Schedule
Schedule
General Schedule
Tuesday, January 31
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Tours
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Happy Hour Cider Pairings (ticketed)
Wednesday, February 1
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TTB Bootcamp
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Taproom Success (ticketed)
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Certified Pommelier™ Exam (ticketed)
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CiderCon for Newbies
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BIPOC Meetup
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Cider Share (ticketed)
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Pomme Pride Meetup
Thursday, February 2
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Opening Session w/ Sunny Gandara
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Trade Show
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Educational Sessions
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Awards Presentations
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Trade Show Happy Hour
Friday, February 3
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Trade Show
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Educational Sessions
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ACA Election Results
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Happy Hour at South Bar & Grill
Sort by Track
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speakers: Chris Gerling, Soham Bhatt, Steve DiFrancesco
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 3:30-4:45pm
There are several carbonation methods available for cider makers to employ, and choosing between these methods means considering consumer expectations, sensory impact, production cost, taxes and more. This session will address how to carbonate your produce consistently and successfully through forced carbonation, traditional method, and bottle conditioning. We will discuss how to measure CO2 and how it impacts taxes and labeling rules. Finally, we will explore the sensory impact of carbonation with tips on how to select techniques and levels appropriate for your style goals, with a tasting to illustrate those differences.
Speaker: Richie Brady
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 10:30-11:45am
This session presents a proposal for a Systematic Approach to Tasting Cider using a method of consistently describing aromas, flavors and structure of cider. The method can be used by all those involved in creating, producing, promoting, marketing and selling cider – from intermediates to experts. (Although similar, this is not a review of the systemic approach used for the Certified Pommelier™ exam. There is a review of the exam’s approach Friday afternoon).
Ticketed Session: $49
Speakers: Andrew Coplon & Kary Shumway
Date & Time: Wednesday, February 1, 8:30am-12:30pm
Join us for an interactive workshop designed to help you see greater success in your taproom. Get excited to dive into fascinating data, learn how to turn metrics into financial gains, and get a better grip on your taproom finances. We will provide you with methods to create more memorable visits for your guests, more rewarding employment for your team, and a better understanding of your taproom finances. After this session, you will walk away with actionable strategies you can implement immediately to maximize your taproom experience.
Speaker: Lester Jones
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 1:45-3:00pm
National Beer Wholesalers Association Chief Economist Lester Jones will examine where the Cider Industry and alcohol beverages has been and where we headed following a wild roller coaster ride in 2021 and 2022. He will present on a wide variety of data and insights that explain how consumers, retailers, suppliers, and policy makers view the industry. Participants will get a unique perspectives on the economic and demographic factors shaping the cider and alcohol industry in 2023 and beyond.
Speakers: TBD
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 10:30-11:45am
This session will include a step-by-step walk through of TTB forms including the winery operations report and permit application forms.
Speaker: Julie Rhodes
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 2:00-3:15pm
Building standard operating procedures for your production facility can streamline logistics, improve
efficiencies, and provide a system of accountability for your team. You can do the same thing with your sales team! SOP’s or standard operating procedures can be built to keep your retail sales team focused and working efficiently in the market, but they can also be applied to your distribution management strategy to retain more mind share for you brand with your wholesale partners. Learn how to create SOP planning tools for your sales reps and distributor sales teams that will keep your brand on track to hit your annual sales goals, make meetings more effective, and sell more cider together.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speakers: Megan Larmer, Kate Anstreicher, Ian Merwin, Joe Gaynor, Amy Noga, Lindsay Jenkinson
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 3:30-4:45pm
In 2017, the Glynwood Center, NY Cider Association, and Angry Orchard planted 5,000 cider apple trees across 12 orchards in NY’s major fruit-growing regions. Experienced orchardists have recorded tree growth/survival and yields each year since, and in 2020, a panel of cider professionals evaluated single-variety, single-estate cider samples for similarities and differences based on sensory attributes. In this session we will present our results so far, exploring the factors that go into determining a regional taste of place or terroir.
Speakers: Joe Gaynor, Nick Gunn, Hannah Ferguson, Dan Young
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 3:45-5:00pm
Scaling up your commercial production is a big step to make, and it’s important to make the proper investments in tools and systems when transitioning to larger production. This session will provide tips for equipment to purchase when shifting from hobby to professional production, designing and building out your space, setting up an in-house lab, and scaling up efficiently.
