Rockingham Forest Cider

Ciderhouse News - February

2012-01-31T11:55:00.000-08:00

The season gets under way even earlier than usual this year, with a barrel of our very popular Blakeney Red Perry making its way to The Hucknall Beer Festival, c/o our friends at Torkard Cider. This special new-season perry is the result of our recent racking, blending and topping-up adventures. We used a smaller fermenter of Blakeney Red for topping up the big tubs, and ended up with 5 gallons of beautifully clear, naturally sweet, and modestly strength'd (4.9%) perry, going spare and needing a good home:

Work has now started on the renovation of Middleton Village Orchard. Walls are being re-built, with landscaping and better access planned. More details can be gleaned here, and I'll be popping across the road with my camera to record progress on an irregular basis.

Our garden orchard is currently enjoying a welcome cold-snap, much needed if we're to avoid the trees budding up too early and suffering frost damage. It's going to be touch and go over the next few weeks whether we get a proper spell of cold, encouraging dormancy, and safeguarding this years crop for orchardists everywhere. This picture features one of the few remaining Bramley apples which the Blackbirds and Redwings haven't had a peck at yet. They are of course, very welcome to them.

Mussels & Cider

2012-01-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

Necessity really is the mother of invention isn't it, and what could be more satisfying than giving yourself over entirely to necessity, and in so doing creating something surprisingly tasty from a few fridge scraps... and a bag of shellfish.

I've featured Mussels before on this blog, they're my 'Home Alone' treat, and the perfect accompaniment to a glass of cider and hunk of crusty bread. Half a kilo of fresh shiny-black Mussels are one of lifes real pleasures. A pleasure to look at, a simple pleasure to cook, and just the most moreish finger food there is. Karen doesn't like them, which is obviously a bonus for me. Half a kilo each is a good weight for a Saturday evening at home with a good movie. You may need to use the subtitle option though, the annoying rustle of a crisp packet is as nothing to the rattle and slurp of a bowl of Mussels.

I bought my Mussels on Leicester Market. Proper barnacle-encrusted Brancaster beauties, bought by the weight, and wrapped in paper, not vac-pac'd and swimming in garlic butter from the supermarket. There's a little more work involved for sure. Barnacles and beards need removing, and a good scrub won't go amiss, but I really like this bit of prep, and it's a good opportunity to find broken or gaping shells which may need rejecting. If a Mussel doesn't snap to attention after a sharp tap on the sink, it's a goner and not for the pot.

When it came to cooking these Mussels, I started as I usually do by opening a bottle of good dry cider. On this occasion, a bottle of our dwindling stock of 2010 Kingston Black/Sweet Alford blend. Rich, fruity, full of varietal character, a slight suggestion of sweetness. In fact almost too good to cook with.

Normandie Mussel Surprise

Saute a finely chopped Clove of Garlic and a tablespoon of finely chopped Onion or Shallot in a nob Butter until softened. To the hot pan add the Mussels and a good slosh of the Dry Cider (Medium/Dry would be fine, but definately not any sweeter). Cover and steam for a minute or two until all the Mussels have opened for your pleasure. At this point, remove the Mussels with a slotted spoon and keep warm.

This is where necessity makes an appearance. I wanted to add a bit of cream to the stock, but the cream was somewhat past its best. Instead I was forced to turn to a scrag-end of creamy Camembert, a leftover from the Christmas cheese board, all gooey and ripe, but still in good condition. I added a chunk of this to the pan, and stirred until I had a thin sauce, seasoned with Black Pepper, and poured over the waiting Mussels. At this point you may want to add some Chopped Parsley, I would certainly have liked to but my luck had well and truly ran out by now. The Mussels were great nevertheless.

Cider Barrel Half-Empty

2012-01-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

This evenings blog post was supposed to be a lengthy treatise on the cidery delights of Tewkesbury, a town set in the very heart of Three Counties cider and perry country. Our trip to Tewkesbury was long overdue, the perrys need racking off, and we can't do that without a couple of new Food-Grade Blue Tubs. It's a little known fact that Tewkesbury is a good source of these tubs, and we hoped to 'add value' to the trip with a day out in the town.

I'd researched my subject well, and was reasonably sure that the unspoilt medieval charm of Tewkesbury would conceal a reasonable range of traditional Ye Olde Worlde Local Cyders, and maybe even some Fyne Glostershire Perries. Sadly, t'was not to be the case.

The Royal Hop Pole almost delivered the goods. A Westons cider and Wetherspoon newcomer Gwynt-Y-Ddraig Black Dragon Cider might seem to you a good result, but the fact is I could have stayed at home for these. The Nottingham Arms proved to be another Westons stronghold, nice but not what I was after. The Berkeley Arms promised cider, but there was none to be seen, and Tewkesbury newcomer Theoc House listed bottles of Archies Cotswold Cider, but didn't have any on my visit. To make matters worse, the only pub in town I was guaranteed cider of sorts, was the White Bear, but I ran out of time for this pub. In the world of Twitter, this is known as a #totalciderfail.

