Editor’s note: For convenience, we’ve created a collection of all current cider articles by this author.
by Michael Wilcox
When the style guidelines were written, it was envisioned that an accompanying document be created that addressed How to Use the BJCP Cider Guidelines. This document represents an initial attempt at satisfying that vision, but we do not expect it is the last word on the subject – other viewpoints are welcome.
This is an expansion upon the first article I wrote – Judging C2: Specialty Cider and Perry. At the time I wanted to get people familiar with easier-to-evaluate Specialty styles and later we’d discuss other attributes of cider, from balance to MLF to troubleshooting. Now my hope is judges can put it all together. After discussing or comparing individual styles, I’ll talk about general do’s and don’ts for cider evaluation. As always, both prospective and experienced judges should practice and polish those skills. Remember, a Cider Judge pin is the beginning, not the end, of your training.
Don’t Neglect the Introduction
Before we talk about style, please go read the Introduction to Cider Guidelines section to the 2015 BJCP Cider Guidelines. Plan to occasionally review this section before judging; there is a lot of important information here. Those of you checking guidelines on your phone, remember the app you are using might not include the introduction. From what we have been hearing during judge flights, a lot of confusion could be alleviated if judges would simply read all the relevant information.
Evaluating C1: Standard Cider and Perry Styles
Don’t overthink the name of the style, and don’t assume a narrow range within each style. The New World/English/French breakdown of cider styles is meant to be inclusive, not exclusive. There is some overlap, especially between English and French. If it mostly fits in a style, and would not fit better in the other two, judges should give it a chance.
Flavorful adjuncts that raise gravity like brown sugar, molasses, honey, and maple syrup are not allowed in C1, nor are spices such as vanilla appropriate here. White sugar is the only acceptable C1 adjunct at this time. If the entrant lists honey on the pull sheet, they should be docked, but judges should not assume a slight honey character indicates a forbidden ingredient was used. Many apples will have a slight honey character. Molasses, brown sugar, or especially maple syrup are usually more obvious. Oak encountered in C1 must be used very judiciously; if a judge can immediately identify oak, it is too high and should be entered in C2F.
C1A New World Cider
C1A entries in amateur cidermaking competitions often include examples fermented with mass-produced store-bought juice; however, one should not make the mistake of assuming this style must be simplistic, one-note, or characterless. Unlike some beers, this is not a narrow style – New World Cider includes a wide range of possible flavors, aromas, and levels of sweetness and acidity. Fermentation should be clean, without contamination from Brett or smoky/spicy indications of malolactic fermentation. The aroma may be delicate or robust, quite apple-like, or may show myriad other fruits. The flavor may show significant complexity, or showcase a single apple varietal in a simple but bright, vibrant, and inviting manner. Age can add complexity but should not dominate the profile. Excessive yeastiness is a flaw, but some complex, artisanal examples may exhibit some intentional flavors such as fresh baked bread from the lees. As always, these should not dominate the base cider.
Significant bitterness is out of style, as are high levels of astringency. Low levels of astringency are not to be judged as out of style; however, tannin should not dominate the balance. Acid may be moderate if other elements of structure are present, and can be quite high.
Entrants may enter the entire range of sweetness, so judging should be ordered from the driest examples to the sweetest. The cider should remain refreshing even if sweet. Noticeable alcohol is acceptable, especially in dry ciders; however, alcohol should never dominate the balance. Entrants should tell the judges if use of high sugar apples has resulted in alcohol in excess of the style guidelines. As examples, some Russets (Golden, Roxbury, etc.) may have enough sugar to create 10% potential alcohol, while a few crabapples may surpass 12%.
Identify faults, but recognize that not all are severe problems. Slight hydrogen sulfide or a hint of bitterness are not killer faults; however, entries exhibiting mousiness or vinegar should not receive awards. Slight diacetyl isn’t a problem in this style. Acetic acid is part of every cider’s flavor profile but in C1A as soon as a judge can detect vinegar, it is generally out of style.
C1B English vs C1C French Cider
The United Kingdom produces and consumes almost half the world’s cider. Include all of Europe, and it’s more like two-thirds. With this in mind, can we really boil everything down into a single style? Of course not. Trying to create a well-defined style that encompasses a wide range of artisanal small-batch Welsh ciders, a Somerset Scrumpy and something from Herefordshire exhibiting significant barrel character would be silly and even offensive to their robust cider heritage. The BJCP is becoming more global but at this time still mostly certifies amateur competitions in North America and currently the apples used to make English- and French-style ciders are still fairly rare on this side of the Atlantic. Attempts can be made later to make the guidelines more global-friendly, but for now we simply try to organize cider into a few groups of entries exhibiting similar characteristics. As stated earlier, don’t overthink the name – BJCP “English” cider can be made with apples from other places, and cider from England can fit the New World or French BJCP styles.
For the purposes of BJCP competition, English- and French-style ciders are assumed to be moderately to highly tannic. French cider tannins should mostly be astringent, while greater amounts of bitterness are acceptable in English-style ciders. The guidelines list sweetness ranges for both, but how should these be interpreted? French-style cider should exhibit at least a moderately low level of sweetness (note that “Medium” final gravity can be as low as 1.004), and should not exhibit significant alcohol. Remember that tannin can offset or mask sweetness, so we’re not necessarily looking for something that screams sugar, but fully dry French cider is missing the mark – sweetness is noticeable here.
