The Best of Cider Summit Chicago 2016

This year's annual Cider Summit at Navy Pier was bigger and better than ever, expanding to the second floor balcony with a selection of cider cocktails from The Northman, Woodford Reserve and Uncle John's. This year boasted 140 ciders with approximately 10 new Producers since last year's event. We found this year to be supremely enjoyable with very few lines for cider, food or restrooms and ample opportunity to talk with the cider makers themselves. Below is a recap of our "Best of" winners of the event.

Best Dry Cider

Farnum Hill Extra Dry Cider (7.5%)

Best Semi-Dry Cider

EZ Orchards Semi Dry Cider (6.4%)

Best Farmhouse/Wild Fermented Cider

Shacksbury Arlo (6.2%)

Best European/Import Cider

Manoir de Grandouet Cambremer Cidre de Tradition AOP Pays d’Auge (4.5%)

Best Barrel-Aged Cider

Vander Mill Green Mill Barrel-Aged Cyser (6.8%)

Best Fruited Cider

Starcut Ciders Squishy (7.5%)

Seasonal Hard Cider made with Northern Michigan Cherries, tart and dry finish

runner up:

Cider Brothers, Pacific Coast Apple with Wild Cherry

Semi-dry, stone fruit and spice, tastes like cherry pie

Best Newcomer to Chicago

Starcut Ciders (by Shorts Brewing), Elk Rapids, MI

Now available throughout the Chicagoland market

Best Cider Cocktail

The Northman "Ginger Snap"

Few Bourbon Whiskey, Vander Mill Ginger Peach cider, ginger syrup, soda water

Cider Summit view from the balcony

Kim (Hail to the Ale), David (Shacksbury Cider), Craig aka "John Apple" (ABV Chicago)

left: Uncle John's Old Fashion cider cocktail. right: The traditional Spanish long pour.

For more on tasting cider, check out our latest podcast appearance on ABV Chicago, Episode 109 "Cider House Rulez" where we taste 6 ciders from across the US, talk about the cider making process, and share a whole lot of laughs in the process.

Curious about the cider making process or learning more about apple varieties? Take a look at our Amazon book list devoted to Apples & Cider.

Check out your local bottle shops, as the selections of cider continues to grow. Don't see what you're looking for? See if they can request it or email the cideries for availability. The more demand, the better!

Fourth Annual Cider Summit Returns to Chicago

SBS Imports and the Seattle Beer Collective are pleased to announce the return of their successful Cider Summit festival to Chicago, IL. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, February 27, 2015 in two sessions - 11am-3pm and 4pm-8pm in the Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier.
 
Cider Summit will feature 140 ciders including regional favorites and international classics from countries such as England, Scotland, France, and Spain with owners and cidermakers will be on hand to inform and guide guests through the samplings.

NEW this year: 

• Cider Cocktail Lounge, hosted by The Northman and Woodford Reserve. 

• The Fruit Cider Challenge where consumers vote for their favorite pilot batch made exclusively for the event.

Tickets are $35 and will be sold online only via CiderSummit.com. Admission includes a souvenir tasting glass, 8 tasting tickets and a $1 donation to Heartland Alliance. Additional tasting tickets will be available for sale onsite at $2 per ticket. Designated driver tickets are available for $5, and include a bottle of water. A separate ticket is required for each session.
THIS EVENT IS STRICTLY 21 & OVER
 
The Chicago Brew Bus will provide shuttle service starting at 10:30am between the Blue Line Grand stop, Red Line Grand-State stop, and Navy Pier throughout the day. CTA buses also run directly to Navy Pier. Onsite parking is available in the Navy Pier garages.

Cider Summit Chicago 2015 in Review

February 7th marked the 3rd Annual Cider Summit in Chicago, put on by SBS Import's Alan Shapiro in collaboration with Seattle Beer Collective. This year's event was upgraded to Navy Pier's beautiful Grand Ballroom, which hosted a sold out crowd of 4,000 cider fans over the 2 ticketed sessions.

With over 15 new cider vendors this year and cider makers from around the world on hand, we found this year's crowd as eager as ever to converse and learn. Even with the expanded space the crowd was thick and lines were palpable. Those in attendance were a vast range of ages and levels of knowledge, and with easily over half being women – much different (and less unruly) than your typical beer festival.

As the 3rd year attending, my strategy was to seek out as many new ciders to the market as possible. I was joined by Ken Getty – homebrewer, cider maker and President of CHAOS Brew Club and MC Johnsen – fellow designer, homebrewer, and blogger of Worth 1000 Beers.

