Everyone loves a good cider, and craft cideries are popping up rapidly.
But without a good understanding of the science of cider-making, businesses might find it hard to solve the tricky cider challenges they might face.
The University of Tasmania is now offering Australia’s first cider-making short course combining science and business expertise, ‘Cider Start Up: The science and business of starting your own craft cidery.’
Cider Start Up is a fully online and self-paced course which has been developed in partnership with industry, including Fermentasmania.
Dr Robin Katersky Barnes, Coordinator of the Associate Degree in Science (Fermentation and Separation Science), said the course focuses on both the science and business of craft cider.
We have cider-makers share their first-hand experiences of both the business and science sides of things, what has or hasn’t worked, and how they’ve worked through it to improve their products.
Learn the science and business of starting your own craft cidery.
Dr Fiona Kerslake, Research Fellow at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, will be sharing her scientific expertise in cider-making in the course.
“Industry wanted us to look at whether we could raise the quality of ciders across the industry,” she said.
We found that people really needed a better understanding of the basics around scientific principles of cider-making and what differentiates it from brewing or wine-making.
Little facts about cider-making that have a big impact on your cider
Cider is very different to create compared to wine and beer: There’s only a handful of cider-specific producers so there are a lot of products coming onto the market from wineries and breweries. Producers ideally need to know how cider-making differs from making wine and beer.
pH level: The higher pH level of the juice that you’re working with can make it tricker to make a stable product. If it goes wrong, it can go really wrong.
Know your apples: Cider apples taste very tart and mouth-puckering. With apples intended for eating, the sugar acid balances quite differently so you’re working with two very different things. This complicates cider making.
When you juice: Even storing apples versus using them when they’ve just been picked can impact the cider.
Cider Start Up: The science and business of starting your own craft cidery
Who should take this short course: People currently in the cider industry, hobbyists, or those who want the skills to explain the science behind cider-making (i.e. marketing or sales staff).
Duration: 18 hours
Delivery: Online
Course dates: Start anytime
Price: $250
Ready to get started? Find out more Cider Start Up.