Media Release

Australian Cider Awards now open for entries

A continuing growth in the popularity and production of cider has led to the development of the biggest Australian Cider Awards in its short history.

Cider Australia has today officially opened entries for the awards, aimed at showcasing and celebrating the best apple and pear ciders available across the country.

President Sam Reid said Cider Australia is expanding the range of award categories to better reflect the growing range of ciders available in Australia.

Seventeen categories will be judged by internationally-acclaimed expert Malcolm Reeves, from New Zealand, along with Australia counterparts Gary Baldwin, Wayne Hewett, Ian Kingham and Behn Payten.

“Our aim is to move towards a better understanding and appreciation of the different cider styles available in Australia, by producers and consumers alike,” Mr Reid said.

“This follows the approaches used in leading cider competitions overseas where ciders are judged against their stylistic peers.”

Cider and perry can now be entered into the “New World” or “Traditional” category.

In the “New World” categories, the judges will be looking for a modern, fruit-driven style that may have less complexity, texture and structure than ciders in the “Traditional” classes.

There will also be three new and separate categories for ice cider, fortified cider and experimental cider.

“We are hoping to see some interesting and innovative entries in the three new categories and their inclusion is a reflection of the growing maturity of the cider market in Australia” Mr Reid said.

Cider Australia is proud to set the benchmark with the new judging parameters.

“As the category continues to develop and we obtain learnings from the international judges that we bring in each year, it’s natural that we evolve the categories to reflect not only best practice but where the market is in Australia at this present time”, Mr Reid said.

“Of course the key point of the competition is the ability for producers to benchmark their ciders versus local and international producers and enable the continuous improvement in quality in the category that we are seeing.”

You can enter the 2014 Australian Cider Awards online via Cider Australia’s website at www.cideraustralia.org.au. Rules of entry can be found here.

Entries close on Friday 19 September 2014.

Winners will be celebrated at a special dinner on October 10th at The Kelvin Club, followed by a Cider Festival in Ormond Hall at The Village Melbourne on October 11th and 12th.