Black Apple Cidery Gains Global Recognition at Cidermaking Industry ‘Oscars’

Black Apple Hard Cider in Springdale has been awarded a top award in the Flavoured Cider category at the International Brewing & Cider Awards 2024. Black Apple’s Blackberry took home gold following three days of deliberations from an international panel of judges from around the world.

Blackberry is a semi-sweet cider with a fresh blackberry flavor and a bright tart finish.

Blackberry launched as Black Apple’s seasonal Harvest Series in the Fall of 2019 and became a year-round staple in the Spring of 2023. Blackberry is available all year across Arkansas and NE Oklahoma.

“When our cider colleagues overseas encouraged us to compete in this prestigious 138-year-old cider competition, we were simply honored to be invited,” said Leo Orpin, co-founder of Black Apple. “There are no words to describe the excitement from our team winning in the United Kingdom, which is considered the origin of hard cider as we know it. Blackberry winning a gold medal against so many international titans of the cider industry confirms our belief that cider made the hard way is more than just our company tagline. It's our award-winning formula.”

Black Apple opened in downtown Springdale in July 2015 as the state’s only cidery. It manufactures and serves over 14 varieties of hard cider in a historic building and taproom on Emma Avenue. The cider has been available statewide in bars and restaurants since 2018 and in cans statewide since 2019.

The International Brewing & Cider Award competition’s unique approach to the judging process sets it apart from other awards, which ensures each beer and cider is judged fairly and rigorously on its quality and commercial value. The 38-strong judging panel was chosen to reflect the current expertise in the tasting and commercial evaluation of beers and ciders going into the market and blind-tasted hundreds of beers and ciders submitted by brewers and cider makers from around the world. It is these values that have earned it the reputation as the ‘Oscars of the brewing and cider world’.

A full list of all 2024 medal winners can be found on The International Brewing & Cider Awards’ website: www.brewingawards.org