366:  Acclaimed Cider w/Minimal Intervention Tom Oliver

366: Acclaimed Cider w/Minimal Intervention Tom Oliver

Author: Ria Windcaller: Award-winning Cidermaker, Podcaster | Craft Beer Columnist April 26, 2023 Duration: 1:02:47

Not only is the cider acclaimed, so too is the Maker

Tom Oliver is just as acclaimed as his cider which makes Oliver's Cider and Perry Co. a global hit on two fronts. He is affable, engaging and knows his way around social media likely due to his work with the Scottish Rock Rock Band, The Proclaimers. Cidermakers are not well known for reposting news stories about themselves and their product, but Tom is a master of this one simple act that keeps Oliver's in the news and endears him to media. That singular step alone is just one of many giveaways that Tom provides to the slow moving cider industry.

This topic is key for makers looking to up level their online presence, but it was not the topic of conversation in this episode. Instead Ria and Tom caught up after the world shut down for the past 2 plus years at CiderCon 2023 held in Chicago.

366 Tom Oliver 200x300 episode 366 Cider Chat

In this chat

  • How minimal intervention is key for Oliver's Cider and Perry
  • What is Farmhouse cider
    • Spontaneously fermented - wild yeast
    • Tannic cider and Perry Pears

At Oliver's there is no measuring of sugar or fiddling with the cider. In fact, Tom can be heard in most interviews saying "Don't fiddle with cider."

What's new for this acclaimed makers and cidery?

  • More c0-ferments and collaborations!
  • Bâtonnage
    • This is a technique used by winemakers, where the lees (yeast cells) are stirred into solution.
      • Nano proteins are the biggest benefit of Bâtonnage
        • They release into the cider providing a perception of sweetness and body with out the sugar
      • Need at least 9 months to a year to get the nano proteins

      There are short term benefits.

      1. Yeast produces less carbon dioxide and bubbles.
        • They slow down after the first primary ferment.
        • Fermentation may have stopped but there is still sugar left.
      2. Lees absorb off aromas, except for H2S rotting egg smell.
      3. Bâtonnage helps to maintain a reductive state.
        • Full reduction - rotting smell is a type of reduction. Which helps protect the cider from oxidization and protect the flavor components.

Find out more about Bâtonnage by going to Episode 233: Ask Ryan Quarantine Quad Series where Ryan Monkman of Fieldbird Cider in Prince Edward County Canada provides an in depth overview of Bâtonnage and Maderisation (where the barrels are cooked).

Contact info for Oliver's Cider and Perry Company

Mentions in this chat

  • Send your questions to info@ciderchat.com about fermentation and yeast for an upcoming Q&A with Fermentis - Yeast and Fermentation Solutions for Cidermakers
  • Subscribe to eCiderNews

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

Cider Chat
Podcast Episodes
029: At The Hop | Oliver's Cider and Perry, UK [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:49
Tom Oliver shares his approach to hopped cider and the best of what the US and UK have to look forward to in the cider market. What he saw in US hopped ciders back in 2013 ignited his desire to try his hand at adding hop…
028: John Bunker | Apple Identification [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:48
When John Bunker talks or teaches Apple Identification he doesn't begin with the apple. He always goes back to the root of the tree…unless it is one of the Eric Clapton apples, i.e., you immediately recognize it as a var…
027: Aaron Anderson | Austin Eastciders, Texas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:14
Austin Eastciders is helping to make Austin Texas a cider mecca in a land where the apple root faces harsh growing conditions. Aaron Anderson is the R&D Coordinator at this growing cidery. He sat down for a chat with me…
026: Neil Worley | Worleys Cider, UK [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:28
Keeving Made Simple, but oh so Dandy at Worleys Cider Neil Worley's makes cider in the area of Great Britain called Somerset. Climb the high hill at the farm and your can see the Bristol Channel. It is a remote location…
025: Jim Wallace | Cider Pairing with a Cheese Maker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:51
Jim Wallace is a cheese maker and cheese tech a.k.a the "Cheese Guru" at New England Cheesemaking Supply in Ashfield Massachusetts. When not helping the cheese world sort through problematic cheeses, he teaches classes a…
024: Leonard Koningswijk | Bear Cider, Netherlands [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:29
Leonard Koningswijk owner/cidermaker of Bear Cider in the Netherlands is turning his country towards cider one palate at a time. The idea was sprouted at his family home in the rural village of Beerze on the border of Ge…
023: Alec Steinmetz | Buskey Cider, Virginia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:04
Alec Steinmetz, Will Correll and Matthew Meyer are sharing their story of starting an urban cidery. This is Part 1 of what will be an ongoing story of the start-up Buskey Cider of Richmond, Virginia. The cidermaking tank…
022: Gregory Hall | Virtue Cider, Michigan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:17
Getting to cider for Gregory Hall, was one part luck and a whole lot of beer. When his father John Hall founded the Chicago based Goose Island Brewery in 1988, it took only 3 years before Greg was at the helm of brewing.…
021: Bill Bradshaw | Bill Bradshaw Photography, UK [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:21
Bill Bradshaw is a photographer, an author of three cider books and consider by many to be a Cider Ambassador for UK ciders. I met with Bill at the United States Association of Cider Makers annual conference in Portland…
020: Curtis Sherrer | Millstone Cellars, Maryland [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:58
Curtis Sherrer is barreling aging single variety apples at Millstone Cellars. An old grist mill dating back to the 1850s houses the Tasting Room. "We will have 50 barrels and then settle on 15 to pick from to blend for t…