128: Cider Wins Big | Beer Competition, Boston

128: Cider Wins Big | Beer Competition, Boston

Author: Ria Windcaller: Award-winning Cidermaker, Podcaster | Craft Beer Columnist May 16, 2018 Duration: 44:09
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Cider won big at the 23rd Annual Home-brew Competition held in Boston and put on by the Wort Processors - a home-brew club. Tom Bell's New World Cider won both Best in Show for cider and placed 3rd in the Best Overall in Show. This means that Tom's winning cider was placed in the final competition for Best Overall with 37 winning beers.

Best of Show Winners Circle

1st Maurice Dalton's -  Gueze

2rd Matthew Border -  German Pils

3rd Tom Bell - New World Cider

4th Brett Smith : Chocolate Raspberry Milk Stout

Honorable Mention - Peter Bowers: Specialty Wood Aged

Tom's cidermaking tools & techniques for this cider

  • A garbage disposal for grinding up apples
  • Added Pectin Aid
  • Macerated the pressed apples for 24 hours
  • Pressed in a basket press
  • Wild yeast - then EC118 for the bottle fermentation
  • Initial gravity: 1.064
  • Racked every 10 point drop in the gravity and to separate the cider from the lees
  • Everything was going great until a Pectic Haze showed up
  • For the haze Tom used Scott's Lab Spectrum
  • It didn't take care of the pectin on the bottom, but did clear the cider on the top of the pectic gel.
  • Bottle conditioned with 12 grams of dextrose

Here is the link to the crown cap conversation.

Many aspects of champagne style cider covered here including links to caps..

Contact for Wort Processor's Home-brew Competition

Website: http://www.bhc.wort.org/

Annual Boston Home-brew Competition

Wort Processors

Mentions in this Chat

GLINTCAP - Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition

Franklin County CiderDays 

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Ask for the following ciders - By supporting these cidermakers, you in turn help Cider Chat

  1. Kurant Cider - Pennsylvania : listen to Joe Getz on episode 14
  2. Big Apple Hard Cider - NYC : listen to Danielle von Scheiner on episode 35
  3. Oliver's Cider and Perry - Herefordshire/UK ; listen to Tom Oliver on episode 29
  4. Santa Cruz Cider Company - California : listen to Nicole Todd on episode 60
  5. The Cider Project aka EthicCider- California
  6. Albermale CiderWorks : listen to Chuck Shelton on episode 56
  7. Cider Summit : listen to Alan Shapiro founder of this cider fest on episode 75.
  8. Ramborn Cider Co. Luxembourg.
  9. Big Fish Cider Co. Virginia
  10. Tanuki Cider Co. Santa Cruz California episode 103
  11. Ross on Wye Cider and Perry, UK
  12. Process and Analytical NMR Services - John Edwards provides analytics of cider - stay tuned for his Chemical Fingerprints workshop coming up on Cider Chat
  13. Ironbark Ciderworks, Claremont, California

Join the #ciderGoingUP Campaign today! 


There’s a whole world in a glass of cider, and Cider Chat is your invitation to explore it. Hosted by award-winning cidermaker and writer Ria Windcaller, this podcast travels far beyond the bottle to meet the people who make the global cider culture so vibrant. Each conversation is a journey-you might find yourself in a heritage orchard learning the history of forgotten apple varieties, in a bustling taproom with an importer explaining regional traditions, or in a kitchen with a chef pairing cider with unexpected foods. The discussions get into the delightful nuances, too, whether that’s the semantics of what we even call this drink or how the concept of terroir translates from soil to sip. It’s not just about production; it’s about the community, the travel, and the stories that fermentation unlocks. This is for anyone curious about the craft, history, and sheer enjoyment of fermented apple juice in all its forms. So, pour a glass and settle in for a series that feels like a wide-ranging, informative, and genuinely good-humored chat with friends who happen to be obsessed with cider. You’ll come away with a deeper appreciation for every effervescent, tart, or sweet sip, hearing directly from the growers, makers, and enthusiasts who are shaping this drink’s exciting present and future.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 501

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