Mike was a Chemical/Environmental Engineer with over 40 years Australian and International experience. He was a Statutory Environmental Auditor for over 10 years and had a number of lead roles in various sustainability organisations. He recently retired as Chairman of Judges for the Banksia Foundation – now the longest running environment/sustainability awards organisation in the World. It was in this role in the Foundations early years that Mike and Rob first met.
Mike has been growing cider apples and making cider for around 15 years in Australia under the banner of Crucible Cider, having earlier begun his cider journey in UK while on secondment for several years in the early 90’s– something to do on a cold, frosty night!
His approach is one of minimum intervention with all natural ingredients. This has resulted in his Traditional Dry Cider winning a Gold Medal for traditional Cider at the National Cider Awards in 2021, as well as Best In Class.
Accolades for the cider have come from no less than the esteemed wine/cider writer Max Allen – “The Crucible Cider is the real deal!”