Michigan Apple Cider Contest returns for 27th edition
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EmailOpen to commercial apple producers, the contest takes place at the Great Lakes Expo on Dec. 10, 2025.
The Michigan Apple Cider Contest is back in 2025 for its 27th edition. Please consider entering! Download the entry form.
Michigan State University Extension is happy to continue this tradition and is looking forward to honoring the excellence of commercial cider production in Michigan. The Michigan State Horticultural Society and the Michigan Apple Committee are again proudly sponsoring the contest, which is being run by Michigan State University Extension’s southeast Michigan fruit educator.
The Michigan Apple Cider Contest and the sweet and hard cider educational program are part of the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO conference, which is being held Dec. 9-11 at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Entering the contest is easy, just bring 2 gallons of thawed cider to the Exhibitors Registration booth at the EXPO Registration area on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or Wednesday morning from 8 a.m. to noon. Judging will take place Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 10. Many of the winning ciders over the years of this competition have been from frozen cider made earlier in the fall.
The sweet and hard cider educational sessions are held Tuesday morning, Dec. 9. There will be two separate 1-hour sessions with a 1-hour break in the middle. The first session on hard cider will take place from 8:30-9:30 a.m. and feature special guests Mike and Mark Vansteenkiste from Twin Pines Orchard and Cider House in Thedford, Ontario. The sweet cider session will be from 10:30-11:30 a.m. and focus on unpasteurized cider regulations and cider preservation.
Instead of the traditional Expo Banquet, there will be an evening social on Wednesday. The winners of the contest will be announced at the social, with the final round entrants being notified ahead of the event. The winner will receive the traveling trophy and second and third place will receive plaques. The awards are sponsored by the Michigan Apple Committee, Michigan State Horticultural Society and Fruit Growers News.
