Jan 14, 2010

Illinois Cider Contests Name Winners

The Illinois State Horticulture Society (ISHS) sponsored its 21st Annual Illinois Cider Contest, held in conjunction with the Illinois Specialty Crops, Agritourism and Organic Conference Jan. 7 in Springfield.

Edwards Apple Orchard, Poplar Grove, Ill., produced the No.1 overall cider at this year’s contest, adding to its 2006 wins in both the national and state contests. Ken and Barb Hall pressed their winning cider for this year’s contest with a Goodnature Squeezebox Nov. 4, using Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious and GoldRush as the core apple varieties in their blend.

Second Place National went to Jim Hill of Hill Bros. in Grand Rapids, Mich. Pat Curran of Curran Orchard in Rockford, Ill., won Third Place National and Second Place Illinois Cider. Third Place Illinois Cider was awarded to Craig Tanner of Tanners Orchard in Speer. Midwest Cider of Merit, First Runner-up was awarded to Tom Schwartz of Schwartz Orchards in Centralia, Ill. Steve Bock of Hill-Hill Orchard in Waterman, Ill., was awarded the Midwest Cider of Merit, Second Runner-up; the Midwest Cider of Merit, Third Runner-up went to Keith, Denise and Justina Boggio of Boggio’s Orchard and Produce in Granville, Ill.

Judges evaluated the entries using a 25-point rating scale for cider quality characteristics. The judges conducted “blind” evaluations, where only a randomly chosen sample number identified each cider entry.

ISHS also sponsored the 8th Annual Hard Cider Contest. Jon and Robert Karr from The Orchard in Emporia, Kan., were awarded the Champion Hard Cider Award, using a blend of Jonathan, Ozark Gold and Gala. Each hard cider was individually awarded points based on characteristics like clarity, color, bouquet, balance of alcohol, acidity, sweetness, sugar/acid balance, body, flavor, astringency and bitterness, any off-flavors and overall quality.