Speaker: Cortni Stahl, Yann Fay
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 10:30-11:45am
Small cider producers may think that most Quality Assurance and Quality Control content is not relevant to them. Craft products may vary greatly from year to year, and you certainly can’t afford to have a person on staff to manage all of the bureaucracy. QA and QC are essential elements of successful cider production for businesses of any size, and should be considered when starting up and/ or when you’ve been producing for years. This session will review elements of QA and QC program establishment, maintenance, and evaluation. Speakers will define and offer practical tips for Good Manufacturing Practices, Hazard and Critical Control Point Analysis, and the importance of establishing Standard Operating Procedures to meet safety, legal, sustainability, economic, and quality objectives with a special focus on techniques for smaller businesses.
Speaker: David Whitman
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 3:45-5:00pm
This session will cover what types of alcoholic beverages are subject to FDA labeling requirements, FDA’s labeling requirements for alcoholic beverages including mandatory information and optional or voluntary information, fortification policy, nutrient content claims, health claims and allergens.
Speaker: David Whitman
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 3:30-4:45pm
David Whitman of the FDA will discuss the requirements, regulation, and exemptions that hard cider manufacturers must comply with and will cover some commonly asked questions. He’ll help cideries understand the ins and outs of what to expect from an FDA inspection of your production facility and how to ensure you are in line with the Food Safety Modernization Act. He will also touch on FDA labeling and nutritional requirements, but the main focus of the presentation will be food safety requirements from a beverage manufacturer’s perspective.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speaker: Yann Gilles
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 1:45-3:00pm
This session will outline a variety of ways to enhance the aroma of your cider, from the quality of the fruits to a number of processing options with a particular focus on the alcoholic fermentation management.
Speaker: Dr. Gregory Peck, Joe Gaynor
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 2:00-3:15pm
In this presentation, Dr. Gregory Peck will discuss the use of mechanical harvesters for cider apple orchards. Apple harvesting labor is typically the largest single annual operating expense for an orchard, costing as much as $2,983/acre. Economic case studies for six orchard operations located in NY found that management strategies that afford greater efficiencies are a key to cider apple orchard profitability. Additionally, Cornell recently developed partial budget models that compared purchasing and using harvesting equipment to hand harvesting labor costs for small- (5 acre), medium- (15 acre), and large-scale (60 acre) apple orchards. We found that utilizing mechanical harvesting machinery across all three orchard size models was more profitable than hand harvesting. In Europe, which has a long-standing cider industry, cider apples are almost exclusively harvested mechanically from the ground. A diversity of apple harvesters are currently available from European manufacturers allowing cider apple producers to identify machinery that matches their operation scale. Because of the large number of relatively small to medium scale cider orchards in the U.S., growers could also cooperatively purchase a harvester, and, like the UK cider industry and U.S. grape industry, there is an opportunity for contract harvest businesses. Finally, Dr. Peck will show videos of their recent trials with mechanical harvesting in a high-density cider apple orchard. Joe Gaynor from Angry Orchard will be available during this session to share his experience with mechanical harvesting and to address questions from the perspective of an apple grower and cider producer.
Ticketed Session: $7 SOLD OUT!
Speaker: Steven Trussler, Gabe Cook, Molly Browning
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 10:00-11:15am
Volatile phenolics, either from apples or created during the fermentation process, can produce the distinctive cidery, funky flavours that many people enjoy in cider. On the other hand, other phenolic and non-phenolic aromas produced by spoilage organisms can go beyond ‘funk’ and cause a fault or consumer rejection. In this session, we’ll explore five different aromatic compounds found in funky, faulted, or phenolic ciders and you can decide for yourself which you like and which you don’t. If you decide you don’t, we’ll cover how to avoid them in your cider.
Speakers: Jacob Lahne, Amanda Stewart, Marlon Ac-Pangan, Martha Calvert, Xavier Ozowara
Date & Time: Thursday, February 3, 1:45-3:00pm
As US cidermaking has expanded in recent years, a focus on flavor quality has been a constant, unresolved theme in the industry. What are the various and interacting impacts of (among others) apple variety and blending, orcharding practices, fermentation and processing methods, and even marketing and sensory communication on the ultimate flavor of the cider as perceived by the consumer? While there has been little research-based information available on these topics, recently several research groups from Virginia Tech have been working to investigate these questions. In this session, researchers from these groups will present results from their work. Among the topics presented will be research on microbial diversity and its impact on cider flavor, both at the orchard level and at the
fermentation level; the impacts of yeast variety selection and nutrition on cider quality; new sensory profiling work for ciders produced in the Eastern United States; and consumer- and producer-focused qualitative research on how communication about these and other aspects of cider quality affects the cider consumption and purchasing experience. Overall, this session will provide a window into the most recent research addressing the origins and impact of flavor in cidermaking through a number of different research approaches.