By comparison, sweetness in English cider should be moderately prominent as a maximum, and sometimes is bone dry. Dessert sweet – sugar as the dominant component in an English cider’s balance – would miss the mark for style. Leave room for interpretation and judge palate variability. Being slightly off in sweetness is not a significant flaw. Ciders well outside the accepted levels of sweetness for style may fit better in C2F.
French would be characterized as fruity, often complex and rich, while a wider range of savory characters without overt apple would be appropriate for English. Noticeable alcohol would be rare in French Cider, especially sweet versions, where ABV levels may even drop below 3%. Initial impression of French should tend towards rich expression of bittersweet apples featuring fruitiness and soft tannins, and overall impression would not be called tart. Between the two styles, elevated acidity would work better in a fairly dry, tannic English cider than a round, rich, sweet French entry. Mousiness is a serious fault in either style.
The flavor and aroma from malolactic fermentation is NOT required in English or French styles; however, this character is quite common. Entries without MLF will generally have higher levels of acidity, while after MLF acidity is typically fairly low. Spicy/smoky MLF character should not dominate French cider, but may be fairly intense in English style cider. Judges new to cider are very often thrown by their first impression of a dry, smoky, still English cider that is a far cry from the more familiar sweet, fizzy, apple concentrate-laden alco-pop. Experienced judges will need to guide newer judges through what is and is not appropriate for these styles. Many new judges do not enjoy these characters or even find them off-putting at first; judges must set personal preferences aside and evaluate per style. Most cider judges learn to love, or at least appreciate, a bit of smoke or funk with practice.
C1D New World Perry and C1E Traditional Perry
New World Perry entries are fairly rare in American amateur cider competitions, and Traditional Perry entries are an order of magnitude rarer. This is not surprising considering the lack of perry pear trees in North America, and that in some cases it can take multiple decades to get new pear trees to produce fruit. However, judges should seek out and familiarize themselves with examples of both styles as efforts to produce perry pears are slowly bearing fruit.
Though pears may exhibit slight amounts of acetic character right off the tree, the accepted level of vinegar character in finished Perry is very low. These are delicate beverages, and while slight vinegar may be hard to avoid, it will quickly become a fault at higher levels. Also remember that a bit of haze/lack of brilliant clarity is not a fault in either Perry style.
The ability of a perry to taste like pears without needing to have an overt “fruity” character is something difficult to describe, that one generally needs to experience to understand. It is dissimilar from the “pear cider” that many incorrectly believe to be the flavor profile for perry. Pear cider is often made from dessert apples low in character, fermented dry, stabilized, and then sweetened with unfermented pear juice. That is a pear profile, not a perry profile. Mixtures of apples and pears should not be entered as perry but go in C2B Cider with Other Fruit.
Pears tend to have slightly higher sugar content than the average apple. Coupled with their higher levels of the non-fermentable sugar alcohol sorbitol, a Perry may seem to have a little more body, smoothness, and richness than a similar cider. However, there is still a wide range of interpretations possible. Remember also that entrants have been instructed to enter their perry based on gravity, not perceived sweetness. If your palate disagrees slightly, you can note that it comes across as semi-sweet instead of medium, but it really isn’t our place as judges to argue with an entrant and say it “isn’t medium” – they know the actual gravity better than we do.
Pear tannins are different from apple tannins – poorly understood and of little interest to most judges. As an example, during maceration apple tannins tend to be quite stable, while pear tannins may reduce significantly. It is enough for a judge be able to tell the entrant that it would be better with greater or lesser amounts of tannin, to declare if they find those tannins excessively bitter for the style, and describe how they fit with the overall balance, flavor, and aftertaste. Difference in tannin levels is one of the major distinctions between New World and Traditional Perry styles; however, like New World Cider, SOME astringency is acceptable in New World Perry too.
The general lack of experience with perry pears in North America makes the guidelines’ demand that entrants list their pear varieties for Traditional Perry somewhat less than useful. Do your best – is there something identifiable even if you don’t recognize it? It doesn’t just seem like that Bartlett character you’ve come to identify? That would be good enough for me. Concern yourself more with the balance, flavor/aroma, level and quality of the tannins, and (hopefully) lack of discernible flaws.
The guidelines don’t mention acidity in either style, so I’m certainly not going to try to define acceptable levels for all BJCP Perry. However, I will note that both refer to perry as somewhat like young white wine, in which acidity usually has a fairly prominent role. Moderate acidity without seeming harsh or overly tart seems appropriate for a delicately-flavored New World Perry without high tannin levels and without (grape) wine alcohol levels. The extra structure from tannin in Traditional Perry would generally allow balance at lower acidity levels but both beverages should remain refreshing.
New World Perry tends to be quite delicate unless sweet, and noticeable bitterness quickly becomes a fault. Traditional Perry flavors may be more intense. Due to citric acid content, malolactic fermentation in perry will often create an excessive acetic character, thus MLF should be generally avoided. As in cider, mousiness is never appropriate.
Evaluating C2: Specialty Cider and Perry Styles
Judging Specialty Ciders is similar to Specialty Beers in that there is a little more room to look for overall pleasantness rather than matching a fairly narrow style guideline. Entrants need to give the judges a chance by describing what they did. Don’t give judges an excuse to not fully evaluate your creation. If your cider is an English base with some MLF in addition to a specialty character, tell the judges so that they’re not surprised by the phenolics. At the same time, judges need to remember that competition software often limits the number of characters an entrant can use to describe their entry, and thus might not be able to tell you everything you wish to know.