Never mind, in an attempt to salvage the day, I turned to retail therapy, which is something Tewkesbury excels at. So here's what I got:

At last! Proper Gloucestershire Cider from Severn Cider of Awre near Newnham. This is a pure juice medium cider, full flavoured, fruity, tannic, and beautifully rounded and smooth to drink. That Wine Place on the High Street also have ciders from Three Choirs Vineyard, Gwatkin, and Lyne Down Farm. Thank heavens for that!

This weighty tome would certainly have been considered 'modern' in 1956 when it was first published, but there's still plenty in here of relevance to the fruit grower and orchardist today. It's got some nice pictures in it too.

This little scrumpy-swilling fella came with a 50p price tag, and will take pride of place amongst my collection of jars and jugs in the ciderhouse. I've decided to call him 'Little Ray', for no particular reason...

We've also got the aforementioned Blue Tubs, so next weekend I'll be racking the perries, and needless to say blogging about the experience here.

Bits'n'Bobs (Formerly Ciderhouse News) - January

2012-01-11T12:28:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that we have a 'Mole' inside the Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival organising committee. She (or indeed He) goes by the code name of 'Susan', aka Sue, Susie, The Suse-let etc. depending on what disguise she (or he) is working under. Information can also occasionally comes to us via her (or his) intermediary, 'Paul' aka 'Susans Husband'. Now I'm not at liberty to reveal any more than this, certainly not her (or his) role in the organisation. Suffice to say that our Mole is very close indeed to the inner sanctum of the organisation, and has a key role in the drinks orders, though not necessarily anything to do with the beer... or soft drinks. I can't say any more.

Anyway, Susan has already supplied us with a few nuggets of information ahead of the event, on the strict understanding that we carefully 'leak' them here. So I can now exclusively reveal, that subject to all the usual issues of supply, this years cider bar will feature a whole bunch of local Ciders (and a Perry), as well as a whole bunch more ciders and perries from elsewhere. It's hoped that over the weekend the following producers will be represented in one form or another, including rather excitingly the current top three East Midlands producers as judged by CAMRA at last years Nottingham Beer Festival:

Bottle Kicking Cider Co - Leicestershire
Charnwood Cider - Leicestershire
Rockingham Forest Cider (Silver Medal Winner) - Northamptonshire
Scropton Cider (Bronze Medal Winner) - Derbyshire
Thirsty Farmer Cider - Leicestershire
Torkard Cider (Gold Medal Winner) - Nottinghamshire

If I've got any of these details wrong, I can only apologise. Sometimes the intelligence can arrive in a 'scrambled' southern dialect. One other snippet of information: Cider Bar in New Stillaging Shocker! - Folk singer already booked to lament the old ones...

In other breaking news, the Rockingham Forest Ciderhouse Pub Games Collection continues to grow, with the recent acquisition of a vintage Rings Board and accompanying collection of Tatty Hoover Belt Rings. Once a very popular pub game, but now mostly confined to Ireland and the Ventnor area of the Isle of Wight, this handsome board will take pride of place on the ciderhouse wall ready for the entertaining of visitors. A lovely old Mahogany Cribbage Board has been secured for the scoring, though lacking lovely-pegs as yet. We're still on the look out for a Sussex Toad in the Hole, though heaven knows where we're going to put one...

It's always nice to get a bit of feedback on this blog, nice and usually a surprise since we know our readership is usually quite slim (in numbers, not necessarily girth!). It was a genuine delight to receive the following message from across the water in Ireland, and on a subject close to my heart. The famous Anna McKean Christmas Pudding which I'm pleased to say we enjoyed again this year:

Hi, I'm Jane from near Rateen, St Johnston and Anna McKean was my grandmother......I can't tell you how delighted and pleased I was for my wonderful Granny when I saw your mention "tip of the hat to Anna's plum pudding". She was a very hard working farmers wife who spent her whole life rearing children - my Mum being the eldest - and cooking, cleaning and best of all baking for those around her. Many people over the years have said what a wonderful baker she was - her shortbread and Christmas cakes (wedding/christening etc cakes) where second to none. Oh and how could I forget her delicious chocolate sponge cake - oh man that was so good. She passed away in Sept 2006, I miss her still. It's heartwarming and deserving for my Gran that she gets some tiny taste of fame for her baking even though it's too late for her. My mum, Joan, and her sisters Mary and Anne are all good bakers too and it was Aunt Mary who discovered this website when she googled Rateen. Thanks again, Jane

Proof, should it be needed, of the wide demographic spread this blog enjoys, thanks for that Jane, the pleasure is all ours. Now, if only we could attract a few more cider enthusiasts to the blog...

Dipping a Toe in the Perrys

2012-01-08T04:48:00.000-08:00

With the mild weather we've been having this Winter, fermentations are much more advanced than during last years big freeze. I'm keen to get some of the earlier pressings, by which I mean the perrys, racked off from the sediment of primary fermentation. Hopefully I'll be in a position to do this within the next week or two, but in the mean time I couldn't resist dipping my 'wine thief' into some of perrys to see how they're progressing.

We sampled four batches of perry, and the contrast with the samples we tasted last year is really quite marked.

The first thing to say is that all of the perrys are clearing nicely, even the blend with quite a high proportion of Green Horse, which usually never clears entirely. Needless to say, the more advanced fermentation has resulted in drier perrys, with all but the Blakeney Red fully dry or med/dry now. Here are our scribbled notes:

Blakeney Red - Pleasantly sweet, soft, clean and with a rich pear fruitiness. There's quite a bit of tannin in the Blakeney this year which is a surprise.