Ticketed Session: $60 SOLD OUT!
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 31, 3:00-5:00pm
Start your CiderCon® journey off right with happy hour in the gorgeous penthouse suite. Enjoy curated pairings of delicious ciders and locally inspired tapas with just a touch of education, and a lot of fun. This is the perfect event for aspiring Pommeliers™ and anyone in the cider community.
Speaker: Brock Yenglin
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 3:45-5:00pm
As the alcoholic beverage category grows in complexity, it is essential to understand how category management affects cider’s space at retail. With increased competition and more producers beginning off-premise sales, it is vital to know how retailers manage the cider category. Attendees will come away with an understanding of the strategy, regulatory landscape, and tools used to determine where products end up on store shelves.
Speaker: Julie Rhodes
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 10:30-11:45am
KPIs are fun to mention in conversation, but building a core set of metrics that can significantly contribute to your profitability, and knowing what tools you need to track and analyze sales data is a whole new ballgame. So let’s play ball.
KPIs (key performance indicators) are metrics that will measure the health of your retail sales. They can be anything from volume to market segment ratios, classes of trade to market share. KPIs help suppliers identify areas of improvement, but can also help you realize how to recreate success without reinventing the wheel. So which KPIs are most important? What tools do I need to collect this data? And once I have the data, how do I interpret the results to impact my sales? In this session, we will cover all of those things, including how to build a go-to set of KPIs to efficiently boost sales, run through what software tools you will need to collect the data and how to set up proper corresponding reports, and most importantly, how to analyze your results to build strategic action plans around your data.
Speaker: Alex Koral
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 10:30-11:45am
Get an in-depth look at performance in the direct-to-consumer (DtC) wine shipping channel in 2022, as well as trends from historical data and pre-/post-pandemic market behaviors.
This review from the publishers of the 2023 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report will include key data on volume, value, shipment destinations, and outcomes by region, varietals, winery size and price tiers.
An annual collaboration between Sovos ShipCompliant and Wines Vines Analytics, the Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report is considered the most accurate representation of the American direct-to-consumer shipping channel, with analysis and predictions that enable meaningful benchmarking for cideries that are engaged with or looking to enter the DtC shipping channel.
Speakers: Tim Godfrey, Tegan Biun, Tom Oliver, Dave Takush
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 3:30-4:45pm
SO2 has an ubiquitous role in fermented beverage production as a preservative, but have you ever wondered what’s going on under the hood? Do you ever wonder why SO2 is used so often and in such great quantities? Are you curious about reducing or eliminating SO2 use at your cidery? This session will take a deep dive into the complex role SO2 plays in cider stability, how to use it effectively to make your SO2 additions go further, and how to reduce its use and find alternatives. Our panelists bring commercial experience making cider with and without SO2, including those who started using SO2, and have since reduced or eliminated its use. Speakers will discuss how and when to use SO2 pre-fermentation, post-fermentation, while aging, and during packaging; practices to make SO2 additions go further and/or to reduce overall use; and alternative tools and products. We will explore consumer perception and how to meet demands for lower or no SO2 cider.
Speakers: Malaika Tyson, Dorien Clark
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 1:45-3:00pm
Trademarks can be vital to developing a solid brand. The cider industry is unique in that many of the company and product names are often descriptive, presenting a challenge for trademark registration. However, as the number of new cideries and SKUs continues to increase, robust trademark management is critical to the success of a cidery. By the end of this session, you will learn innovative tips for protecting and elevating your cider brand.
Speakers: Andrew Hummel, Mary Mills
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 3:30-4:45pm
Join category analytics experts from CGA, Nielsen IQ, and 3 Tier Beverages to discuss the state of the cidery industry, both on- and off-premise.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speaker: Christine Walter, Brent Braun, Luke Wylde
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 3:45-5:00pm
More and more cider producers are exploring pét-nat carbonation, but what is it really? This advanced session will lean on lessons from the wine industry and discuss how this bottle conditioning technique differs from other methods and how pét-nat derives its fizz. What are your production goals for exploring this technique, and how can you market this low-tech, artisanal style of cider to an increasingly curious and knowledgeable consumer base? Speakers will address all of these topics, as well as TTB regulations and tax considerations for your product. Participants are encouraged to attend the “Guide to Carbonation Methods” session as a primer to this deep-dive into pétillant naturel.
