Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition

Ambrosia had the honor of starting with GLINTCAP as a judge in 2015. Originating from Chicago, Ambrosia had the privilege of contributing to the cider community by founding Chicago Cider Week and establishing both Northman Cider Bar locations. Most recently, Ambrosia held the Director of Restaurant Operations role at Fountainhead Hospitality Group, cherishing the opportunity to learn and grow within the food and beverage industry. Judging beverage competitions throughout the country, GLINTCAP is by far a favorite.

2024 will mark Jeffrey C. Cottrell’s ninth GLINTCAP as a competitor and eighth as part of the behind-the-scenes crew helping to bring the world’s largest cider and perry competition to fruition. Hailing from Saginaw, Michigan, he is the Registrar at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History. Other interests include volunteering his time as President and Curator of the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame and as a board member for the International Sports Heritage Association. Jeff likes to spend time playing his bass, traveling to Michigan cideries, and getting to know the owners/makers and the products they produce. He loves to help those producers press apples into the cider used to ply their craft. His home orchard boasts eight apple trees (MM111) which inspire his contributions to the noncommercial side of the competition. CCP Level 1 was achieved in 2023 and he has set his sights on the Certified Pommelier exam when testing returns to Michigan. Jeffrey and Haley have been married for 16 years and they have two children.

Michelle Foik brings seasoned, proven, high-profile leadership with comprehensive knowledge of restaurant operations and experience in all aspects of the beer and cider industry. She has specialized in the craft beverage industry in Chicago and Michigan for the last 25 years. She grew up in a family hotel restaurant background and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stout with a degree in Hospitality and Tourism. Michelle spearheaded both sales and operations at such giants as Virtue Cider, Revolution Brewing, and Goose Island Brewing. Now she’s taken that passion for the industry to another level, with ERIS (the goddess of Chaos) Brewery and Cider House.

Charles McGonegal started AEppelTreow Winery (pronounced “apple true”) in 2001 as an elaborate ploy to buy his wife more jewelry. And that’s what he keeps telling her. Starting with a biochemistry degree from Michigan Technological University, a modicum of food analytical chemistry experience, a burgeoning relationship with a grower of heirloom apples, and carboy of insanity, Charles leveraged a basement cider operation into the smallest nationally distributed cider brand. Mr. McGonegal practices an esoteric branch of cidermaking; growing traditional bittersweet European cider cultivars and perry pears and exercising the fine art of the methode champenoise. His pursuit of ‘building cider from the ground up’ has even led him into the labyrinthine mysteries of the USDA Quarantine System, from which he has emerged with even more hard-to-grow – but flavorful – apples and pears. Charles has been an active participant in the developing American cider community, as Vice President of the Great Lakes Cider and Perry Association, judge-educator for the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, contributor to the BJCP Cider Style Guidelines, and presenting at cider seminars in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In 2009, AEppelTreow branched into the world of nano-distilling. In his spare time, Charles is employed as a chemist at a Chicago-area petrochem research company where he entertains his co-workers with amazing tricks in MS Excel, has presented informatics philosophy and implementation to the National Conference of the American Chemical Society and scribbles on the backs of his 15 patents in reactive chromatography and high-throughput catalyst screening. Indeed, only Charles’ boundless modesty keeps him from world domination.

Malaika Tyson (CiderSoms) develops and produces written, visual, and multimedia cider-related content. She began her adventures in cider almost two decades ago and has converted many cider skeptics into cider lovers. Malaika has been a steward at GLINTCAP for several years and recently served as the 2023 Steward Coordinator. Malaika is excited to continue in the role for 2024!