Our friends at WBEZ's Strange Brews were recording a live podcast during the 1st session, interviewing Eric West, host of the Cider Guide Podcast. Eric created his own guide to Cider Summit, re-categorizing each entry by style, which we found extremely helpful throughout the event. You can download his list and check out his podcasts on his website.

MC (Worth 1000 Beers), Alison Cuddy (Strange Brews), Kim (Hail To The Ale).

As fests often do when you're having fun – the 3 hours flew by. Between the 3 of us we were able to sample a spectrum of styles, regions and creative flavors. While many follow traditional, century-old processes of blending regional apple varietals with yeast, there is an increasing number of cider makers taking the "craft beer approach," adding fruits, vegetables, spices, hops and even incorporating second use spirit barrel-aging.

The cider category which was once defined as dry, sweet or semi-sweet is becoming more complex and diverse. We learned that during this past week's CiderCon, the Cider Association was working to further define styles for cider, much like we see in craft beer. This will help makers, sellers and drinkers alike to better understand and communicate a proper vocabulary around cider. While it will take time to implement, it's very exciting progress!

Overall the expanded space was a huge improvement, and a thrill to see growth in the category happening before our eyes. We caught Alan Shapiro briefly and were assured that he'd be returning for the 4th Annual Cider Summit next year.

Below is a breakdown of our top cider picks of the day, all of which can be found in the Chicago market, with the exception of Troy Cider and Urban Farm Fermentory's cider, mead and kombucha, which we hope to see distributed out of Maine in the near future.

Kim's Favorites/Notes
Seattle Cider Co. (Seattle, WA) - Oaked Maple: fermented with raisins, oak chips and VT maple syrup. Full bodied and complex in flavor without losing it's cider identity. 6.9%

Worley's Cider (Somerset, UK) - Special Reserve Keeved: semi-sweet on the tongue with hints of sweet apples and caramel, sparkling effervescence lifts and dances the tannins lingering to the finish. Uses a traditional English keeving process of slow fermentation which retains natural apple sweetness. 6%

Finnriver Cidery (Chimacum, WA) - Black Currant Cider: heirloom, dessert apples and currants, semi-sweet sparkling, jammy finish. 6.5%

Urban Farm Fermentory (Portland, ME) - Amalgam: Hard Cidah & Kombucha blend. Crisp and dry with a tart, tannic finish. Currently available only in Maine and Massachusetts. 4.5%

Sheppy's Cider (Somerset, UK) - Sheppy's Somerset Draught: cider and dessert apple blend, medium body, slight sparkle. A perfect medium bodied, medium sweetness, round and drinkable cider. 5.5%

Ken's Favorites/Notes
Eden Ice Cider Co. (Newport, VT) - Eden Heirloom Blend: full-bodied sweetness balanced by acidity and tannins 10%

Troy Cider (San Francisco, CA) - Wild Fermented Cider 2012: funky and acidic with a cloudy/unfiltered appearance 7.7%

Sheppy's Cider (Somerset, UK) - Sheppy's Oak Matured Vintage: medium body, smooth lingering oak finish 4.8%

EZ Orchards (Salem, OR) - Poire: Sparkling pear cider. Smooth, juicy, fruit forward finish. 5.9%

Vander Mill (Spring Lake, MI) - Nunica Pine: Dry Hopped with Columbus hops. Light, resinous bitterness and dry, balanced finish 6.8%

MC's Favorites/Tasting Notes
Seattle Cider Co. (Seattle, WA) - Gin Botanical: This unique cider was fermented with spent gin botanicals from Batch 206 Distillery. It poured clean and clear pale yellow, with a complex fruity aroma dominated by apples and lime. Its fizzy and full-bodied flavor of orange, lemongrass, juniper, and pine finished clean and crisp, with a lingering citrus sweetness. (6.5%)

Troy Cider (San Francisco, CA) - Wild Fermented Cider 2012: This spontaneously fermented cider was a unique creation from the fruits found in old apple orchard in Sonoma County, CA. Unfiltered and barely carbonated, this cider was the color of a cloudy orange creamsicle, and smelled like a sweet and sour green apple. It tasted tart and tannic with notes of hay and slight vinegar. Delicious! (7.7%)

Finnriver Cidery (Chimacum, WA) - Saffron Cider: This clear, full bodied and savory cider was such an interesting approach to flavor. The saffron came through in both aroma and flavor amidst this sweet and juicy, apple-forward flavor. 6.5%)