Balance is key to a Specialty Cider and Perry – to paraphrase the beer guidelines, “The entry should be a harmonious marriage of the (cider) and the special ingredients, with neither overpowering the other.” A main difference is that cider is generally going to be lighter in body and character than many of the styles that become the base for Specialty Beers. Semi-dry cider cannot support as much vanilla as an Imperial Stout, or as much mango as a Double IPA.
C2A New England Cider
This is an incompletely understood, made-up style, attempting to mimic a regional creation from a long time ago. Note the guidelines say that it has robust apple character, thus your average table apples or store-bought mass-produced apple juice generally won’t do without help. Acid levels can be quite high, and should not be low.
Also note that this style has an adjunct character. According to Ben Watson (author of Cider, Hard & Sweet: History, Traditions, and Making Your Own, on your recommended reading list), the closest adjunct in a quintessential New England Cider would be raisins; however, there is some disagreement over this, so suffice to say it needs SOMETHING. If you are making New England Cider with only apples and white sugar, what you are making fits our guidelines best as Applewine, and or if alcohol is fairly low, a chaptalized New World Cider.
The guidelines mention a higher level of alcohol; however, as the style starts at only 7% ABV and can be sweet (which can hide alcohol) you should not necessarily look for or award the biggest – a New England Cider can be very warming but may not be. If there isn’t much alcohol, there is enough here in acidity, tannin, adjunct, and perhaps barrel that this should be a fairly full-bodied drink. It isn’t thin or flavorless. High levels of sweetness in New England cider generally need high levels of alcohol and at least moderate tannin level to provide balance.
The guidelines instruct entrants to list any spirits involved such as bourbon or rum. Judges should be cognizant of the guidelines and trust the entrant – if they say they used oak or bourbon and you don’t taste it, they may simply be following the instructions in our guidelines that demand they do so. Give them a bit of a break and talk about whether it would or would not be improved by more of said character. For entrants, understand that most judges will consider it a fault if they do not detect any barrel character that is listed.
Spiced versions should go in Cider with Herbs/Spices with the base identified as New England Cider; however, as this is an incompletely-understood, historical style, judges are again advised to give leeway.
C2B Cider with Other Fruit
This is one of the most common types of cider you will encounter as a judge. Characterful apples can be difficult to find, whereas there are myriad other fruits available that can make a formerly one-dimensional cider more interesting.
As a judge, think about the average amount of character of apples or apple juice. If you then think about many other fruits like raspberries, cherries, cranberries, or blackcurrants, you’ll immediately notice how much more flavorful they are than apples. This means it can be easy for a cider to be overwhelmed by other fruit added. Complexity in the form of subtle apple characters is easily covered up by other strong fruits. With the average subtle character that pears have, this can be even truer with a Perry. One good way to get “the whole fruit” is to use too much of it. There is no requirement that the apple/other fruit characters be at an equal level, but this style is not simply an “Other Fruit Wine” or “Fruity Acid Bomb” and must still be recognizable as a Cider or Perry. However, as the feedback, “I don’t get any apple character” seems to be very common, let’s remind ourselves that with Standard Cider we say that cider doesn’t need to be “appley.” Thus, when we stress that characters should be in harmony, we’re talking about harmony of fruit and CIDER, not of fruit and RAW/UNFERMENTED APPLE. Apple can still be subtle in this style.
Understand that the added fruit may bring significant tannin and/or acidity to the cider or perry, with care taken by the judge to avoid confusing expected fruit characters for common faults. Pears may have a little Volatile Acidity (VA), fig may be confused with age/oxidation, blackcurrants are full of catty, tobacco-ish delicious weirdness, etc. Tart cherries in particular are an extremely common C2B fruit, and judges should learn to discern what is naturally occurring in the cherries from something often mistakenly referred to as a “phenolic fermentation flaw.”
Colors should make sense for the fruit added, and not reflect oxidized character such as an orange-colored blackberry cider. Seeds and skins can bring a slight balancing astringency, or a dominating bitterness that detracts from drinkability. Fruit character should be fermented, and judges should remember fermentation can change a character from what they are used to tasting raw. It isn’t a flaw if a strawberry cider doesn’t remind you of fresh strawberries. Likewise, pedantic judge conversations about what is technically a fruit aren’t as important as whether it was well-made, well-balanced, or even a good idea. Is it clean, refreshing, and enjoyable, all of the ingredients speaking while none dominates? – if so, then it really isn’t hurting anything if they put their strawberry-rhubarb cider here, is it? As beer judges know, people are easily confused by Fruit vs SHV; let’s give ‘em a break.
C2C Applewine
Commonly encountered as a failed first experiment from someone who recently decided to try their hand at cider, this style can actually be very well-made and delicious. The added sugar dilutes the apple character, thus a judge should not expect it to be too robust. Dry is common, and the way most people associate the style, but sweet is absolutely allowable. Sweeter versions will naturally have more character than dry, and will require more acidity. Most good Applewine is delicate and dry, with bright fruit aromatics. Fruity is welcome, but the kind of overt baked apple and brown sugar in, say, an Ice Cider is out of place here.
As a fairly high ABV beverage Applewine often requires a bit of age to smooth and balance the alcohol. Poor handling and oxidation can therefore come into play with this style. Look for darker color than expected, lack of bright appearance, out-of-place caramel characters, lack of acidity, muddled, indistinct fruit, or strong yeasty, meaty characters from something aged excessively on the gross lees. This style is clean and typically crisp; spicy or smoky MLF elements or Brett character would be out of place here and better entered in C2F.
