Fruit & Vegetable Magazine

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Brock University hosts Canada’s first internationally accredited cider production program

May 3, 2017  By Tiffany Mayer


May 3, 2017, St. Catharines, Ont. – The Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) recently hosted Canada’s first and only internationally accredited apple and pear cider production program.

The course, which ran last week, was an intensive five-day study of all aspects of making cider, covering fruit production, quality control, and how to turn fermenting apples and pears into a financially fruitful endeavour.

Mostly, though, the intention of the program was to establish a benchmark of skills and knowledge for an industry exploding like a bottle over-fermented home brew on a hot day.

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Amateur fermenters and apple growers with dreams of starting their own cideries, and professionals wanting to sharpen their beverage-making skills, were keen to drink in what Gerling and CCOVI had to offer.

The course, called cider and perry production – a foundation, filled up within a few short weeks of being announced in February. CCOVI already has a waiting list of 20 students from throughout Canada who are eager to enroll the next time it runs.

Given growth in craft cider sales, which increased 54 per cent in Ontario in 2015-16, interest in the course isn’t likely go flat. READ MORE


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