Scider: sampling the craft, chemistry and genetics in every glass
Think you know your cider? It’s time to discover the science beneath the surface. Cider fans from the Wellcome Sanger Institute’s Tree of Life team and EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have teamed up with Simon’s Cider, an award-winning cider maker just up the road in Godmanchester.
Using apples from our own orchard on the Wellcome Genome Campus, Simon has created a unique blend to aid the exploration of some cider science. Watch the videos below for a taste of the craft, chemistry and genetics in every glass.
Simon Gibson, scientific cider making
How does a cider maker choose the best apples for the tastiest cider? What scientific tests can be applied in the orchard to produce an award-winning batch? Simon Gibson, who runs Simon’s Cider in Godmanchester, explains the science behind his craft.
James Blackshaw, unleash the yeast
We know what cider is, but how does it work? How do we get from apple juice to delicious cider? What is yeast and what part does it play in this process? James Blackshaw, a biochemist at EMBL-EBI, reveals the science behind cider.
Max Brown, researching apple DNA
Where did our different apple varieties come from? How can farmers grow more and better apples? And how do we stop apple diseases such as “scab”? Max Brown, a genomicist and bioinformatician at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, explores cutting-edge research into apple DNA.