Red Longdon - This is the first time we've had enough pears to make a single variety perry from this variety. At the moment it's producing a sharper, fruity perry which tastes quite similar to a medium/dry white wine.

Malvern Hills - The maceration has certainly had an effect, with much less tannin evident. This is the least impressively flavoured of the perrys at this stage. Dry, with some acidity, Karen described it as 'Crisp'. The Malvern Hills is a long way off being ready, and it should improve as it matures through the year.

Green Horse Blend - This blend has some Red Longdon and Oldfield in it, and it's perhaps the most complex of the perrys we tasted today. There's quite a lot of tongue-coating tannin, and Karen found a slight 'woodiness' in there. It's dry and fruity, with a long finish.

I'm very pleased with the overall condition of the perrys we tried, all of which are clean and fresh, with no signs of the potential problems which can sometimes afflict this delicate drink. I would have to say that at this stage they are all slightly less full-flavoured than last seasons perrys, largely down to being much drier, but possibly also the result of the more vigorous fermentation. Another 2-3 months maturation will give us a much better idea of how things have turned out this year.

2012 - The Year of Gluttony

2012-01-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not one for New Year Resolutions. Every day of the year I resolve to 'do those things which I didn't do yesterday', 'try a little bit harder at that', and of course 'be a generally better person going forward...'. It's a constantly recurring theme in my life, and a major part of the strict Moral Code I endeavour to live by. The failure to achieve these resolutions on a regular and frequent basis is naturally cause for concern, but the trickle effect throughout the year helps to keeps me 'grounded' and 'generally hopeful' in a way that a big New Year Resolution failure probably wouldn't. I think I've said too much now, so on with the point of all this...

I've resolved to indulge myself more this year, mainly because a resolution as simple as this is relatively easy to achieve, and let's not forget that through indulgence lies happiness of a kind. For balance, I've also resolved to indulge Karen more this year too, which is of course entirely altruistic, and therefore carries none of the 'sinful baggage' of my first resolution. Clever eh! I've started early, spoiling Karen royally at Christmas with Chanel No.5, luxury Joules clothing, and Booja-Booja Chocolates. 'But what of yourself Mark?' I hear you ask... 'Don't forget your good self'' you cry. Well you'll be pleased to know I haven't.

Feast your eyes on these two beauties. Indulgence personified. I'm no stranger to the delights of Sampford Courtenay Cider. If nothing else, I'm a huge fan of their eminently re-usable swing-top bottles. The stuff inside is pretty good too, and by luck the Waitrose cider buyer seems to agree with me as this is where you'll find it. At the risk of becoming a full-on advert for Waitrose, have a look at this video, if only for a glimpse of the huge wooden 'Tuns' at Sampford Courtenay, which may or may not be in use but look fantastic nevertheless.

The seasonal offering is a Sloe & Elderberry Fruit Cider. The kind of mad concoction that could be little more than a sickly alco-pop in the wrong hands. The folk at Sampford Courtenay are a safe pair of hands where cider is concerned, and this is lovely, fruity, yet very grown-up stuff. The main point of interest for me is that it still has the tastes and aroma of cider. Rich, strong Devon cider, and really quite dry cider at that. Now it really shouldn't come as a surprise that a cider with other fruits added should actually taste of cider, but the fact is, most of these fruity concoctions seem to be made merely to disguise the cideriness, not enhance it. In the case of the bigger brands, it's all about making your cider as accessible to as wide a demographic as possible, and there's no better way of making your cider accessible than by making it taste like Ribena. We're absolutely not in Ribena territory here.

Did I mention it was Dry? Now that's a real surprise, not least because it's described on the Waitrose shelf as being Sweet. It's a full-bodied, chunky, dryish Devon Cider, carefully overlayed with a subtle berry sweetness, and a fair bit of mouth drying tannin which could originate from just about any of the primary ingredients. If you're looking for an easy-drinking alco-pop, look elsewhere, this is butch, grown-up stuff, at a grown-up price it must be said. If £4.99 a bottle seems a little pricey to you, just think of the lovely bottle you get free, and being a seasonal offering, hope as I do that a special offer is just around the corner.

Talking of special offers, there's really nothing more special (or indeed underhand) than offering a generous free tasting of something absolutely delicious on one of the last shopping days of Christmas. This is how I found myself in possession of a bottle of Zeni Acquavite di Williams, for which the people at Ben's Wine Shop in Oakham can be thanked, or indeed blamed. They obviously know a weak-willed man when they see one.

What can I say about this bottle? In a word, Lush. In four words, Really Very Lush Indeed. You can read the company blurb and details of this spirit here, keep scrolling past the grapey stuff, it's near the end. It's a smooth little devil for sure, spirity, but not at all firey, with a long-long, juicy Williams Pear finish. This takes me all the way back to skiing holidays in Austria, without the troublesome bother of trying to ski that is. It's a versatile spirit, good in a Hip Flask, equally at home straight from the fridge with a slice of Smoked Salmon. It's lovely, indulgent, and a great start to my year of immoderation.