As cider is literally a wine made with apples instead of grapes, it is nearly impossible for a well-made Applewine to seem too “wine-like.” Most apples have significantly less sugar than wine grapes and thus on average cider does not have the high alcohol of wine. Adding sugar brings cider right into the territory of white wine; it should be quite wine-like, especially when dry.
Alcohol is an important part of the structure of such a beverage – you should notice it. The style is most similar to New World Cider, but with much greater structure from alcohol. Acidity can be fairly high. Though solvent characters are a common problem with Applewine entries – many people don’t control their fermentation temperatures or otherwise keep their yeast happy – don’t confuse clean alcohol flavor that is in balance with the rest of the cider with other harsher characters that are flaws. A dry white (grape) wine is going to have alcohol, and it is not in itself a flaw here either. Tannin levels are typically moderately low to nonexistent, but tannins are allowed if bitterness is at a minimum.
Learning to taste, evaluate, and appreciate the great white wines of the world may be a benefit to those who judge cider. Judges who “cross-train” by taking wine appreciation classes will have a decided advantage when judging these types of ciders. For Applewine most well-known styles of dry and off-dry white wine will be useful areas of study. Look for wines without barrel character or buttery MLF.
C2D Ice Cider
BJCP has guidelines, not laws. This is not commercial Quebec ice cider where we would be forced to follow certain gravity and residual sugar requirements to call our product cidre de glace. Entrants are free to submit ice cider that falls outside of the gravity, alcohol, or residual sugar ranges specified in the guidelines. Many delicious examples do so, and will often be treated well in a mixed flight evaluated by judges unfamiliar with the extremely high residual sugar of commercial ice cider. However, the entrant DOES need to tell the judges what some of those values actually are, so the judge knows what to expect and even how to order a flight of ciders. Beer judges used to Final Gravity may need to brush up on Residual Sugar percentages.
These ciders generally need to be judged at the end of a Specialty Cider and Perry flight. In a mini-BOS setting, try to get a good grasp of the drier beverages before you go to the sweet stuff – dry ciders can taste thin and lifeless after an ice cider.
Ice cider is full-bodied and sweet, more often than not very sweet. Dry or even medium sweet ice cider is not to style. Ice cider is generally made from juice or apples freeze concentrated from an initial low-teens Brix all the way to 30-40 Brix. Residual sugar percentages are sometimes a bit lower than that of Icewine (which is sometimes concentrated even above 40 Brix), but still very high. This sweetness is generally balanced by high to extremely high acidity, and to a lesser extent by alcohol. Acidity is commonly above 1% (>10g/L malic acid) which is how a beverage with a final gravity that may be higher than 1.050 can actually seem refreshing.
Though not inexpensive, judges are encouraged to try several versions of commercial ice cider to train their palates – these are much different from the rest of your flight. A super high-acid, high-alcohol ice cider with a touch of brown sugar and a vibrant tropical fruit character may seem jarring to an untrained palate. In a typical flight composed heavily of spiced, fruited, and wood-aged 1.050 OG ciders, an Ice Cider with a Final Gravity of 1.075 is a different beverage entirely.
If ice ciders are not available, try to taste dessert wines or late-harvest white wines. These are often identifiable by their smaller bottles, or bottles that are very tall and narrow. Taking a wine-tasting class in dessert wines would also be helpful. Of the many kinds of dessert wine, acid-forward late harvest wines and of course Icewine will generally have the most in common with this style. Note the Eisbock method of post-fermentation concentration of beer differs from Ice Cider which is concentrated before fermentation.
Apple character is required in this style, but it will differ from that of unconcentrated juice – brown sugar, caramel, and other characters evocative of warm baked apples are common, as are tropical fruit characters. I personally use a lot of McIntosh which has a very noticeable apple note even before concentration. Presence of some tannin is not a fault in ice cider; however, recall that the freezing process concentrates more than just sugar and if, for instance, you used a particularly bitter or acidic apple blend, the resulting ice cider may have a level of bitterness or malic harshness that detracts from drinkability. Noticeable oak or spirit character entries should go in C2F.
Fermenting ice cider puts a great deal of strain on yeast, so look for signs of a struggling fermentation. Acetone is never OK in this style. Generally judges are looking for a clean fermentation here; intense fruit and high sugar, cut through by acid and alcohol. Complexity is desirable and may come with age but the style should not show poor handling or signs of excessive oxidation. I find well-made ice cider tends to get better with a bit of age and welcome development of low levels of dried fruit character for complexity; However age should never be a dominant attribute in this style.
Ice Perry characters are quite different from ice cider, and these entries should go in C2F – but are delicious and worth the time and expenditure to study.
C2E Cider with Herbs/Spices
This is another highly-entered category, with ginger and/or pie spices especially common among entries. The head judge should pay attention to the pull sheet and re-order the flight if necessary based on the specialty ingredients. Sweeter entries can generally support more spices which means more chance to overdo it, so that sweet ginger or chipotle cider might be better served later in the flight.
