore costs 90% less than an independent study. On top of that savings, as an active member, you will receive a $300 discount to participate. Contact Nielsen by APRIL 12 to sign up.
This audit will help you:
- measure the performance of your current cider packaging.
- have your designs evaluated among 500+ consumers within a competitive context.
- identify areas of brand strength and opportunities.
Want to learn more about how this audit will help launch your brand to next level? Read more here.
Have more questions? Check out this FAQ!
Is your membership up to date? Log in to find out. In an effort to ensure that these benefits are reaching the industry members paying for their appropriate membership type, we will only be offering the Nielsen opt-in study to our active cidery-level members. If you are a member at the Home-Cider Maker or Cidery-in-planning levels and wish to participate in the discounted audit, please contact us to update your membership.
Thanks for being a member so we can continue to offer special benefits like these!
American Cider Association Board President’s Statement on Tariffs
Steel for tanks and aluminum for cans used by the cider industry may face price increases if proposed tariffs move forward.
The American Cider Association (American Cider Association) strongly opposes the proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Aluminum and steel are integral components of the American beverage industry of which cider is a growing part. This tariff will create an unnecessary burden on our industry’s supply chain.
The cost of this tariff will ultimately fall to the American consumer, and thereby hinder the cider industry’s competitiveness and opportunity for growth.
We urge the President’s Administration to reconsider the proposed tariffs on aluminum and steel. Alternatively, we welcome the opportunity to discuss the many other ways that federal policy could have a positive impact on the cider industry.
Paul Vander Heide
American Cider Association Board President