Speaker: Dr. J Nikol Jackson-Beckham
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 3:30-4:45pm
The “Great Resignation”, “Quiet Quitting”, and “Pandemic Burnout” have changed the American labor market in profound ways. Not only is it increasingly difficult to find great talent, retaining talent is a growing challenge as well. This is especially the case for small businesses with limited resources to invest in traditional wage and benefits packages. In recent studies by Deloitte and Fidelity Investment, millennials and Gen Z workers reported they would take a substantial pay cut for improved work-life balance, career development opportunities, positive company culture, and the opportunity to do purposeful work.
In this seminar, Dr. J Jackson-Beckham of Crafted For All will demonstrate how Inclusive, equitable, and just business practices can help employers of all sizes develop and retain great talent by addressing the areas that younger workers are mosts concerned about. Attendees will learn about:
- Non-traditional and affordable employee benefit and recognition options;
- Career development when few avenues for promotion exist;
- Strategies for assessing and developing organizational culture; and
- Using a values-driven approach to encourage employees to find and pursue purpose in their work.
Speaker: Clay Slaughter
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 10:00-11:15am
Orchards and cideries are frequently closely held businesses where succession planning is part business planning and part estate planning with a mix of family and business assets. Attendees will walk away from this presentation with a clear set of questions to evaluate where they are in their business succession planning process and a roadmap for where they need to go next to ensure a smooth (and profitable) business transition.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speaker: Jocelyn Kuzelka, Andy Hannas
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 1:45-3:00pm
The sensory profile of cider is significantly associated with microbial activities and the quality of cider is dependent upon predictable fermentation outcomes and product monitoring during bulk aging to mitigate or eliminate possible spoilage contamination. This advanced-level sensory session will explore the efficacy of two tools cider makers have to eliminate or mitigate costly intervention of microbial problems before they are needed during bulk aging. A triangle test will be presented to participants and will be used to determine the sensory findings of the experiment. Speakers will discuss the goal and results of this commercial scale experiment, the economic impacts of unaddressed microbial growth and the quantity of aromatic and flavor compounds they produce, plus the time savings and efficiency improvements of adapting SOP’s based on the observed chemistry and sensory profiles from a previous chitosan experiment. Come help us answer the question: “What makes good cider?” and decide for yourself with this interactive tasting session.
Speakers: Katie Black, Megan MacLean
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 2:00-3:15PM
An in-depth session on everything that goes into opening or revitalizing a taproom. Attendees will learn from professionals who have opened several respected taprooms, with experience in the field of hospitality, operations, and production. We will cover a range of topics including recruiting, company culture, taproom build out, operational systems management, creating a cocktail program, and mastery of budgets. Drawing from varied experience, we will help you construct a taproom that’s built to last, while highlighting your brand’s personality.
Speaker: Stina Booth
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 10:00-11:15am
We all know you need really good apples (or pears for perry) to make really good cider. Turns out there’s more to it than picking the right varieties. Based on 25 years of orchard experience in Eastern Washington, Stina will discuss what orchard management practices she uses to grow great-tasting apples and pears for use in cider.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speakers: Darlene Hayes, Tim Godfrey
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 12:30-1:30pm
Participants will practice evaluating ciders using the ACA’s Structured Sensory Evaluation process guided by Certified Pommeliers™ Darlene Hayes and Tim Godfrey. This session will teach you how to objectively assess any cider, empowering you in the cidery and in assisting customers to find a cider they love while also helping you to prepare for the Certified Pommelier™ exam.
Speaker: Bryan Roth
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 2:00-3:15pm
The person buying alcohol today cares more about flavor than you do—and they’re making decisions across categories because of it. What’s being fermented matters less for a drinker who is loyal to flavor experience and what it offers them.
Learn why the cross-category drinker’s apathy toward a base fermentable doesn’t mean they’re disinterested in cider and how today’s trends can help you:
- Decide what to make and not make
- How to talk about your brands
- Where to sell
With data and storytelling, understand how the consumer of beer, RTDs, spirits, and wine should impact how you think about cider.