Weighing-Up the Year

2011-12-29T11:36:00.000-08:00

As 2011 draws to a damp and windy conclusion, it's traditional amongst bloggers to look back, take stock, and write a festive space filler in leiu of something more interesting. Well we're bucking the blogging trend, looking firmly forward, and writing a festive space-filler....

To be honest, there's little to report from the ciderhouse. Fermentation continues to bubble away without the interuptions for cold weather we experienced last year. Just as soon as we can get to Tewkesbury for a couple of new tubs, we'll be racking the ciders and perries, and getting a first taster of the 2011 vintage. Needless to say, you'll be able to read all about it right here.

In the mean time, our thoughts turn to forthcoming events where we hope to sell a bit of what we've made. Pre-orders from earlier this year merely need confirming closer to the date, and I'm pleased to say that there are a few new events that we're hoping to be at next year. As ever, the first festival of the year will be the Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival in March, where we'll be sending the very last barrels of our 2010 cider and perry. The theme this year appears to be the Charles Dickens bi-centenary, which is a little worrying to be honest! I do hope nobody rises to the challenge of a Dickens Cider re-badge...

The first opportunity to try our new-season cider and perry is likely to be at the innaugral South Notts Real Ale Festival in May, subject to confirmation.

Enough of the future, let's turn our attention to the presents. Christmas Presents to be precise. It's was a good year for gifts in the Rockingham Forest Cider household. Everyone seemed to get what they wanted, even Karen, but I can honestly say that no-one got what they wanted more than I did.

I swear someone must have been actually listening when I dropped all those unsubtle hints in the run-up to Christmas. How else would a deluxe Jelly Straining Bag have found its way under the tree! The same can be said of the beautiful Acacia wood Pizza Paddle I found stuffed into my Christmas Stocking (even if I did buy that one myself). A Christmas dream come true I hear you say, but hold on, I've saved the best till last...

It's a well-worn tradition in this household that underneath the Christmas Tree, in amongst the little packages of sweet smelling Girly Things, mini-bags of Reindeer Poo Chocolate, and carefully wrapped Hen Treats, there'll always be found the two things I most crave at this time of year. Two neatly wrapped, cool-blue, 120 litre Open-Top Kegs (cider for the fermenting of). These bulky beauties are truly the way to a cidermakers heart at Christmas, which made it all the more perplexing when the tell-tale tub-shaped pressies failed to appear under the tree. What was she thinking!

Well fear not patient readers, I got something even more exciting than 4.5 kilos of food-grade plastic, and a cute-as-a-squirrels-nut Boy Toy no less. Witness the goosebumpingly thrilling MYCO MZ-600 Digital Pocket Scale. Mmm!

This gorgeous brushed aluminium gadget, beloved of small-time drug dealers the world over, is more than capable of (reasonably) acurate measurment down to a (quite) impressive 0.1g. The ideal instrument for measuring out the tiny quantities of Sulphite required to keep our ciders and perries fresh and clean. Backlit for comfortable work in the gloom of the ciderhouse, wipe cleanable, and with a lid for putting 'things' into. The best Christmas EVER!

Ciderhouse News-ette

2011-11-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

With our cidermaking over for another year, and pleasant days spent harvesting in the Cotswolds but a distant memory, it's nice to sit back with a pint of something appropriate and read all about it from the comfort of home. We're nothing if not self-absorbed.

Not content with cluttering up this Blog with our torpid adventures, we also like to graffiti other peoples online space. So I was delighted when the obliging folk of the Shakespeare Branch of CAMRA kindly allowed us a full colour page in their lovely newsletter Shakesbeer to document a day in search of Real Cider in the tourist hot-spot of Broadway during this years harvest. You can read all about it by following this link (We're on page 18, but there's plenty of other good reads too):

http://www.shakespearecamra.org.uk/pdf/Shakesbeer_Issue47_Winter_2011.pdf

Ciderhouse News - November

2011-11-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

That's it, our cidermaking is all over for another season. No more apples will darken our doorway, we've had our fill of the Mill, and early morning Pressing has become thoroughly depressing. We've ran out of room, we have no more fermenters. So no more! Here is the news:

The final batch of bittersweet Vilberie apples reached full maturity well ahead of turning rotten, which is always a bonus in cidermaking. They were surprisingly juicy, and have helped pushed our fermenter capacity to the limit. In fact over the limit, as there are still six sacks of apples left we've no room for which will now end up as pig food in nearby Keythorpe. So here's the final inventory of what seems like the longest cidermaking season yet:

Ciders

Home Orchard Blend (70 litres) 1.060
Dabinett/Harry Masters' Jersey/Yarlington Mill Blend (70 litres) 1.062
Yarlington Mill Blends (1340 litres) 1.057 - 1.062
Vilberie Blend (470 litres) 1.060 - 1.062

Perries

Malvern Hills (240 litres) 1.069 - 1.071
Blakeney Red (190 litres) 1.060
Green Horse/Oldfield/Blakeney Red Blend (120 litres) 1.065
Red Longdon (120 litres) 1.058
Unknown Perry Pears (120 litres) 1.066

In other news, I feel I must draw your attention to the latest edition of award-winning CAMRA publication, Nottingham Drinker. Always a good read, with a stronger than average focus on cider issues under the editorship of Hucknall cidermaker and CAMRA activist Ray Blockley. The latest edition has confirmation of all the winners in the recent East Midlands Cider of the Year Competition held at Nottingham Beer Festival. We came a commendable second to Torkard Cider who took the top spot, with Scropton Cider of Derbyshire third. We also rated very highly amongst the Nottinghamshire Constabulary...

