News

Christmas is coming up fast and you’re probably looking for a gift for that cider lover in your life. Ria from Cider Chat, the US-based cider podcast, and I have had a chat about what cider books we would recommend and some that we are hoping to read soon.

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Press Release: Cider Australia welcomes today’s announcement by the Federal Government that it will restrict the Wine Equalisation Tax rebate (WET rebate) to genuine cider businesses that sell branded Australian cider and perry. Read More

That’s right folks. Real Cider Reviews is going to be a little bit more vide-o-eee-ish? from now on. The reviews will still be there, but not they may be matched …
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Watch out world. The Aussies are making kick ass ciders. At this year’s 2016 Australian Cider awards the quiet revolution was on show. You see these Aussie cider makers have been honing their skills with the limited palette of eating apples, but now, now the cider apple trees planted 4 years ago are starting to literally bare fruit. Like a photographer growing up with black and white film, suddenly there is colour. And It’s Awesome.

The Awards were presided over by the wine and cider writer Max Allen with the British cider writer Bill Bradshaw. The room is full of well-known Australian Craft Cider makers, a few newcomers and a few sponsors that provide the infrastructure to keep this industry running. The full results after break

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An impressive 28 craft cider producers will showcase 112 different ciders at the 2016 Australian Cider Festival, being held in Melbourne this Saturday.

Over 1,000 people are expected to attend …
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The countdown begins for nervous entrants to the 2016 Australian Cider Awards as judges prepare to ‘blind’ taste an exciting selection of ciders and perries from Australia, the US, UK, Ireland, Spain and New Zealand.
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California Cider Competition & MASICC Announce Winners for 2016 Competitions
The public is invited to taste the hard cider winners and pairings at the Mendocino County Fair &  Apple Show, September 17 and 18 Boonville, CA (September 9, 2016) The 3rd annual California Cider Competition, the state’s only cider contest, announced the winners of its 2016 challenge.
The competition award results are: Read More

Cider Australia has called on the Federal Government to refocus its Wine Equalisation Tax. In Australia, the WET tax is designed to help small local producers compete against the big players in the market. This is a tax of 29% of the wholesale value of wine. Currently Aussie wine, cider and perry producers are eligible for a rebate of up to AU$500,000 on the tax. For the big players this is “nice to have”. Not having it isn’t going to kill them. For the smaller players with a handful of staff this is the only way they can compete.

As it stands all Cider makers (excluding fruit ciders) are eligible. The Australian Government is trying to reduce the cost of the rebate to the Federal Budget. So Cider Australia is proposing to exclude cider makers who use imported juice or concentrate. The theory is if you want the rebate you must buy your juice from Australian growers. This will ensure the tax dollars from the rebate say in the Aussie economy. As the biggest players take the most rebate while using imported concentrate this adjustment would be a big saving. Craft Cider producers do not claim anywhere near the maximum $500,000 as they just don’t sell the volume.

Full Cider Australia press release after the break

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