Ticketed Session: $10
Speaker: Elizabeth Ryan, Ria Windcaller, Dan Pucci, Gregory Peck
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 3:45-5:00pm
Cidermaker, orchardist and historian Elizabeth Ryan will lead a guided tasting and historical exploration of some of New York state’s most cherished American heirloom apples and their impact on cider. This will include an expert panel presentation with thoughtful cider-tasting, pairing varietals from different locations. It is a recommended companion workshop to Cider’s Taste of Place: Trialing Apple Varieties and Regions in NY State, which will take a more scientific approach to investigating terroir in cider in New York.
Speaker: Elizabeth Garofalo
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 1:45-3:00pm
This talk will cover the potential harm to apple trees when stressed by lack of water, the state of drought in several apple growing regions in 2022, with a focus on areas that experienced worse than “normal” drought conditions as well as looking at climate change trends relating to drought in apple producing regions. In addition, the potential impacts of drought on juice quality will be discussed.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speakers: Hugues Guichard
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 10:30-11:45am
Spontaneous fermentation is a series of microbial and chemical processes in succession. This session will explore what is actually happening during spontaneous fermentation and what leads to a successful fermentation through each transition. Speakers will discuss the presence and considerations of yeasts at different phases of the cider making process, microbiological reactions not related to yeast (temperature, pH, etc), the role of oxygen throughout fermentation, and apple characteristics as a precursor of success.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speakers: Nicole Leibon, Christine Walter, Ryan Burk
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 2:00-3:15pm
Single varietal ciders are popular and allow for producers and consumers to understand the characteristics of specific apples. Much of the art of cider making, however, is in blending. This session is a sensory exploration of the unique attributes of blends and single varietal ciders. Speakers will discuss when and how to blend, blending for acidity, alcohol, tannins, and balance, and what qualities to look for in the base juice. We will also address the pros and cons of single varietals and the consumer education and marketing of those ciders.
Ticketed Session: $10 SOLD OUT!
Speaker: Claude Jolicoeur, Darlene Hayes
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 10:00-11:15am
Renowned cider advocate and author Claude Jolicoeur will discuss the traditional perry-making regions in the UK, France and Austria. He will delve into their unique features and respective perry styles, highlighting the special challenges of perrymaking compared to cidermaking, and consider how perrymakers in each region tackle these challenges. There will be perries from the three traditional regions for tasting.
Speakers: Janelle Christian, Michael Renz, Ronda Merrell, Nicole Candelora, Michael Warren
Date & Time: Wednesday, February 1, 8:30am-12:30pm
The TTB Boot Camp for Cideries will include the following sections in more or less one hour chunks: TTB overview/updates and permits (originals and amendments; records, operational reports & tax returns; formulas; and labeling (including information on how to label cider with spirits added).
Speakers: Julie Rhodes, Mary Guiver, Marc Venegoni, Bump Williams
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 10:00-11:15am
In this session cideries will hear from chain retailers about how to develop positive relationships and get your cider on the shelf. Retailers are dealing with thousands of SKUs and suppliers, so what can a cidery do to make it easy on them? Audience members will walk away with guidelines for pitching and maintaining shelf space at chain retailers.
Speaker: Emily Becker, Jana Daisy-Ensign
Date & Time: Thursday, February 2, 10:30 – 11:45 am
What does it mean to win at the Cider Club Game? Together, we’ll define what your cider club success looks like. NW Cider launched the nation’s first multi-cidery direct to consumer club as a pandemic response. This interactive session will explore wins, challenges, and tactical tips for launching or growing your club. Cideries that are considering starting a club and cideries with existing clubs are encouraged to bring their questions and insights to share.
Ticketed Session: $10
Speakers: Annette Boyd, Anne Shelton, Emily Ritchie, Morgen McLaughlin
Date & Time: Friday, February 3, 2:00-3:15pm
This session will explore how two different cider regions, Oregon and Virginia, are making a name for themselves in the heart of wine country. Regional wine and cider marketing leaders will compare promotional strategies and brainstorm new methods for creating well-known cider regions, looking to wine for inspiration. There will be plenty of opportunity for audience participation and a flight of choice ciders from Oregon and Virginia to sample and discuss.
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© 2021 American Cider Association
American Cider Association is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization.
P.O. Box 66483 Portland, OR 97290