Your Cidermaking Journey
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Cider School is dedicated to furthering your (hard) cidermaking skills. Whether you’re brand new to this hobby, an intermediate cidermaker branching out into orcharding or new cider styles, or an experienced cidermaker looking to open a commercial cidery, we are dedicated to bringing you quality information to help you make the your next steps.
What Sort Of Cidermaker Are You?
Or, if you’re new to the hobby: What sort of cidermaker do you want to be?
Truth is, there are many different possibilities in this area, ranging from the home brewer experimenting with cidermaking from apple juice to the hard-core, soup-to-nuts cidermaker who grows and tends her own trees, harvests and processes the apples, makes and meticulously evaluates the cider, and runs her own commercial cidery.
So my questions are, “Which are you?” and, “Which do you want to be?”
When you answer this question, your next question may well be, “What do I need to know to get there?”
The table below helps answer that question by breaking down the need-to-know along the lines of scale and how you source your apples or juice for making cider.
The Cidermaker’s Matrix
How many aspects of cidermaking do you need to know? The table below provides a list–linked to associated content–of the topics you’ll need to know about to where you need to be.
The topic lists is primarily driven by:
- how you source your apples (or juice)
- the scale and orientation of your operation (e.g., hobbyist versus professional)
| Source Juice | Source Apples | Grow Apples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobbyist Scale | Cidermaking Tutorial Fermentation Equipment | Cider Apple Basics Sourcing Cider Apples (upcoming content) Grinding And Pressing Equipment Cidermaking Tutorial Fermentation Equipment | Cider Apple Basics Orcharding Basics (future content) Scions, Rootstocks, and Grafting (future content) Orcharding Equipment (future content) Grinding And Pressing Equipment Cidermaking Tutorial Fermentation Equipment |
| Commercial Scale | Cider Apple Basics Cidermaking Tutorial Fermentation Equipment Sourcing Juice in Quantity (future content) Commercial Cidery Planning (future content) | Cider Apple Basics Sourcing Cider Apples (future content) Grinding And Pressing Equipment Cidermaking Tutorial Fermentation Equipment Commercial Cidery Planning (future content) | Cider Apple Basics Orcharding Basics (future content) Scions, Rootstocks, and Grafting (future content) Orcharding Equipment (future content) Grinding And Pressing Equipment Cidermaking Tutorial Fermentation Equipment Commercial-scale orchard planning (future content) Commercial Cidery Planning (future content) |
How To Proceed
Simply identify your category based on scale and source in the table above, and work your way sequentially through the topics in that cell. When you’re ready or curious, move on to the additional content in other cells as desired.
Also, keep an eye on the blog, as granular posts will appear from time to time related to the main content above.
Finally, as much of the content is yet to be created and will appear over time, I recommend that you subscribe to the mailing list–as more content, products, or news around these topics is released, I’ll notify list members of these developments.
