CIDERCRAFT Magazine, CIDERCRAFT Volume 11 2018

CIDER SAGE ONLY ABOUT THAT APPLE Premium Cider by Way of Cider Fruit 12 CIDERCRAFTMAG COM T here is a saying among some cidermakers all McIntosh and no Michelin The adage is meant as an accusation instead of cider apples common eating apples are used to make a dull dimensionless cider It is a warning and is more generally applicable than one might expect The saying came to mind as I read Kris Nelsons Open Letter to Craft Cider Cidercraft Vol 9 which appeared to promise a useful statement about craft cider However like cider made from eating apples something lacked in the letter the acidity and astringency of good sense In fact the American cider industry needs new strong and focused opinions from small to medium sized cider producers about the best direction for cider But why After all cider sales are increasing There is more space for cider on vendors shelves than ever before New cider companies are started on a nearly monthly basis it seems and cider rightly holds increasing interest as an element of food culture And yet from my perspective as a small cider producer Finnegan Cider in Oregon it seems that much of the industry growth since 2010 has been among the biggest producers We know who they are and we know their kind of product Their success demonstrates a few things sweet bland ciders can sell if they are cheap and mixed with other elements like berries apricot hops and pumpkin and the small producer cannot compete with large companies economies of scale or their indi erence to the quality and character of the apples used in their sweet apple based fruit lavored alcoholic beverage also known as SABFAB True the small to medium sized quality minded producer cannot compete with SABFAB But so what This is no concern for the craft cidermaker Smaller producers can and should embrace their smaller production scale as an advantage one that links production of their premium ciders to true cider apple fruit The relative scarcity of true cider fruit cannot yet meet the very large production needs of SABFAB producers and cider apples are thus left to the exclusive use of smaller cidermakers focusing on quality over volume Consider cider apples like Kingston Black Foxwhelp Porters Perfection Bulmers Norman Chisel Jersey and Stembridge Cluster The names are as idiosyncratic as their lavors This is a short list of a vast lavor trove still mainly undiscovered by American drinkers Cider apples o er a diverse palette of cider structure tannin acidity and aromatics that like the triad of a genetic base o ers nearly in inite novelty In making cider why use apricot or cranberry when you could use apples Focusing on true cider apples may be a tough sell to the smaller cidermaker for it is much easier to buy inexpensive and easily obtained culinary apples than to establish a reliable supply of cider fruit However value can be created and here we come back to the idea of craft cider or a similar term indicating a premium product made from cider apples A certi ied craft cider designation perceived as high quality LEFT PHOTO BY COLIN BISHOP PHOTOGRAPHY RIGHT BY BY SEAN FINNEGAN OP ED BY JOSHUA JOHNSON