The soon to be announced 2012 Cider Workshop Photographic Challenge will be announced... soon. More details will appear on the Cider Workshop webpage just as soon as it's been agreed that pressing for 2011 has finished. We've finished! Get on with it Jez...

Travelling Vilberies*

2011-11-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

It's been very, very busy these last few weeks, both in the orchard and in the ciderhouse. The Yarlington Mill harvest is now all in, and we've made a good start with the substantial task of pressing it all. More recently we spent a few days in the orchard harvesting the yellow sharp apples that we use to add a bit of acidity to the bittersweet blends. The plan was to haul these home and spend another day working through the Yarlington Mill mountain, but a quick exploration in the top orchard revealed that the Vilberie apples were ripe and more than ready to be shaken from the trees. Another few days and the slightest breeze was likely to bring the whole lot down, making the harvest that much more difficult from the long wet grass. A change of plan was required...

So the final day of our long weekend turned out to be our final day in the orchard this season. Karen pulled on her wellies, rolled up her sleeves, and on a cold drizzly day helped harvest all four Vilberie trees. The fruit is now gently maturing at home ready for pressing at a later, unspecified date. It's been the longest harvest we've ever had, starting way back in mid September with the Malvern Hills perry pears, and finally finishing with these dull green, late season bittersweets. So it's goodbye orchard, hello ciderhouse for the next few weeks. It's time to make some cider.

We've applied a bit of science to the pressing this year in the form of a small bottle of Iodine to test starch levels in the apples. When a cider apple is ready to harvest, in common with all apples it should have dark brown pips, and come away easily from the tree. This doesn't mean it's ready to press though. At this point the fruit may still be quite hard, the flavour may not have developed fully, and most of the stored energy will be in the form of unfermetable Starch. This Starch needs to turn to fermentable sugars before the apple is ready to press, and this is why we leave some fruit to mature for a time after harvest.

Some good rules-of-thumb for judging when an apple is ready to press include testing the softness of the flesh with your thumb, which should give easily and not be too hard. Waxy or greasy skin is a good indicator of optimum ripeness, and the skin of some apples will turn from green to yellow as the fruit reaches full maturity. Rules-of-thumb only get you so far though. To be really confident that we're pressing our fruit at the optimum time, we need to turn to a bit of Junior School chemistry.

You can see from the picture below how the Mid-Late season Yarlington Mill apple on the right has very little starch remaining in the flesh, as evidenced by the unchanged colour of the Iodine. The late season Vilberie on the left has turned the Iodine dark blue, indicating there is still plenty of unwanted starch present in the flesh. From this we can deduce that the Yarlington Mill are ready to press, but the Vilberie will need more time, possibly several weeks more. We'll be testing the Vilberie every week now until all the starch has turned to sugars.

*Headline c/o the Grantham Picking & Panking Apprentice

Tollemache Arms Firework & Music Day

2011-10-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

A last minute order for cider has come in from our friends at the Tollemache Arms in Harrington. We're sending the last few pints of our Red Kite Cider ahead of the Tolly's annual Firework & Music Day on Saturday 5th November. Here's what the Landlord has to say about the day:

Our fourth annual fireworks party will take place on Saturday 5th November. The event commences at 2pm with live music all day, bouncy castle and our new play area will be floodlit for the evening. As well as our normal menus, hot food will be served outside from 6pm. The fireworks display will be at 7.30pm. Entry is completely free and there are large covered areas outdoors.

Sounds good, and if we can squeeze it into our busy pressing schedule, we may pop along for a goggle ourselves.

Ale & Apples... though mostly Apples to be fair!

2011-10-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

The Rockingham Forest Cider Apple Mountain continues to surge tectonically upwards, causing a good deal of interest in the village, particularly from horse owners! It's currently a single variety mountain, consisting almost exclusively of Yarlington Mill, a vintage quality bittersweet cider apple which we use to create our popular Red Kite Cider.

Every weekend is orchard/pressing time now, and I'm pleased to say that our compact picking team has risen to the substantial challenge ahead. We've even got a new trainee, young and fit, all the way from Grantham, a little wet behind the ears, but willing to get his hands dirty in the name of good cider. There he is on the right, taking a well earned nap on the trailer with one of our veteran pickers Susan. Consider yourself fully initiated into the Guild of Master Pankers sir.

Hard work like this should be rewarded with a bit of hard play, so with the Yarlys secured it was off to the Fleece Inn in nearby Bretforton for a relaxing drink in the orchard garden. The Fleece is a truly great destination any day of the year, but this weekend had the added attraction of their annual Ale & Apple Festival. Yowzah!

A fine display of Dessert and Culinary Apples in the Ale & Cider tent.