As with judging beer, a list of several ingredients provided by the entrant does not mean they are all equally present. Do not assume spices are present in the order listed unless the entrant says so in the specialty information. Entrants should probably not list spices that aren’t easily discernable, but if several are listed and the judge is subtracting points because they didn’t taste one of them, we’re really wasting time that could be better spent telling the entrant whether it would be improved with more or less of certain spices. Is that too much cinnamon for this level of sweetness? Is the dry, spicy, acidic, or highly-carbonated character creating a harshness that detracts from drinkability? Tell the entrant what would make it better/score higher. You don’t need a profound understanding of apple varietals or yeast characteristics to give this kind of feedback.
For many ingredients in this category the spices are not adding a fermentable sugar, and the base cider must remain discernable. When judging a spiced cider, consider the quality of the flavor of the spice addition and whether the spices are contributing excessive tannin. Spices should marry well with the base cider, and should be fresh, without dusty or muted flavors.
Old stale spices will create old stale spiced cider. Judges will need to recognize certain spices may add bitterness or astringency, and not subtract points if this character is in balance. Raw spices that are added post-fermentation often have an initial harsh, tannic mouthfeel and a dusty, raw flavor. Give them time to blend in. If spices are overdone, diluting with a clean C1A cider may save a batch. Again, overall enjoyment, balance, and skill of incorporation of the specialty ingredients are very important here.
Hops are a fairly common additive in this style, and while hop-forward beers are very popular, it is easy to overdo in a cider. Boiling hops in cider is generally a poor idea that will only lead to a cooked apple character. Entrants are generally looking for flavor and aroma from hops, not bitterness so dry hopping is usually used to impart hop character. Dry hopping with a moderately low amount of a spicy or fruity hop variety can add an inviting freshness to the aroma if it does not overwhelm the base.
Additions should be in balance – think about how light the body on a dry cider is, and how quickly it would be overwhelmed by hop flavor. Sweeter ciders can support higher amounts of hops, but it’s a still a cider, not Hopped Apple Juice. In the hoppy beer world the entry with the highest level of bright fresh fruity hops often wins. That is rarely going to be the case in cider; remember that less is sometimes more. Note, this isn’t to say that one can’t create a super hoppy cider. It just isn’t likely to fit into or score well in this style.
Freshness matters: metallic, cheesy, excessively grassy, or other notes indicating old or poorly handled hops are a flaw. As with beer, hop use involves a high amount of the cidermaker’s personal hop variety preferences, but in the best examples, the hops enhance and complement the fruity apple character, not clash with it. Consider how the hops and apples interact, and whether the resulting balance is pleasant on the palate.
C2F Specialty Cider/Perry
This style is a catch-all, and almost anything that doesn’t fit into the other styles will fit here. An exception would be excessive use of honey that should be entered in the appropriate Mead category as a Cyser. Originality can be rewarded, but not every idea for specialty cider is a good one, and being unique is no substitute for being well-made.
Red-fleshed apple New World Ciders may be encountered in this style. Arguments can be made that a clean, acidic Redfield single varietal cider belongs in C1A as much as a Northern Spy single varietal does, but we’re really talking about degrees of varietal character difference – red-fleshed apples are quite different from others. Think rosé wine, with cranberry, rhubarb, perhaps a bit of hibiscus, sometimes raspberry or cherry, acid-forward, sometimes with significant tannin too. Color varies widely with apple variety – some are mildly pink while others are intensely red, so do not make the mistake of assuming the deeper color is necessary. I have not encountered spicy/smoky MLF in a red-fleshed apple cider before, though one could conceivably be made; I envision a more French-like rich sweetness than a dry English profile being a better balance. Every example I’ve tasted has had at least moderately high acidity and some noticeable tannins. Some crabapples with intense red skin (example: Dolgo crab) may bleed some of that color into the cider without the rosé characters associated with true red-fleshed apples. At this time, most judges have not yet tasted red-fleshed apple ciders, so entrants must make it clear the color and flavor are not from a fruit or spice addition.
Eventual BJCP guidelines for Spanish Cider styles seem likely; however, these entries present a problem due to the lack of trained pourers and the typical method of Spanish cider consumption – Spanish sidra is “thrown” into a glass from at least a few feet above it, poured in a small amount, and consumed immediately, even to the point of dumping out what is not consumed in a quick swallow or two. These pouring and consumption methods are markedly different from how the average BJCP judge operates, and it remains to be seen how it works with our way of slowly but thoroughly examining a beverage over the course of ten minutes. For now, expect a dry cider with elevated acidity, usually with some acetic character noticeable. Vinegar should not dominate, but can be quite elevated in Basque styles. Acetic character will be lower in Asturias versions. Mustiness, honey, lemon, hay, apple skin notes, and generally high amounts of fruitiness are common in what is typically a very robust aroma created by fermentation with wild yeast. Use of some bittersweet and or bittersharp apples in the blend is common, thus tannin content may vary. As they are fermented dry rather than having fermentation stopped early, alcohol levels are generally a bit higher than the French style, but in every example I’ve tasted alcohol was a minor part of the balance.
“Wild/Sour/Brett” ciders – I’m not quite as much of a purist as the BJCP Cider Guidelines authors, and have messed with these kind of ciders on a very limited basis. Understand as an entrant that many of these kinds of characters are considered faults in a “clean” cider and until there is a category for them you may encounter some judges that love your creation while others abhor it. It is what it is. I’ve suggested the creation of a style just to get ahead of the increasing number of these entries, but for now we have none. Finally, some attitudes towards these beverages may change over time; however, there will never be a point where I consider mousiness acceptable in your cider!
