Colorado Cider & Beer Circus Review

This past weekend in Copper Mountain, Colorado (a small mountain/skiing town about an hour and a half west of Denver), a fantastic cider event took place: the Colorado Cider & Beer Circus.  Held on Saturday, with one event on Friday, there was definitely plenty to see and do (and drink!)

When I arrived in town on Friday, I headed immediately to the Copper Mountain Resort, where the event took place.  That evening, there were two sessions of cider and cheese pairings, held by world-renowned cheese judge Michael Landis.  There were five different types of cheeses, paired with six different ciders, including those from Stem (Le Chêne), Colorado Common (Summit House), St. Vrain (Pink Guava), Talbott’s (Six Gin limited release), Colorado Cider Company (Perry) and Gypsy Cider Circus (Queen of Swords).  I found this event to be very informative. I feel like I have a better idea how to pair cider, especially if I have had the cider before. It really is about, as Michael put it, balancing the flavors of the two.  

From there, I took a non-Cider Circus related side trip back to Denver for the evening.  First, I headed to Stem Ciders. Located in the trendy RiNo district of Denver, the taphouse is surrounded by many other artistically inclined businesses, including many breweries.  It was a Friday so, of course, it was busy, along with the fact that it was a home Rockies game. People were everywhere but the service was quick and helpful. While there are names of ciders on the wall, with small descriptions, the menus give full descriptions, helping those less informed about their ciders (or cider in general) by giving a pretty accurate and in-depth flavor profile.  I got a flight of four of their delicious ciders that I had yet to try and enjoyed watching people enjoy themselves and their ciders.

Only a few short blocks away is C Squared Ciders location, which they share with Bierstadt Brewery in a location called the Rackhouse Pub.  This is another great weekend spot that has two floors, with the top floor being a restaurant and bar. On this night, they had a special event: wrestling!  While I didn’t pay to view the wrestling, the people who did seemed to enjoy it. I, on the other hand, had two limited edition ciders and a fantastic serving of meatballs and enjoyed a really great atmosphere.  Even though it was packed, the acoustics in this old warehouse made the noise level perfect for conversation even though you are surrounded by hundreds of people. After a great visit to downtown, I headed back towards Copper Mountain and stayed in a little mountain town about halfway between the two.

Saturday at the Circus was a full day.  The event area was located at the base of some of the ski hills, with booths surrounding the area.  Most booths were for cidermakers but there were three breweries there (Periodic, Epic and Crooked Stave) along with other makers of like-minded goods and products.  In the middle of the open booths were seats and tables, along with a covered sitting area where the Cider Classes were held. In the open courtyard, there was a stage with the circus performance area to the side.  

For those of us with First Pour tickets, we got to start an hour early.  The lineup for those of us not from Colorado made it hard to know where to start: there were so many makers that I’ve never had a chance to try, including Colorado Common, Big B’s, Apple Valley Cider, Wild Cider, St. Vrain, Talbott’s, Colorado Cider, Snow Capped and, my biggest revelation, Clear Fork.  On top of that, Ace Cider from California, Finnriver from Washington and the two Colorado makers that have wider distribution, Stem and C Squared, were there, too.

After a few pours, I made it just in time for the first performance of the Salida Circus.  They put on four performances throughout the day, each time with 5 different acts, all of which were very entertaining and exciting.  The most amazing thing to see was the little kids being involved in the trapeze performances! While this helps the festival live up to its name, more importantly, it was one of many things to make this festival more than your typical beer festival.  It wasn’t just an afternoon spent sampling and drinking beers and ciders; it was an event that allowed you to take a break, sit back, relax and enjoy your samples. And to round that out, there were bands that played, a DJ between those performances and a phenomenal close-up magician (Scotty Wiese, check him out!) that wandered around the event, entertaining everyone that had a chance to watch him.

Throughout the event, there were also cider classes that helped to educate the guests about different facets of cider.  The first class was another cheese pairing hosted by Mr. Landis, again, this time with each cheese paired with a C Squared Cider, including a pour of their limited French-style cider Cousteau.  The second class was presented by Jana Daisy-Ensign from Finnriver about their strive for sustainability and conservation and the role that cider plays in that. Everyone who participated got to sample some limited ciders and learn how each of those ciders were an example of Finnriver’s mission.  The third class was hosted by Talbott’s Cider and was centered around flavor profiles in cider. For me, it was great to hear new cider consumers ask so many great questions about the whole process of making cider and what made ciders different from each other. It turned into a great question and answer session that I’m sure many people left feeling much more knowledgeable.  The last session was hosted by Dean Landi from St. Vrain who is also president of the Colorado Cider Guild. This class was about the purpose of the Guild. One of the key things most of use took away from this class was that the Guild help unify these manufacturers to help each and every one of them grow and become successful.

While I would love to share all about the conversations that I had with many of the makers (and with Stephanie Carson, the fantastic person who organized the whole festival, along with being the media person for her husband’s Tennessee-based cider, Gypsy Cider Circus), there were also a great many ciders consumed throughout the day!  But the common thread with all of these conversations was that everyone had such a passion about their cider and were excited to share what they had brought. Talking about the future of the event, Stephanie shared that the hope is to go to a two-day event, with hopefully some big-name bands over both days. But the one thing is for sure, this event is already big and excitement packed that is helping to educate the consumer, new and veteran alike.  I would not hesitate to return to this event in upcoming years!

Hello everyone!  My name is Shawn Frank and some of may know me as Where’s My Cider? I am now guest writing for Ciderscene if anything comes around the Great Plains region of the country.  

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