The Cider Bar - Favourite of the day was the Gregg's Pitt Aylton/Blakeney Red Perry, closely followed by the Olivers Medium Cider. The Fleece Inn Cider was good too. The Plum Jerkum.... interesting!

The press was fully wound down from an earlier pressing, and showing little activity other than a healthy population of local Wasps.

The antique Scratter, made in Somerset at the foundry of Albert Day.

Susan struggles under the weight of a Newtons Wonder from the Fleece Inn orchard. I think she may have taken this home...

The famous Sweet'n'Savoury Pastie, one half Meat'n'Veg, the other appropriately Apple'n'Custard. Delicious. Unless of course you're not expecting it to be sweet'n'savoury!

Yarly Mountain Visible from (Parking) Space

2011-10-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

The time to stop fiddling around with a few bags of perry pears here, and a small batch of Blenheims there, has finally come. This is what we've all been waiting for, and what marks us out as proper grown-up cidermakers. The Yarlington Mill harvest has arrived...

Though not all of it, and we won't actually be pressing them for a week or two yet...

The van wouldn't take the whole load, so we're back in the orchard tomorrow, mob-handed and keen as mustard to get the rest of the harvest in, which includes a load of sweet apples for blending and some extra sharp-'uns for a bit of balancing acidity. I'm guessing a couple of tons at this stage, with maybe half a ton of Vilberie still to come. That should put us about where we need to be for the amount of cider we would like to make this year.

These Yarlington Mill apples are still quite hard, and need another couple of weeks to mature before they're ready for pressing. Maturing the apples like this ensures that all of the starch in the apples has turned to lovely fermentable sugar, and the flavour will also develop with the rising sugar levels. In the mean time, our wonderfully accommodating neighbours will be opening their curtains to a growing mountain of cider apples over the next few weeks. I think a few bottles of cider may help ease the situation...

Cluckin' Hell - Snoofy-Doof eyes up the Wall of Yarlington Mill Cider Apples

Cider Apples Are Go...

2011-10-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a very productive weekend in the orchard...

Shaking down the very large crop of Yarlington Mill cider apples. Five of the seven trees are cropping heavily this year, though sadly some of the the trees have suffered as a result. The very dry conditions seem to have made the wood drier and less flexible and the very heavy crops and high winds have caused several large branches to break under the strain.

By the time we finish harvesting all the Yarlington Mill trees, we will have approaching 100 of these bags of apples to transport home. It will then be a couple of weeks or more before they have fully matured and are ready to press. Despite the large quantity of these 'vintage quality' bittersweet cider apples, it remains to be seen how much juice they'll actually yield, since the apples seem rather light in weight to us this year.

The Aylestone picking team take a well earned rest at the Crown & Trumpet after a hard day in the orchard. The illumination around Susan head is not an optical effect, that really is a Halo. Susan capped her performance on Sunday with a difficult perry pear picking session today.

Welcome Break - Nottingham

2011-10-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Home grown Dabinett cider apples

After a couple of weeks of cidermaking inactivity, it's nearly time to get back on the horse and make a bit of cider.

Putting our feet up last weekend, as we did, turned out to be less relaxing than I'd hoped for. With nothing much ready to harvest, and very little at home to press, it was hard to shake the feeling that we should be doing something. Anything really! We're in the cidermaking zone now, and a weekend off just doesn't seem quite right. I've missed being in the orchard, and I'm acutely aware that the nights are drawing in, and the clocks will be going back very soon. Daylight hours for pressing will become that little bit more... err... squeezed.

So we're off to Worcestershire tomorrow to get the Yarlington Mill harvest in. I'm hoping that most of the fruit will still be on the trees so we can shake them down onto a clean tarpaulin, rather than digging fallen apples out of the grass. It's a crucial difference since the sooner we get finished in the orchard, the sooner we get to the Crown & Trumpet for well earned refreshments.

Today would have perhaps been a better day for orchard work. The sun has been shining all day, and after the early shock of a ground frost, it's been a wonderful warm Autumnal day. Unfortunately, none of the harvest team were in the mood for the obligatory early start, largely owing to a day of intensive 'research' at the Nottingham CAMRA Beer Festival yesterday. It's taken a couple of weeks, but we're finally getting the hang of these 'days off'.

Ru in full flow

This was my first visit to the festival on its new site at Nottingham Castle, and I must say I was very impressed with the whole setup. Professionally run, and with a real 'Festival' atmosphere created by the various food stalls and outdoor music. The range of ciders and perries at the festival was so extensive it had been split into two (three if you include the bijou Castle Rock Bar). We started at the West Country & Wales bar, efficiently run by local CAMRA activists Dee and Ru. It was hard to know where to start, or indeed finish, but I particularly enjoyed the Raglan Barn Owl Perry, and the Dry version of the Dorset Nectar.

We then moved up the hill to the Main Marquee, if only for a change of scenery. The cider bar here included a range from the Three Counties, and the ambitiously titled Rest of the UK. I recall enjoying a Checkley Brook, and a Marches Cyder Circle Kingston Black, but perhaps the highlight of this bar was the extensive Local & East Midlands selection, which featured examples from every county in the region, and quite a few rarities never before seen at a festival. Congratulations to the cider bar organisers for assembling such a ridiculously wide range of quality ciders and perries.

