Amanda Stewart is an Associate Professor of Food Science & Technology at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, USA. Dr. Stewart addresses challenges in applied food and beverage fermentation science through an integrated research, teaching and extension program. Cider chemistry and cider fermentation are a major focus of her research, and she has been a regular speaker on cider science at regional and national conferences. Dr. Stewart holds a PhD in Food Science, MS and BS…

Ashley Lindsay holds several degrees from the University of Hawaii and Oregon State University in Agriculture Sciences fields and Agricultural Education. Since 2017, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Chemeketa College – NW Wine Program, teaching various courses related to agricultural production and vineyard management. In 2015, Ashley and her husband Brian purchased and developed a 40 acre fallow farm. They planted 32 acres of heirloom Cider Apples and Perry Pears, creating Pleasant Valley…

Autumn Stoscheck co-owns, with her husband Ezra Sherman, Eve’s Cidery– a small orchard based cidery located at the intersection of the Northern Appalachian Plateau and the Southern Finger Lakes on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, in New York State. Autumn spends her days growing certified organic cider apples and making them into world class ciders.

Brent Miles-Wagner is the owner of Brown Hat Consulting, which he started in 2019 to provide an expert resource for new and expanding cider companies. He was the founding Head Cidermaker at Seattle Cider Company, where he wrote the business plan and developed their lineup of innovative and award-winning ciders. He then became Head Cidermaker at Sly Clyde Ciderworks, who engaged him to build their new cidery from the ground up. Last year he completed…

Brighid O’Keane is the Executive Director of the Cider Institute of North America (CINA), a global provider of cider production education. She came to cider from the wine industry, where she worked in support of sustainable winegrowing education and certification in the Pacific Northwest. Brighid has nearly two decades of experience in nonprofit organizational development, primarily in the fields of sustainable food systems and active transportation. She is an advisor to the Specialty Tea Alliance…

Caitlin Braam is the founder and CEO of Yonder Cider and The Source Cider, based in Seattle and Wenatchee, Washington. She has worked in the beverage industry for more than 15 years, working with cideries, breweries and wineries of all sizes. Passionate about helping businesses grow, she spends her days working with producers, talking with growers and introducing consumers to the world of craft beverages. Before starting Yonder Cider and The Source Cider, she was…

Robert “Chas” Runco provides licensing, regulatory, and commercial transaction advice to clients in the alcohol beverage industry. Chas advises large and small corporate clients on a variety of business matters. His practice focuses on advising wineries, breweries, distilleries, distributors, and retailers in regulatory and transactional matters. His experience in regulated industries has made him a preferred attorney for clients in the hospitality industry. He also works with trade organizations in regulatory and legislative capacities. By…

Chris Gerling is a Senior Extension Associate in the department of Food Science at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York. He works with the craft beverage industry to create educational programs that support the growth and improved quality of premium wines, ciders and distilled spirits. Chris is a member of the Cider Institute of North America’s executive committee.

Seven years into her career as a professional cidermaker, Christine’s company Bauman’s Cider has four consecutive titles of Mid-sized Cidery of the Year at both of the most prestigious cider competitions in the US. She is a fifth generation farmer, growing apples and making them into cider in the beautiful Willamette Valley, Oregon. Christine is on the Board of Directors for both the American Cider Association and the Cider Institute of North America. She is…

Clay Slaughter is the head cidermaker at Slaughter Orchard & Cidery in Bloomington, Indiana.  A natural educator, he frequently describes himself as a cider evangelist and loves helping people understand the source of their food. Beyond cidermaking, Clay enjoys helping businesses with legal and strategy issues.  He has over 16 years of legal experience and has served in a range of business roles including CFO, COO, and CSO.  He has experience in large corporations, successful…

Cortni Stahl is part of the Food Science Department at Cornell University. She is a laboratory technician in the Cornell Craft Beverage Analytical lab, where she runs beverage analysis for commerical and home wine, beer, cider, and kombucha producers. She also helps with extension courses at Cornell Agritech and is an instructor for the cider courses run by the Cider Institute of North America. Cortni is the founder, co-owner and head cidermaker at Star Cider…

Dion Stepanski is the co-owner and head cider-maker at Presque Isle Farm Cider in northeast Michigan. Dion and his partner Molly Stepanski began farming organic vegetables on his six-generation family farm in 2014. He started making cider from local foraged apples shortly after, and in 2020, PIF did their first commercial pressing. In 2022, they opened a taproom in Alpena, Michigan, and expanded their cider offerings. PIF produces a diverse range of ciders, from traditional…

Gregory Peck is an Assistant Professor of Horticulture in Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science. He has conducted research in fruit-crop production systems in California, Washington, New York, and Virginia. Dr. Peck’s academic training spans horticulture, plant physiology, soil science, entomology, food science, plant pathology, ecology, agricultural economics, and education. His research program is designed to support and improve the sustainability, productivity, and profitability of tree-fruit producers. Current projects focus on hard cider production,…

