The inaugural Cider and Perry awards at the Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards (RMFFA) have proven to be a tough gig, with no gold medals being awarded.

Conducted by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV), the RMFFA is a premier fine food event, seeking to promote excellence and to celebrate boutique producers and regional specialists.

For this the first year of competition, there were 67 entries across 11 categories, with a total of five silver medals and 18 bronze medals being awarded.

Among those gaining silver medals were industry stalwarts Henry of Harcourt (VIC), Pipsqueak (WA) and Napoleone & Co (VIC). Much loved cider brand Hills Cider Co also picked up a few bronze medals, along with Spreyton Cider Co (TAS), St Ronan’s (TAS) and relative newcomers Flying Brick Cider Co (VIC). The latter had the honour of receiving a medal for every cider they entered in the competition. Not bad for a company that is just over 18 months old.

Flying Brick Cider Maker, Nyall Condon says it is exciting to see the craft cider industry taking off and to be part of a dynamic and relatively new Australian industry’s evolution.

“To have each of the Flying Brick Cider Co ciders recognised and awarded a Bronze in their own individual categories is a really gratifying result for the entire Flying Brick Cider team,” he says.

There are many in the industry that believe that craft and small batch cider in Australia will soon be heading the same way as the craft beer and boutique wine industry.

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