The winning cider

Congratulations must also go to Ray & Gail Blockley of Torkard Cider fame for winning the Best of the East Midlands Ciders competition with their 256 Cider, just pipping ourselves into second place.

Ciderhouse News - October

2011-10-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a very long time in the planning, but the Big One has very nearly arrived. Yes, the Nottingham CAMRA Beer Festival is very, very Big, and of course every-One is welcome (provided they're old enough and behave themselves), which by definition makes it the Big One... you see what I did there... quite clever eh!... Oh well, suit yourselves.

The Robin Hood Beer Festival is the last major event we'll be sending our cider and perry to, and I'm pleased to say we'll be in very good company. This year the festival is sporting a new, and from an East Midlands cidermakers perspective, much improved cider bar. There will be a whopping 22 ciders (and a perry) from 11 East Midlands cider (and perry) makers. The full list for the festival features over 170 ciders and perries from all over the UK, far too many to list here so follow the link below when you've got a few minutes spare.

Nottingham Robin Hood Beer Festival Cider & Perry List

The cider we'll be sending is a Kingston Black/Sweet Alford blend, and the perry is a late season blend of unknown pear varieties which has finished in the 'Opaque' style Green Horse Perry fans will know and love. I'll also be sending myself for a good old fashioned loiter at the cider bar during the Friday afternoon session.

Meanwhile, pressing continues. We've now got approximately 700 litres of assorted perries fizzing merrily away, and a mere 120 litres of cider made from Blenheim Orange apples, with a similar amount still to be pressed. The Blenheim cider will be used to blend with the low acid bittersweets and sweet cider apples that we'll be pressing later in the month. This will help to lower the pH, and act as a vigorous yeasty starter too. The very warm weather we've been experiencing means we're unlikely to have a repeat of the low alcohol, naturally sweet perries we had last season. It will be interesting to see how popular some of these drier 'full-strength' perries will be next year, none of which are likely to be below 7% abv.

The organisers of the popular Brocks Hill Apple Day in Oadby have been in touch, though sadly only to advise us that the event has been cancelled this year owing to cuts in available funding. A great shame, and we hope that plans for an event in 2012 come to fruition. There are of course other Apple Day events happening all over the country, but since Common Ground now no longer coordinate the event, there is currently no UK wide listing of these events available. Probably best to check local press for details throughout October.

Best Dressed Apple Picker

2011-10-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Today we've been harvesting Bramley Apples from our own mature tree. It's probably true to say that they're not fully ripe yet, but I wanted to get them into store before the winds whip up later in the week and blow them all off. Under-ripe Bramleys will come good in storage, bruised or damaged fruit simply won't store for any great length of time, and we want to still be cooking with these Bramleys well into the new year.

Over the last few years I've pruned out quite a bit of wood from the interior of this tree, and also taken out one or two of the tallest branches. As a result, the fruit is much less 'scabby' than it was previously, and we can also reach almost all the fruit with the aid of a fruit picker.

The fruit picker we used today has been on loan from sister-in-law Susan, one half of the Aylestone Picking & Panking Team, for a few years now. I believe she may want it back now, which meant it was high time we did a bit of repaired work!

It's a top-of-the-range Wolf picker, but even the Rolls Royce of orchard tools wear out eventually, and so it was with the collecting bag which hangs at the business end of the tool. As you can see, Karen pulled out all the stops, knitting (I think that's the correct term) this delightful, and very 'now' floral print bag as replacement for the rather functional original. I think Susan will be pleased with the result, and I hope she gets many hours of picking pleasure from it herself.

Pubs We Like - The Plough, Prestbury

2011-10-03T02:50:00.000-07:00

The perry pear harvest is now almost done for us, and there's a slight lull before the cider apples are fully ripe and ready. This gives us a great opportunity to behave like proper Cotswold tourists and go stare at the locals in some of our favourite pubs.

The Crown & Trumpet in Broadway continues to act as our temporary 'local' during the cidermaking season, with Gwatkin Silly Ewe Cider my 'pint-of-the-usual'. The other nice thing about the Crown & Trumpet is the way it seems to attract Morris Dancers and their brightly coloured ilk from literally miles around. The mighty Morris Federation recently held their AGM at the nearby Morris Stronghold of the Fleece, Bretforton. Never ones to miss the opportunity of fine ale and cider, the massed sides of the Federation descended on Broadway to shake bells, bash staffs, and generally make getting served at the bar a bloomin' nightmare. Nice work from all the dancers on the day, and it doesn't end there. Next weekend sees Adlington Morris on their (seemingly) annual tour of the Cotswolds, and they'll be dancing at the Crown & Trumpet during the Saturday lunchtime session. Hmm! Tempting...

Another favourite of ours is The Plough in the well-appointed village of Prestbury near Cheltenham. I say well-appointed, the village is lucky to have at least two truly outstanding pubs, the Royal Oak being the one which usually draws the plaudits, and for good reason. They hold an annual Cider & Cheese festival in August, what more need I say...