Haritz Rodriguez, aka Ciderzale, is an independent journalist and marketing consultant in the agrifood field with a special focus on cider. He has recently joined the EDA Drinks & Wine Campus team as the main educator on cider within the university of gastronomic sciences Basque Culinary Center. Haritz works for different local and international agents in the world of cider, participates as a judge in cider competitions and co-organizes festivals and fairs such as Sidrama…

Jennie Dorsey is the Education Operations Director for the American Cider Association. She is also a founding member of Pomme Boots Society for women in the Cider Industry and has held numerous positions since she first entered the Cider Industry over a decade ago. Jennie actually began her journey in the coffee industry where she was a nationally ranked competition barista and trainer specializing in sensory analysis with a focus on food pairings.  The skills…

When Johan Sjöstedt founded Pomologik the goal was clear, the mission was to give the apple recognition as the grape of the Nordics. A work that is still in progress but has come a long way. Committed to spontaneous fermentation and always searching for new wild varieties, the quest for new terroir expressions is a core raison d’être. By innovation and breaking new grounds within the Swedish craft cider community Pomologik has become one of…

John Bunker has been tracking down, identifying and preserving apples for fifty years using a combination of field work, historical records, identification keys and now DNA technology. John collaborates with historians, orchardists, scientists and cider makers from throughout North America and beyond. He is a member of the Historic Fruit Working Group of North America as well as the founder of Fedco Trees and The Maine Heritage Orchard. He lives among extensive gardens and hundreds…

Kate Pinsley began her cider journey with a pint of Original Sin served in a sketchy bar in the East Village. Her next stop was the Finger Lakes with its bounty of upstate cideries. In the course of completing her master’s thesis on apple tannins at Cornell University, Kate learned cidermaking and became quite the cider nerd. Kate is now the Senior Director of Beverage at Schilling Cider in Seattle, leading the cider production and…

Nichola Hall has a Ph.D. in Yeast Physiology and a BSc(Hons) in Microbial Biotechnology. Dr. Hall has held various positions in the wine industry: Director of Microbiology at Bronco Wine Company, Ceres, CA (2002-2007), Technical Consultant at Vinquiry, Inc., Windsor, CA (2007-2009) and is currently at Scott Laboratories, Petaluma, CA employed as General Manager for the Fermentation and Enology Department (2009-present). From 2009-present, Dr. Hall is a co-winemaker at Mathew Bruno Wines and is very…

Nick Gunn is a native of Oregon, born and raised in Eugene. In 2000, Nick earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies with minors in Biology and Geology from the University of Oregon. With a passion for sustainable agriculture and fermentation, Nick planted a cider apple orchard with his wife Mimi in 2003. Shortly after in 2004, Wandering Aengus Cider was born with a goal of producing world class european styled ciders as well…

From growing up in the epicenter of New York State apple production to driving some of the US’s most ambitious and industry leading cider programs, Ryan Burk has spent his life around apples and cider. He helped establish and lead Virtue Cider in Michigan and elevate America’s largest cider maker, Angry Orchard, taking the brand to new successes on both the national and local stage with the Innovation Cider House in Walden NY, where he…

Scott Ramsey is the Executive Director of the New York Cider Association, a role he started in March of 2020. He brings over 30 years of corporate and non-profit marketing, communications, event production, and strategic leadership experience to his work in promoting, advocating, and building markets for New York Cider. Previous leadership roles include work with Fortune 500 premium brands such as MetLife, MasterCard, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Phillips Van Heusen, Samsung and S&P Global. His creative…

Steve Selin is the owner-orchardist-cidermaker at South Hill Cider in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Steve has been foraging apples and making cider since 2002. For South Hill Cider, Steve sources fruit from varied sources such as wild pippins and abandoned trees, his own cider orchard, leased orchards, and a contract-orchard planted in cider apples. He directly manages 20 acres of apples. South Hill Cider, founded in 2013, has a tasting room…

Tom Oliver of Oliver’s Cider and Perry is a cider & perry maker and farmer in Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire in the UK. He grows many varieties of cider apple and perry pear and produces a wide range of ciders and perries from his own fruit, as well as cider apples and perry pears from a select group of partner farmers and orchardists in the county. The ciders and perries are made from 100% fresh pressed…

Yann Gilles is a French Oenologue and Cidrologue, founder of cider and apple-spirit making consultancy Malus & Vitis, and has 25 years’ experience working in the cider sector. Born in Normandy where he discovered Cider made by his grand-parents, Yann holds an engineering degree in agriculture and food industry from Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture in Angers and a diploma of Oenologist from Institut Universitaire de la Vigne et du Vin Jules Guyot in Burgundy. Yann launched…