Lab Testing: Maximum Impact with Minimum Effort
This presentation will explore practical strategies to optimize chemical and microbiological testing by minimizing costs and time while maximizing the usefulness of results to the production process. Topics will include: mapping lab testing onto your production process, calculating costs, and deciding between in-house and commercial lab testing. Attendees will come away with an action plan for determining the optimal types, frequencies, and methods of lab testing for their production process.
Does Cider Need Tannin?
What is tannin, where does it come from and why it is needed for flavor and balance in cider. What are the challenges to growing tannic cider fruit varietals? How do you best balance the holy trinity of tannin, acidity and sweetness/alcohol holy trinity in cider making? And what is the consumer’s view and the benefit to them of tannin? Attendees will gain an appreciation of the integral part that tannins play in quality cider and the importance of this pillar of cider making.
Keeving: Basics and Practical Applications
Explore the traditional cidermaking technique of keeving in this focused session. Learn the core principles and practical applications of keeving across various production scales. The panelists will provide insights into their keeving methods, share key techniques, and discuss the impact on cider quality. The session will also feature a tasting of different keeved ciders, allowing attendees to experience the results of this unique process firsthand. Gain valuable knowledge on how to effectively implement keeving in cider production.
Brewer’s Yeast in Cider for Unique Flavor & Branding
This session will explore how new yeast strains are developed and brought to market. Trials were developed using nine different brewing yeast strains on bulk apple juice. The audience will learn about the analytical results and tasting data from these ciders so they can take home ideas for their own experimentation. There will be three ciders to taste during the session made with brewing yeast strains.
A Practical Guide to Avoiding Reduction
Are you new to cidermaking or looking to brush up on your skills? Wondering why your cider sometimes smells like eggs, farts, or rubber? Welcome to this accessible and informative session on reduction in ciders. We’ll explore what causes the off-putting aromas of reduction and, most importantly, how you can prevent your cider from going stinky. You’ll learn practical tips and tricks to keep your cider smelling fresh and tasting delicious, whether you’re preparing your juice, managing a fermentation, or troubleshooting with a finished cider. We’ll keep things light, engaging, and easy to understand. Even better, you’ll leave with a toolbox full of ideas to banish stinky ciders from your cellar forever.
Waste Reduction & Sustainability for Large Cideries
Cider has the opportunity to be a sustainability leader among the beverage industries. But how do we get there as individual businesses and together? Join this session to learn practical solutions for reducing water use, energy consumption, and waste in your cider production. Speakers will share best practices and lessons learned around packaging, climate accounting, sustainable inputs and vetting vendors. This session is designed for cideries producing over 5000 gallons per year and/or distributing across state lines. Takeaways include first steps to take, sustainability data, tips for communicating with your team, and ideas for collective action.
Nordic Approaches to Cidermaking
Date & Time: Thursday, January 18, 3:45-5:00 PM
Cost: $16 SOLD OUT!
Moderator: Gabe Cook
Speaker: Åge Eitungjerde, Olav Bleie, Mikael Nypelius, Karl Sjöström, Andreas Sundgren, Gjermund Åkre
This year, we’re excited to welcome a delegation of Nordic cidermakers to CiderCon®. Join this session for a unique opportunity to try ciders from Norway and Sweden and learn about different production styles and techniques used in the region.
Breaking Boundaries: Cider Hybrids with Beer and Grape Wine
Date & Time: Thursday, January 18, 10:30-11:45 AM
Cost: $12 SOLD OUT!
Moderator: Christine Hardie
Speakers: Ryan Burk, Johan Sjöstedt, Tom Oliver, Kathline Chery, Tariq Ahmed
An increasing number of cidermakers, winemakers, and brewers are experimenting with hybrids that break down what is typically expected from stand-alone beverages. By crossing boundaries between categories, the outcomes of these blends and co-fermentations offer exciting new flavors. Join this session to hear from producers about different approaches to hybrid products and considerations when unifying cider, wine and beer. Attendees will taste cider/grape wine hybrids from North America and grafs from the U.K. and Sweden, where beer/cider hybrids have been a key to bringing new consumers into the fold of cider.
Using Amphora and Terracotta Vessels in Cider Production
Date & Time: Friday, January 19, 3:30-4:45 PM
Cost: $12
Moderator: Christine Walter
Speakers: Dan Rinke, Andrew Beckham, Katie Selbee
Clay vessels have been used to ferment, store, and transport beverages since 6000 B.C. and a new wave of producers are rediscovering amphora and terracotta as a breathable, sustainable, and durable option for making cider. Andrew Beckham, the first commercial producer of terra cotta Amphorae for winemaking, cidermaking, and brewing in North America, will walk through the process of making his Novum fermenters and how to use them and care for them. Producers will discuss how they craft their ciders using terracotta, and what considerations to have when fermenting in amphora. This will also include a tasting of their ciders.
The Pasteurization Primer: Starting Out and Scaling Up
Date & Time: Friday, January 19, 3:30-4:45 PM
Cost: $12
Speakers: Aaron Homoya & Joseph Kilbourn
Anyone can pasteurize cider at any size! Learn the science, data tracking, and practical methods to start with test batches and scale up to a hundred cases per day and beyond. We will start with a brief overview of stability concerns, needs, and common methods for cider, then hone in on pasteurization theory, best practices, equipment options, and solutions for small to medium sized cideries. Topics include temperature monitoring, DIY small-scale bath pasteurization, batch pasteurizers, small tunnel pasteurizers, and brief discussion of many interrelated stability and packaging parameters. There will be a sensory tasting of pasteurized cider at different levels. Attendees will learn what a PU is, how to determine target min/max PUs, deciding what equipment options are right for you, and tips for how to scale.