For the third year in a row, ciders crafted by Niagara College students have made their mark at the U.S. Open Cider Championship, bringing home three awards. Where the Teaching Winery has been recognized in past years for its Cider 101, this year, three unique single batch ciders were awarded.
‘Cherry on Top’ performed true to its name, claiming gold in the Cherry Cider category, while Harvest Scrumpy Russet Cider took home bronze in the Traditional Cider – Dry category. Cherry on Top is made from 100 per cent Ontario apples and local Niagara Montmorency cherry juice, meaning the win also highlights Ontario’s agriculture and beverage sectors, as well as the high quality fruit that grows here.
NC also made it into the top ten most creative cider names, coming it at number two for Son of a Peach Cider.
In the fifth annual U.S. Open Cider Championship, cideries, wineries and breweries from Australia to Spain entered over 250 ciders representing 21 different styles. The final round of judging was held at the Big Ditch Brewing Company in Buffalo, New York in November 2018.
“The U.S. Open Cider Championships has become more competitive than ever with a diverse group of high quality submissions, so it’s fantastic to see some of our NC ciders showing so well in judging,” said NC’s winemaker Gavin Robertson. “Students helping out in the NC Teaching Winery/Cidery were involved throughout the production for both ciders, from fermentation through to bottling, so it’s important that they get to see the success that these local products can have on an international stage when tasted alongside great producers from both sides of the border.”
Since the College’s award-winning Teaching Winery introduced hard cider three years ago, Cider 101 has won back-to-back gold at the U.S. Open’s New World Cider category in 2016 and 2017, as well as a bronze at the 2016 Ontario Cider Awards that same year.
NC’s single batch ciders, as well as Cider 101, are available for purchase at the Niagara College Teaching Winery and Wine Visitor + Education Centre, at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus.
The College has strong ties to the U.S. Open cider and beer championships; College Brewmaster Jon Downing is the director of judging for the competitions, and students from the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program regularly volunteer to participate as judges for the events. Judging for the U.S. Open competitions are blind; judges do not know what they are tasting. Judges are also exempt from judging categories in which their beers or ciders are competing.
For info about the competition, and to view the full results, visit www.usopencider.com.