Sea Cider (British Columbia, Canada) - Prohibition: Technically an apple wine, this caramel brown-colored beverage aged in Newfoundland Screech bourbon barrels had molasses added to it. Fruity-smelling, and tasting rich, sweet, and spicy, the bourbon really came though beautifully in both aroma and flavor. This warmed you from the inside with an herbal and spicy finish of candied toffee and sweet apple pie. 12%

Worley's Cider (Somerset, UK) - Special Reserve Medium: This mildly fizzy cider smelled like a funky old barnyard, was both tart and sweet with herbal qualities and had a fruity, tannic finish. 5.4%

International Cider Makers Return to Chicago for Cider Week 2015

Cider makers and purveyors from around the world will return to Chicago for the annual CiderCON and Cider Summit at Navy Pier. While the conference itself is industry-only there are a number of opportunities for the public to meet and taste some of the world's best hard cider, perry and mead.

All week, Featured cider drafts and bottles at The Publican. Featuring, on tap: Drouin Poire, DuPont Brute, Sanford Orchard Aston B. Bottles: DuPont Triple, Du Pont Pommeau, Tieton Reserve.

Feb 3rd, Luxbar Cider Mixer, 7:30pm: Mingle with the owners and cider makers of Wandering Aengus and Anthem Cider. Featuring many traditional favorites from Wandering Aengus and Anthem Cider and some new limited releases:

Anthem Cider Gin Barreled - Ransom barrels 2 months
Anthem Pinot Cider - Pinot grapes fermented within the cider fermentation.

Feb 3rd, Firkin Loves Vander Mill at Jake Melnicks, 7pm: Featuring firkins of Totally Roasted, Cyser and Single Varietal Gold Rush. Oaked Chapman's Blend, Ginger Peach, Hard Apple and Blue Gold will be on draft. Stop by for a chance to win a Vander Mill wearbles and cider cans.

Feb 4th, Karaoke + West Coast Cider at Emporium Arcade, 8pm: featuring a tap take from 2 Town Cider, Wandering Aengus Cider, Vander Mill Cider, Anthem Cider, Finnriver Cider, Sonoma Cider, Seattle Cider Company and Tieton Cider.

Feb 4th, Cider Maker Meet & Greet at Howells & Hood, 6-8pm: Join cider makers from Vander Mill, Ace, Wandering Aengus and Original Sin for a taste of featured ciders. Open to the public, no ticket required. Vander Mill will be raffling off a pair of tickets to Cider Summit at Navy Pier on 2/7.

Howells & Hood will feature a special cider flight for the week of Feb 2 - 8 in honor of CiderCON, featuring: Ace Cider Co. The Joker, Anthem Hops, Original Sin Elderberry, Vander Mill Totally Roasted 

Feb 4th, Bacon & Seattle Cider Party at Paddy Long's, 7pm. Featuring Seattle Cider Company's Semi-Sweet, Three Pepper and Oaked Maple ciders on tap. All 3 can be tried as a Bacon & Cider flight. Seattle Cider's Gin Botanical Cider will also be available in bottles.

Feb 4th, Meet the Cider Makers at Whole Foods Kingsbury 1550 Bar, 6:30pm: Sample ciders of Artisanal Imports, with Lanny Hoff from Aspall, Steve Wood of Farnum Hill and Kevin Zolinsky of E.Z. Orchards. Learn what foods pair well with various ciders. Raffling a pair of tickets to Cider Summit with purchase of any Farnum Hill, E.Z. Orchards or Aspall ciders.

Feb 4th, Twin Anchors Cider Event, 7pm: Almar Orchards (J.K. Scrumpy), Thistly Cross, and Sheppy’s Cider Bruce Wright (Scrumpy), Daniel Sherry (Thistly Cross), and David Sheppy will be in attendance. First availability of Sheppy’s in Chicago with the owner on hand to taste and share his cider. Casual food pairings and tastings!

Feb 5th, Jake Melnicks A Bushel & A Peck, Interactive Cider Dinner, 6pm: Cider and food pairing stations featuring Wandering Aengus, Original Sin, Vander Mill, Ace, Farnum Hill, Seattle Cider, Finn River, Virtue Cider, Uncle John's. Menu items will feature a wide array from BBQ shrimp and sashimi tuna to charcuterie, sausages and cheese. Tickets $35

Feb 5th, Monks Pub Cider Tasting, 7pm: Multiple cider producers on hand, featuring Ace Blackjack 21, Original Sin Northern Spy & Apricot, Aspall Imperial and Vander Mill Chapman's Blend.

