Abram Goldman-Armstrong is a cider-maker, writer, and brewer. In this interview, Goldman-Armstrong discusses growing up on a subsistence farm in rural Yamhill County, Oregon, where his parents, homebrewing, and the emerging craft beer and cider industries shaped his early appreciation for fermentation. He reflects on early memories of food and drink culture, learning to make cider with bittersweet English apples, discovering craft beer as a teenager, and developing parallel interests in writing, punk culture, and homebrewing. After attending Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, studying abroad at University College Cork in Ireland, and returning to Oregon, he traces his path into professional cider-making through work that began in high school at White Oak Cider in Yamhill County before founding Cider Riot! in Portland in 2013. He describes building the cidery and its role in Portland's cider community, as well as its growth, recognition, and eventual closure amid changing consumer tastes and the city's evolving business climate. The interview also explores his move to Norway in 2020, where he continued his cider career with Tall Ship Craft Cider and later Alde Sider in Hardanger. Goldman-Armstrong reflects on his involvement in beer and cider culture through homebrewing, judging, writing, festival organizing, and education, including the Oregon Brew Crew, the Beer Judge Certification Program, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Belmont Station, and Northwest Brewing News. A recurring theme throughout the interview is the generosity and mentorship he experienced within the homebrewing, brewing, and cider-making communities and the ways those relationships shaped his development as a writer, cidermaker, and business owner. Additional topics include his work as a carpenter and deconstruction specialist building breweries and tasting rooms, and his commitment to sustainability and organic brewing.
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