A few words on “Heritage” – I have seen limited amounts of entries showing up in C2F Specialty Cider with “See GLINTCAP New World Heritage” as the specialty information, and as some form of Heritage is likely coming in future BJCP Cider Guideline revisions, here is a brief description of how Heritage Cider may differ from what you are used to:
GLINTCAP uses a breakdown of the New World Cider style into Modern and Heritage sub-styles. Modern fits into what we call C1A New World. What is called Heritage Cider will usually exhibit greater structure from tannin than Modern Cider examples. Heritage will generally exhibit greater complexity than Modern. New World Heritage cider would be free of noticeable smoky/spicy malolactic fermentation contributions. High alcohol levels will be more commonly seen in Heritage entries than Modern. Among tannic ciders, New World Heritage alcohol levels are generally going to be higher than found in the BJCP French style, and similar to BJCP English style. Entrants may find some tannic ciders without MLF currently entered as English style cider may fit better when/if there is a Heritage subcategory to New World.
While mass-produced ciders have been criticized as alco-pop, they can be enjoyable for the general public, similar to how light lagers are treated in beer judging. Although many cider purists would likely rebel against including such examples in the style guidelines, the Specialty cider category is more appropriate for these products than trying to dumb-down the existing C1A New World Cider style. The beer world has a similar issue with highly-sweetened lambics representing a departure from the traditional styles. While this problem has not been solved within the cider guidelines by adding a new style, this is our best advice for competition judging.
What about Standard Ciders that don’t fit C1 guidelines? C2F *IS* an appropriate place for them. Sweet “English” cider or bone dry “French” cider? – put them here along with some relevant details. Note that putting something in the Specialty category does not mean that you can ignore balance. French Cider works with the required sweetness; keeping everything else the same without adjustment just means your cider is likely missing something.
General Tasting & Judging Tips
Temperature
Cider should not be consumed ice cold; most aromatics will be muted or completely hidden if overly chilled. A serving temperature near 50 °F (10 °C) is appropriate for most cider, while some dry tannic ciders may be best enjoyed at a red wine temperature in the low 60’s F (16-18 °C). Judges should strive to give all entries their best chance to shine.
Flight sorting
Sorting by sweetness is the best initial way to order a flight of cider, but the head judge must also pay attention to specialty ingredients and alcohol level. High levels of oak can wreck the palate, as can cinnamon, ginger, spirits, or hot peppers. Ice cider must be near the end of the flight, and in a mini-BOS setting, judges should familiarize themselves with drier beverages before taking even a sip of an Ice Cider. Finally, Perry tends to be quite delicate, and often is better served near the beginning of a flight even if slightly sweeter than the following beverage. These efforts can be undone by entrants who don’t enter their creations correctly, but with improved cider judging should come more commonly appropriately categorized cider entries.
Intelligent discussion and review
So you’ve repeatedly sniffed and sipped and written down a bunch of flavors and aromas. Great start, but a cider is not just an endless list of flavor descriptors as created by some overzealous wine marketer. Flavor descriptors are not the basis for intelligent discussion and review. Ability to discern multiple characters is good and desirable, but doesn’t tell the entrant much about what it is like, and zero about whether you enjoyed it or found it a good example of the style. Likewise having a sensitive palate and nose are positives, but don’t just be a fault-finder. How did the flavors and aromas evolve? Were they layered, or was everything jumbled at once? Talk about the manner in which the flavors were delivered to your palate – were they smooth, thick, soft, creamy, angular, harsh, or even painful? If bitter, is it more like black coffee or tonic water bitterness? Were flavors balanced, harmonious, and complementary, or did some stick out and distract? Think about how a soft flavor evocative of sweetness such as vanilla that would normally be inviting and pleasant might clash in a tart, dry cider showing high amounts of alcohol and acid.
Use your words, but…
While using evocative language can be useful, there are points where it becomes absurd. Describing a cider like a “warm September morning in the garden” is silly. Writing about “notes of white grapefruit” is a reasonable descriptor, while “whimsical lemon rind” or “it feels melancholy” are confusing to the entrant. While “elegant” or – if we stretch credulity a bit – occasionally even “sensual” may be legitimately used, please stop before you start raving about the femininity of the beverage or calling it a “brooding mistress of devilish wonder”. When we said Use Your Words…that’s not what we meant.
Note: If the examples listed above seem over-the-top, the kinds of things that anyone would realize are obviously not appropriate, understand each example has been seen on a recent cider scoresheet. Let’s try to do better. Everything the judge writes should be to convey description or feeling about the cider or perry, to provide help or encouragement to an entrant.
Unfamiliarity
A few judges seem to have trouble with very dry beverages. Others tend to call any discernible alcohol “hot.” If either of these describe you, generally the (grape) wine world is a good area to study. This should make sense if you remember cider is wine, and a lot of what happens in winemaking is applicable with cider. In wine we often see the interplay of fruitiness and acid with fairly prominent alcohol. The acidity of unoaked white wine is more like New World Cider, New World Perry, and Applewine, while the increased mouthfeel, structure, and non-fruit characters of the astringent English/French style ciders is more akin to some savory, herbal, tannic red wines.
On that subject, apple tannins are complex and confusing and pear tannins even less well-known, so let’s stick with calling them astringent and bitter, mention their level or intensity on the sheet, and try to leave tannin descriptors such as racy, polished, grippy, ripe, chewy, velvety, rustic, supple, round, or well-behaved to those wine marketers. Such terms certainly aren’t useless, but most entrants aren’t going to understand what you meant.
