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Cider and perry is a category of beverages made from the fermented sugars of apples and/or pears and other ingredients. BJCP styles include standard cider and perry (common cider, English cider, French cider, common perry, traditional perry) and specialty cider and perry (New England cider, fruit cider, applewine and other specialty cider/perry).
Brendon George of Everett, WA, member of the Beer Renegades of Everett Washington (BREW), won a silver medal in Category #33: Standard Cider & Perry with a New World Cider during the 2019 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Providence, RI. George’s New World Cider (Heritage Cider made with a cider apple blend) was chosen as the runner-up entry among 138 entries in the category. Read More
Stephen Mayo of Derry, NH, member of the Seacoast Homebrew Club, won a silver medal in Category #34: Specialty Cider & Perry with a Cider with apple pie cider spices during the 2019 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Providence, RI. Mayo’s Cider with apple pie cider spices was chosen as the runner-up entry among 162 entries in the category. Read More
Michael Wilcox of Wichita, KS, member of the Kansas City Bier Meisters, won a gold medal in Category #33: Standard Cider & Perry during the 2019 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Providence, RI. Wilcox’s Standard Cider & Perry was chosen as the best among 138 entries in the category and earned him the title of 2019 Cidermaker of the Year.. Read More
Nathan Williams of Somerville, MA, member of the Boston Wort Processors, won a gold medal in Category #34: Specialty Cider & Perry with an Ice Cider during the 2019 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Providence, RI. Williams’s Specialty Cider & Perry was chosen as the best among 162 entries in the category. Read More
This cider recipe is courtesy of Drew Beechum, fermented beverage extraordinaire, and is in his book The Everything Hard Cider Book.
Drew Beechum created this cider recipe in honor of the Boston Red Sox and the hit song "Dirty Water" by The Standells played after every home-game victory. It drinks dry, but not too dry, and incorporates brown sugar to get around that messy molasses stick while still retaining that unmistakable molasses flavor.
Read MoreThomas Scholey of San Diego, CA won a silver medal in Category 33: Specialty Cider & Perry during the 2018 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Portland, OR. Scholey’s plum cider earned 2nd place among 129 entries in the category.
Read MoreJames Werner of New Berlin, WI won a bronze medal in Category 32: Standard Cider & Perry during the 2018 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Portland, OR. Werner’s new world cider earned 3rd place among 89 entries in the category.
Read MoreJeremy Olsen of Minneapolis, MN won a bronze medal in Category 33: Specialty Cider & Perry during the 2018 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Portland, OR. Olsen’s New England cider earned 3rd place among 129 entries in the category.
Read MoreMatthew Del Fiacco of Alqonquin, IL, member of The Bru Club, won a gold medal in Category 32: Standard Cider and Perry during the 2018 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Portland, OR. Del Fiacco's semi-dry cider was chosen as the best among 89 entries in the category. Read More
Nathan Williams of Somerville, MA, member of the Boston Wort Processors, won a gold medal in Category: 33: Specialty Cider and Perry during the 2018 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Portland, OR. Williams' still, sweet ice cider was chosen as the best among 129 entries and helped him earn the AHA 2018 Cider Maker of the Year title. Read More
The following recipe was originally featured in "Cider Rules the House" by Mark Pasquinelli in the September/October 2010 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association to gain access to the online Zymurgy magazine archive!
There's never a bad time for a tasty fermented cider! This cider recipe from Mark Pasquinelli makes for a great standard cider, using only juice, yeast and pectic enzyme (for clarity). If you want something with a bit more going on, try the suggested ingredient additions below!
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The following recipe is from the article "Quick & Easy Malted Cider" by Amahl Turczyn, featured in the March/April 2016 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association to get a subscription to Zymurgy magazine and gain access to the digital archives.
Cider generally doesn't contain much in the way of yeast nutrients, so most hard cider recipes call for an addition. However, malted barley wort does contain yeast nutrients, and low-gravity wort "tailings" collected after you've finished sparging a high-gravity all-grain beer are easy to com by—just sparge a bit longer once your beer volume has been reached. The extra low-gravity wort provides excellent yeast nutrient for cider fermentation and lends a pleasing body, flavor, and complexity.
Read MoreFrance has produced hard cider (as distinguished from unfermented juice, or sweet cider) for hundreds of years, though for much of that time the drink was reserved for the wealthy. Around the 16th, century producers began adding water to their "apple wine." Though this practice diluted the flavors, it lowered the price and made the beverage more widely available. And here we are, in modern day, and homebrewers across the world are producing their own ciders, whether traditional French-style or their own take on the crisp, flavorful beverage.
This recipe adds a whole other flavor dimension to the tart sweetness of traditional apple ciders with the addition of cherries. It was originally featured in "Cider Tasting Notes and Food Suggestions" by Thomas J. Walsh in the March/April 1999 issue of Zymurgy.
Read MoreMichael Wilcox of Wichita, KS, member of the Kansas City Bier Meisters, won a gold medal in Category #33: Specialty Cider & Perry during the 2017 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Minneapolis, MN with the help of Amy Satterlund. Wilcox’s Specialty Cider & Perry was chosen as the best among 134 entries in the category and helped earn the Cidermaker of the Year title. Read More
Jeff Carlson of Grand Rapids, MI, member of the PrimeTime Brewers, won a gold medal in Category #32: Standard Cider & Perry during the 2017 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Minneapolis, MN. Carlson’s Standard Cider & Perry was chosen as the best among 85 entries in the category. Read More
Edward Walkowski of Northern Abington Township, PA and member of Scranton Brewers Guild won a gold medal in Category #30: Standard Cider & Perry during the 2016 National Homebrew Competition Final Round in Baltimore, MD. Walkowski’s New World sparkling perry with fresh Bartlett pears was chosen as the best among 102 entries in the category.
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