By Bruce Buerger, Cider Exam Team Lead
Work on the cider exam is progressing despite some setbacks due to schedule constraints. We have completed our first draft of the question pool for the online exam portion of the program and we are currently working through revisions. One of the challenges we have is determining just how many apple and pear varieties we should be focusing on, as well what characteristics they can provide. ‘Can provide’ is a key term when it comes to cider and perry because the attributes that an apple or pear contributes is greatly influenced by seasonal conditions, time harvested, and timing of pressing after crush.
Preparations are underway for a third tasting trial to be held in Baltimore on June 7th during NHC. If you’re interested in taking that exam check out the Scheduled Exams page on the BJCP website. The exam is free of charge but space is limited and those who take it will required to be cider tasting exam graders once the participant becomes a Cider Judge and the program is launched. The first two tasting trials have been a great success helping us work out the format, test our infrastructure’s existing cider knowledge, and with helping build our grader pool.
Our next steps include posting a cider resource page to the BJCP website, completing the online exam question pool, and completing the study guide. We are currently forecasting the launch of the program in 2017. As always, should there be any questions please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].