Heritage cider style or New World Heritage sub-style
Note that when this was written GLINTCAP (currently the world’s largest cider and perry competition) and the United States Association of Cider Makers have different guidelines from BJCP. You may have seen a Heritage style or a New World Heritage sub-style in these other sets of guidelines.
Note: No Heritage style information will appear on the BJCP Cider Exam until it is a defined style in a published BJCP Cider Guidelines Revision.
As more cider apples are grown and we gain more experienced with what cultivars thrive in what region, I expect this is where we will see the biggest growth in North American cider. Terroir can really shine in the Heritage styles, and a lot of winemaking techniques are being used. As an example, aging on lees may add creaminess, or a bread-like character. Bottling with the champagne method of carbonation is also more common in Heritage than Modern though this won’t be encountered often in amateur competition.
Expanding horizons
New cider judges should try to avoid the trap of familiarity – everyone has had and can identify raw apple juice flavor; this doesn’t mean it is something we are looking for. If all of your cider experience is with what might be described as mass-produced cider sweetened with apple juice concentrate, try to understand that while these are legitimate beverages generally made to a high standard of quality, we have no current styles in which most of these would be considered a good example of BJCP cider. Make and enjoy them if you like, but like New World Heritage they just don’t have a defined style in our Guidelines right now.
Ability to make good cider is more regional than beer or mead, and judges are encouraged to seek out good examples online or on their travels if they do not live in a prominent cider area. Anyone can buy Munich malt and frozen raspberries or have a gallon of honey shipped to them; locating fresh Porter’s Perfection juice when you live nowhere near the trees, or knowing when to press those bushels of Seckel pears you ordered is more difficult.
Balance
Sweetness, acidity and tannin vary by the type of cider. Sweeter ciders will need a greater amount of acid to balance them than drier ciders. English and French ciders will have noticeable tannin as those apples naturally possess it. If tannin is too low in a given cider, the juice may have had a high percentage of dessert apples or apple juice concentrate may have been used. Grapes, berries, and stone fruits usually contain quite a bit of tannin from their skins and seeds. Oaking can boost the tannins. And remember it’s not beer – the mere presence of some astringency is not a flaw. Same theme goes for acidic fruits. Importantly, there should be crispness to the finish of every cider no matter the sweetness to keep it from being flabby.
Bias
Avoid bias where possible, but acknowledge it and remember to focus on style. Many people prefer sweet ciders to dry, carbonated to still, and strong to low alcohol. You must understand your own preference in order to keep it from biasing your judgment. Do not let your cider liking or wanting to influence your cider judging.
Be Nice
Rude feedback is as unwelcome with cider as with beer and mead. Beer judging is fairly mature in this country, while cider much less advanced on average. Why does that matter? Remember that there is a reasonably good chance the entrant knows more about cider than you do. Does this invalidate your opinion? – not in the least. Just avoid guessing or assuming what they did, and focus on style, balance, and enjoyment.
Quantitative levels
Although the entrant must specify the carbonation level and sweetness, judges often place too much emphasis on these indicators during evaluation and scoring. This information was provided to assist you as a judge, not to represent a narrow target the entrant must hit to win. It would also serve a judge well to remember that a person’s perceptions of sweetness and carbonation levels are extremely subjective. There is also no defined limit for where petillant carbonation begins and ends. A couple of bubbles is not petillant. It is lower than sparkling but you can still feel petillant in your mouth. Beyond that? – subjective. Be sure something is wrong before you call it a flaw.
My 1.001 FG Applewine would be defined as Dry but tastes more like it is Medium in sweetness. I enter it as Semi-Dry so it doesn’t taste far off from expectation. Give the entrant the benefit of the doubt, and remember the Introduction to the Guidelines says “…not to be used as judging criteria unless a cider is declared at a sweetness level far from its actual sweetness.” This is pretty clear, right? Consider removing 2-3 points if an attribute is obviously multiple levels off (e.g., sweet but entered as semi-dry, sparkling but entered as still). If an attribute is only one level off, (e.g., sweet but entered as semi, petillant but entered as dry) removing a single point would be more appropriate. Not sure it’s off at all? – don’t remove points. Finally, don’t talk about sweetness or carbonation without discussing whether the beverage would be improved with less or more.
Drinkability
Cider should be readily drinkable. Lighter, drier ciders will be more delicate and quaffable. Sweet ciders, which are more like dessert wines, will be much “heavier” and usually not as refreshing. In either instance, both should be finished products (properly fermented, properly aged or conditioned, and readily drinkable). Just as wine does not taste like sweet grapes, cider should not simply be a cloyingly sweet apple cocktail. Acidity should not be painful, and while some cider may exhibit low acidity, every cider will need some level of crispness to be drinkable. While apple character should be evident, the cider should also be balanced and drinkable and the words “apple character” do not simply mean “apple juice.”
Adjuncts
Be sure you understand what adjuncts are present, and what character they provide to cider. When in doubt, ask other judges and keep asking until you find the answer. There are so many things that can be added to a cider that it does the entrant an injustice if you don’t ask these simple questions. Sugar adjuncts can range from dark, rich brown sugars and other raw sugars all the way through white sugars and even honey and glucose syrup. Adjuncts should never completely overpower the cider. The levels can be fairly high but one should be able to detect the fermented apple or pear character.