Feb 5th, The Power of the Press at Fountainhead, 6pm: The Fountainhead and The Northman explore and celebrate ciders throughout the US, UK, Spain and France paired with inspired menu items from Chef Cleetus. Featured ciders on draft: Wandering Aengus Wickson Single Varietal, Farnum Hill Dooryard, Uncle John's Perry, Original Sin Northern Spy, Seattle Cider Company Gin Botanical, Aspall Imperial, Trabanco Cosecha Propia (Sidra Natural) Viuda de Angelon "Cidre Brut". Plus 35+ bottles available by the glass.

Feb 6th, Vander Mill Firkin Tapping at The Publican, 6pm: Firkin tapping of "Too Gold," a blend of Golden Russet, Grimes Golden and Gold Rush apples.

Feb 6th, Cider Sampling at Walgreens (151 N. State St.), 5-8pm: Louis Glunz will be pouring featured cider samples from their portfolio including Wyders Pear, Reposado Pear, Sam Smith Organic Cider, Uncle John's Apple and Tieton Apricot Cider.

Feb 7th, Cider Summit Chicago, 11am and 4pm sessions in the Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier: SBS Imports and Seattle Beer Collective return for a third year to produce Chicago's largest cider tasting event. Cider Summit will feature sampling of 162 ciders from around the world, with cider makers on hand. Advanced TICKETS recommended. Chicago Brew Bus will provide shuttle service starting at 10:30am between the Blue Line Grand stop, Red Line Grand-State stop, and Navy Pier throughout the day. CTA buses also run directly to Navy Pier. Onsite parking is available in the Navy Pier garages.

Feb 7th, Rare Vander Mill Ciders at Links Taproom, 11:30am: Sip on some very rare artisanal ciders from Vander Mill that will showcase the range of tasty possibilities in this emerging trend. Featuring Ancho Mama (crisp with a gentle heat imparted from dried poblano peppers), one of only 2 kegs in the entire city. Complete your evening with a Chicken Sausage Link served with an apple slaw with a jalapeño-cider mustard to create the perfect pairing for these crisp and refreshing ciders. These special ciders will be available until the kegs run out. Also on tap: Loving Cup (pink peppercorn & hibiscus), Chapman's Blend Oaked, and a firkin of Too Gold (Golden Russet, Grimes Golden & Gold Rush apple varietals, barrel-aged for 8 months).

Feb 7th, Right BEEday Party at Kaiser Tiger, 7:30pm: Join Right Bee Cider at Kaiser Tiger for cider and curling (weather permitted).

Feb 8th, Vander Mill Cider Brunch at Farmhouse, 10am-2pm: Featuring a three course paired brunch for $25. First Course: Bagel & Lox (paired with Ginger Peach). House Cured Salmon, Pickled Red Onion, Capers, Whipped Cream Cheese. Second Course: Sweet Potato Hash (paired with The Lovin' Cup). Braised Short Rib, Root Vegetable, Fried Farm Egg. Third Course: Bread Pudding French Toast (paired with Totally Roasted). Orange Curd, Spiced Pecans. Reservations recommended.

Feb 8th, Ciders of Spain at Binny's Lincoln Park, 2-4pm: Ciders of Spain founding importer James Asbel will be on hand to taste through a selection of his unique portfolio

The Return of Cider Summit Chicago to Navy Pier

SBS Imports and the Seattle Beer Collective are pleased to announce the return of their successful Cider Summit festival to Chicago, IL. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, February 7, 2015 in two sessions - 11am-3pm and 4pm-8pm in the Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier.
 
Cider Summit will feature over 120 ciders including regional favorites and international classics from countries such as England, Scotland, France, and Spain with owners and cidermakers will be on hand to inform and guide guests through the samplings.
 
Tickets are $30 and will be sold online only via CiderSummit.com. Admission includes a souvenir tasting glass, 8 tasting tickets and a $1 donation to Heartland Alliance. Additional tasting tickets will be available for sale onsite at $2 per ticket. Designated driver tickets are available for $5, and include a bottle of water. A separate ticket is required for each session.
THIS EVENT IS STRICTLY 21 & OVER
 
The Chicago Brew Bus will provide shuttle service starting at 10:30am between the Blue Line Grand stop, Red Line Grand-State stop, and Navy Pier throughout the day. CTA buses also run directly to Navy Pier. Onsite parking is available in the Navy Pier garages.