2007 Great Lakes Olde World Syder Competition

The results are in:

2007 Great Lakes Olde World Syder Competition
Bronze Medal, 'English Cider,' 06 Dry Bittersharp
Silver Medal, 'English Cider,' 06 Dry Bittersweet
Honorable Mention, 'French Cider,' 06 Bittersweet Semisweet

I could say that I'm a little disappointed with the results...what the hell is 'honorable mention'? Sounds like when you say a blind date had a 'good personality'. But really I know that my ciders are pretty good, and I like them. What this really shows is that the quality of cider made by the enthusiasts all over North America who enter this competition is increasing by leaps and bounds over previous years. There's a lot of debate in the cider community over the worth of these competitions, but in the end I feel that it is indicative of better cider produced of late and more of them being made, both commercially and by us home types. Considering that there were over 140 ciders entered into the competition, I'm pretty happy to think that mine were considered good enough for 'honorable mention,' at a minimum (these were the only three ciders I entered).
I would love to see my mill customers enter their own ciders into this and other comps, if only to show that we have the potential to make really nice ciders on a larger scale in this little corner of the world. Hell, I'll even arrange shipping to the venue. Any takers? Green Mountain Homebrew Comp comes May 2008...

TB

I guess my "Bradshaw Fruit Press" ain't the only one around!

See it here, a whole lot cheaper than my setup!

A little quote I like...

"Winemaking isn’t a science. It’s just a branch of cooking where we use a calendar instead of a timer – the ultimate Slow Food. Putting something distinctive and visceral on the table is the challenge with which every chef deals daily. As in all cooking, distinctive terroir expression suffers from overspicing. That doesn’t mean all cooking is bad. You just need to have respect for the native flavors of your raw materials."

From Clark Smith, Appellation America

Cidermaking at Woods Cider Mill

Making Apple Cider, "The Cider House Rules" Cider Mill - Click here for more free videos
A cool video of their water powered mill. How this could be cleaned in this age to sanitary standards I don't know, but I love an operation like this.
Woods Cider Mill

TB