Stick to your responsibility
It isn’t your job as a judge to disqualify entries; if you’re arguing about whether something is technically a fruit or a vegetable, you’re completely missing the point. These are just guidelines, and remember the styles we’ve published are simply a place for similarly profiled ciders to be evaluated against each other. No one is trying to redefine botany or declare a concrete value for “medium-low.” How good is the cider? How well is it balanced? Where does it fit the style, and where does it not? What would improve it? Focus on these, not whether coconut is “technically a fruit” or arguing where English Cider ends and French Cider begins.
On this subject of responsible judging, recognize not everything in the guidelines is equally important. I don’t say this to criticize the guidelines authors but as someone highly experienced in both entering and judging – I know how judges and competition work. Balance, overall impression, incorporation of specialty ingredients, and a clean fermentation are important. Over-examination of individual words or phrases of the guidelines is not important. Attributes should be appropriate for style but there are acceptable ranges for each and sometimes being outside those values is within judge palate subjectivity.
As an entrant, I would not tell a judge that I added malic acid, yet the guidelines say I must. Likewise, I would not identify oak or a spirit that did not show up in flavor or aroma, but the guidelines say I must. Thus, as a judge who doesn’t have a recipe in front of me I give entrants a break in these areas too. I view my job as evaluating the quality of finished alcoholic beverages, not looking for extra hoops to make entrants jump through or opportunities to not fully evaluate a cider.
Apple/pear varietals
It’s very important to note that there is always some variation due to source region, year/season collected, and climactic conditions during the growing season. Knowing the thousands of cultivars of apples in the world, you may be expecting to have to learn an exhaustive list of apple and pear characters; this is not the case – just ensure that the cider is following the “theme” of the variety. Not detecting lemon from an Ashmead’s Kernel isn’t a reason for concern, while baked apple, tropical fruit, and a complete lack of tannin or savory characters in what was called a Kingston Black Single Varietal (SV) should raise eyebrows.
Sweeter ciders will show more noticeable varietal character but do not confuse this with unfermented apple. A description of an uncommon apple/pear variety may be provided. If one isn’t, do your best by looking for common markers, and seeing if a noticeable varietal character is present (even if you don’t recognize it). Other details can be looked up as needed before or even during judging.
By now I have a pretty good idea how the Northern Spy apples I’ve used will perform in cider. Moderately high sugar in the 1.057 range, high to sometimes very high acidity, and more tannin than a dessert apple but not near most bittersweets. Good SV ability even though far from complex. I commonly get pear character from these apples, sometimes melon. But what if I told you there were a hundred variants of Northern Spy out there, and yours may exhibit noticeably different characteristics?
This goes for even the most famous cider apples: I’ve participated in a group tasting of eight ciders made of nothing but Kingston Black (KB) and two others with a large majority of KB. I expected savory characters a bit like olive, dried fruits like apricot, a sort of dusty feel, apple skins, and generally a lack of anything overtly apple-flavored. All 10 ciders had things in common, and could be seen as relatives of each other, but the incidence of the same descriptors popping up in reviews was very low. They were 10 individual, identifiable beverages. Thus, even though KB is one of the most recognizable apples to me, it cannot be boiled down to 3-4 universally agreed-upon descriptors; cider judges will not be expected to memorize useless lists.
As cider judges, you’ll be asked to know whether certain well-known apples are generally characterized as Sweet, Sharp, Bittersweet, or Bittersharp. However, note these are not ironclad delineations. Some of the Dabinett and all of the Yarlington Mill apples I’ve used have produced juice too high in pH to be microbially stable on their own; however, others have had no trouble making SV cider with either. Therefore, just know where some of the most well-known apples generally tend to fall on the sugar/acid/tannin scales.
Understanding nuance, subtlety, notes, layering, finesse
In the United States, there is often a mentality that if a little of something is good, then a lot must be better. You’ve seen it in imperial stouts that were never thick enough for some judges, or were completely buried in bourbon. Some brewers like DIPA-levels of hop flavor in a blonde ale. The American wine world is full of “powerful” in-your-face reds with tons of extracted color, body, and tannin or Chardonnays that are like drinking oak juice. Cider is no different; power is too often thought to pass for beauty. It shouldn’t.
As the “bigger is better” mentality has grown over the years, a lack of these characters is sometimes thought of as a negative. This is rarely true. Subtle is a positive descriptor that means light, not thin or weak. Something that is nuanced is the opposite of simplistic or one-note. Nuance brings one back repeatedly to a cider, makes a judge do a double-take, to really concentrate, to wonder “is that…melon?” Using “notes of…” means a small amount, and is generally not something ever-present. Like musical notes, they should be a part of, and fit with, a greater whole.
A cider that has reasonable levels of all the various attributes might be called balanced, but if it hits the palate in an awkward, clumsy manner that detracts from enjoyment, a judge might say it lacks finesse. Finesse is something you know when you experience it and a lack thereof can be noted in Overall as a reason for not achieving a higher score. Something described instead as coarse or rustic can be very enjoyable at a reasonably low level, but when higher become a significant detractor.
Complex does not just mean many distinct characteristics, but something that changes over time – something with real layering is true complexity. Overwhelming cider with excessive ingredients is just as likely to cause palate fatigue as it is to be called complex. A constant bludgeoning of the same strong aromas with no real layers will create more of a superficial impression than a complex one. Finally, complexity is desirable, but neither required nor a substitute for a clean fermentation, and a one-note cider may win gold if it does everything else well.