Author: Eric West

  • Royal Bath & West Show 2013 Cider Results

    The Royal Bath & West Show in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England, plays host to the world’s largest cider judging competition each spring. Somerset is perhaps England’s best known cider making county and its cidermakers typically take home a healthy share of awards, but entries come from all parts of the West Country and beyond. There…

  • World Map of Cider Update – May 14, 2013

    The World Map of Cider now has more than 1,000 entries. If you haven’t checked the map out in a while, what’s stopping you? Here are the new cider-y points of interest added since the last update. Australia Dickens Cider — Hillswood, Tasmania Dickens Ciderhouse — Launceston, Tasmania Franklin Cider Company — Franklin, Tasmania Austria Kögerlhof Krispel…

  • National Homebrew Competition – Cider Awards

    The American Homebrewers Association recently posted the First Round winners from this year’s National Homebrew Competition. The NHC began in 1979 with a mere 34 entries and has grown steadily since then, with an unofficial count of 7,775 entries in 2013. Although the competition is geared toward grain-based beverages, the NHC has awarded a Meadmaker…

  • Tom Oliver on The High & Mighty Beer Show

    Just prior to the Beer Sessions Radio episode that I’ve recently transcribed, Tom Oliver sat down with Joel Shelton and BR Rolya of Shelton Brothers to record a 30-minute episode of The High & Mighty Beer Show. Shelton Brothers are best known as adventurous importers of artisanal beers from around the world, but they also…

  • Tom Oliver on Beer Sessions Radio — Part 3

    The talk turns more toward beer in Part 3 of the Tom Oliver episode of Beer Sessions Radio, but we do get to hear from Tom what happens when a bunch of English cidermakers are turned loose in a Belgian bar, how he rates the spontaneously fermented lambic beers from Cantillon, and what the name of…