Thursday 17 March 2011

Antici...pation!

The clamour for a taste of our new season ciders and perries has reached an all time high. 'Clamour Factor 7' or thereabouts, which is quite high I think you'll agree.

In response to this persistent (and altogether welcome) customer demand, I've taken to mooching around the ciderhouse. Sniffing here, dipping my 'Cider Thief' there, looking for that which all cidermakers yearn for at this time of the year. A cider that's ready to go-go-go...

It's mostly bad news I'm afraid. The plop and fizz of yeasty activity is still evident in several vats, and most of those that have finished fermenting are still far from ready. So the outlook from the ciderhouse is still rather cloudy, though clearing from the (erm!) top down. Things are looking brighter for April... or maybe May, by which time the Clamour Factor will have probably reached 11... with storms brewing at several pubs we know!
2010 Yarlington Mill Cider Apples

It's not all bad news though. There's just a slight possibility that a rogue fermenter may have gone quite literally 'fermentation crazy', and finished slightly earlier than its sluggish cidery pals.

Now I can't promise anything at this stage, but plucky old Vat #5 (a mostly Yarlington Mill blend) appears to have cleared quite nicely, and could just possibly be ready to go. I need to have another, more careful, slightly bigger taste tomorrow morning, before there's any chance I can pass it fit for release. If it is ready, we're looking at a full-bodied 7.2% abv version of our very popular Red Kite Cider. Ooooh!...

...and if it isn't!... well, can you come back in April?.... or maybe May?...

3 comments:

Phil said...

Don't forget to save some for our cider ham project!

Unknown said...

...don't ham's dissolve in cider?

Mark said...

Eventually I'd imagine. How much do you need Phil, and do you have a preference for style?