412: Cider Dispatch | Big Fish, VA

412: Cider Dispatch | Big Fish, VA

Author: Ria Windcaller: Award-winning Cidermaker, Podcaster | Craft Beer Columnist May 8, 2024 Duration: 42:28

Find the latest Cider Dispatch from Highland County Virginia

Cider Bon Vivant Reporter Al Sax provide a cider dispatch report from Monterey Virginia. This area of Virginia is known as Highland County and it is here that Big Fish Cider is located. One of the cool extras (beside cider) when visiting this region, is that it is a Dark Sky area. This means good star grazing due to the lack of night lights drowning out the night sky.

Al interviews Big Fish Cider Maker and Owner Kirk Billingsley. Kirk was last on Cider Chat in Episode 124. That recording took place in 2018 at CiderCon the annual trade conference for the American Cider Association

Cider Chat 412 - Ria with Big Fish pulled chilled from the stream 200x300 cider dispatch
Ria with Big Fish pulled chilled from the stream

Changes at Big Fish from 2018 -2024

  • 400 apple trees planted
  • Can order Big Fish online
  • Tasting room open Friday -Sunday

Contact for Big Fish Cider Co.

Work with Cider Chat – Provide Cider Dispatches Too!

If you enjoy sharing your love of cider and also have a knack for conversation? Why not share some of your local cider hot spots and interview a favored maker.

412 Cider Dispatch with Al Sax at Big Fish

Cider Chat is looking for 20-25 minute cider dispatches. No prior podcasting experience required. Check out the page "Work with Cider Chat", fill out the form and get published on the world's #1 cider podcast as a Cider Reporter @ Cider Chat!

Mentioned in this Cider Chat

Cider Chat Episode 412 Thy Cider #xpromotecider for Cider Dispatch 300x200
Thy Cider in Denmark Cross Promotes Cider Chat

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
458: Sodo Sidriné and the Rise of Lithuanian Craft Cider [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:08
Donatas Genys didn't set out to launch Lithuania's first keeved cider. But after trips to England and Normandy, years of experimentation, and the planting of over 6,000 cider apple trees, that's exactly what he's doing.…
457: Snow Capped Cider: A Family Legacy at 7,000 Feet | CO [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:08
At the base of Colorado's Grand Mesa, the world's largest flat-top mountain, five generations of fruit growers have worked the land. Today, Snow Capped Cider carries on that legacy, crafting estate-grown ciders from frui…
456: From Oregon to Norway: Abram Goldman-Armstrong's Cider Journey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:19
This episode of Cider Chat, was recorded in person with Abram Goldman-Armstrong at CiderCon2025 in Chicago. Hear his journey to cider. From growing up in Oregon's Yamhill County to his current work in Norway's Hardanger…
455: Zero Percent Sh*t  | John Edwards Returns [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:50
John Edwards, longtime cider maker and integral team member at Ross on Wye Cider & Perry Co., and the creative force behind his personal label Fly be Night Cider was last on the podcast in 2019. John Edwards In this Cide…
454: Wild Ferment Meets Fine Cider: Inside Oliver's Barrel Room [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:43
Rainy Days Goes Best with Dry Cider in the Barrel Room Walking into the barrel room at Oliver's Cider and Perry Company, you might think you know what to expect. But surrounded by whitewashed stone walls, standing beneat…
453: Homage to Perry Legends by Tom Oliver at AppleFest | UK [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:38
Celebrating Perry's Past, Present, and Future Tom Oliver began his keynote by saying, "At this year's Applefest Banquet, I had the honor of lifting a glass to the people behind the pear—specifically Perry. It wasn't just…
452: Mac to Redfield: Four Phantoms Brewery Embraces Cider | MA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:18
Drew Phillips opened the doors of Four Phantoms in Greenfield, Massachusetts in 2021. He began his fermentation career in the Pacific Northwest, and while waiting to open his own brewery, he took on the role as cider mak…
451: Hello Season 10 and The Berkshire Roundtable [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:32
In this Season 10 premier of Cider Chat, "Introductions" are featured from over 40 persons in attendance at the annual 2025 Berkshire Roundtable. Kicking off Season 10 of Cider Chat The opportunity to begin Season 10 wit…
450th Roger Wilkins - The Cider King [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:01
Looking back at Season 9 and Forward with Roger Wilkins In this season ending episode we visit Roger Wilkins at his Lands End Farm. Cider King – Roger Wilkins Roger Wilkins, is known globally as the "Cider King," and is…
449: Exploring Hereford's Museum of Cider with Elizabeth Pimblett [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:05
The Role of the Museum of Cider Elizabeth Pimblett's background and her journey to the museum The history of the museum, founded in 1887 by the Bulmer brothers The significance of the building and its historic cider cell…