The Plough is more of a village secret, tucked away as it is on a tiny back road opposite the church. A thatched and beautifully unspoilt village local which has a little of the feel of a rural ciderhouse. Real ales are stillaged behind the bar, with handpumped ciders from Westons of Much Marcle. I went for the Wye Valley HPA myself but the locals appear to prefer the ciders. There's a nice orchard beer garden for the Summer, and a real fire in the bar for when the ice and snow comes. I could easily see myself losing an afternoon in the cosy confines of The Plough, so it's really just as well I'm not allowed to!

Ciders on handpump, Beer from the cask

Back on the Green Horse

2011-09-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

Green Horse - One of the few!

One of the good things about harvesting fruit from a truly mixed orchard, is that for every tree having an 'off' year and bearing little or no fruit, there's likely to be something else fully turned 'on' as it were. It's not good for consistency, but it means there's always something to press.

There are two Green Horse perry pear trees in Johns 'Far Orchard', one of which has cropped very heavily for us for the last couple of years. The other tree is tucked away in the corner, close to a row of conifers which compete for water and nutrients, consequently it's never had much of a crop on it. This year, Green Horse is having an 'off' year, which means instead of the usual half a ton or more of fruit, we've got barely four sacks of pears to play with. To fill our press we need something like seven sacks of fruit, so there will be no single variety Green Horse Perry for the 2012 season. A great shame as its one of my favourite perrys, even more so because its specific gravity came out at a whopping 1.064, up from 1.050 last year. I guess this is down to a combination of factors, including the dry Summer, optimum ripeness (these pears really needed pressing today), and the paucity of the crop.

To fill the press, and go most of the way towards filling a large fermenter, we pressed the sharp Green Horse pears with a few sacks of another more tannin rich perry pear (another whopping gravity of 1.068). This will be topped up tomorrow with a vigorously fermenting 25 litres of Blakeney Red from last weekends pressing session, making a three pear blend which will hopefully taste great, and won't be as lumpy as our last blending experiment.

The weekend harvest included our first few sacks of apples from one of two Blenheim Orange trees we'll be using to produce a nice sharp blending cider. This will be used for much needed acidity, and as a fermenting starter for the Yarlington Mill and Vilberie apples later in the season. There's perhaps one more perry pear pressing session ahead (Red Longdon is having an 'on' year), then it's full steam ahead with the cidermaking.

Brigstock Beer Festival 2011

2011-09-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Once again the Brigstock Beer Festival (Fri 23rd - Sat 24th Sept) neatly bookends our cidermaking year (well almost*), and once again we'll probably have to miss it.

It's unfortunate that this excellent village festival occurs slap-bang in the middle of our perry pear harvest. Whilst villagers and visitors enjoy the beer, bands, and bonhomie in this pretty Northamptonshire village, we'll be shaking trees again, up to our ankles in a carpet of fragrant perry pears. Maybe next year...

In addition to the ales on offer, we've delivered barrels of our Red Kite 'Yarlington Mill' Cider, Kingston Black Cider, and the very last box of Malvern Hills Perry (well nearly**). There will also be cider from Cromwell of Huntingdon. Friday night is a comedy evening, with live bands on Saturday evening. The Saturday afternoon session is entirely free entry.

* The mighty Nottingham Beer Festival is still to come
** We've held a barrel back for the 2012 Leicester Beer Festival

Blakeney Red - Yields Down, Gravity Up

2011-09-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

Our Perry merry-making continues. This time it's the Blakeney Red pears that need our attention. The orchard has (or had) three Blakeney Red trees, good annual croppers, and more compact than the huge old Malvern Hills trees making them so much easier to harvest.

Sadly, as with many of the trees in this elderly orchard, the Blakeneys are not in the best of health. In fact one of the three trees appears to have given up the ghost this year. We've noticed die-back on the odd branch before, not necessarily a fatal situation, but the whole tree now appears to be either dead, or having a very serious rest! I think that an already struggling tree may have been pushed over the edge by the extremely dry Summer we've had this year. John will be leaving the tree in for the time being, just in case it shows a spectacular recovery next year...

So, only two trees harvested, which is a great shame as the Blakeney Red Perry was probably our most popular drink this year. Even so, we've come home with a similar quantity of pears to the Malvern Hills, and managed to press almost 50 gallons of juice from them, which is a little less than last year. I think the pears were close to a peak of ripeness. Larger than usual, mainly yellow and still quite firm, but perhaps not as juicy as the Malvern Hills. The sugar levels are similarly high, with a very respectable specific gravity of 1.060, the highest we've recorded for Blakeney Red by a long way. It's that dry Summer again I think.

A quick scan of the orchard revealed that the Green Horse perry pears are almost ready for harvest, once again around 1-2 weeks earlier than last year, so we'll be hard at it again this weekend.

Perry Pear Day at Hartpury Orchard Centre

2011-09-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a hell of a weekend of perry making action already, and we've still got pressing to do. Meanwhile, here's a few images from this years Perry Pear Day at the Orchard Centre in Hartpury, Gloucestershire. Exhibitors included the Gloucestershire Orchard Group, Charles Martell, Albert Rixen and friends, Out of the Orchard Cider & Perry, plus many other food and orchard related stalls.

What it's all about. A world record 90 varieties of Perry Pear on display, presided over by perry pear expert Jim Chapman. Jim couldn't make the event last year, so I was delighted to meet him this time around, and deliver my small collection of unknown perry pear varieties for identification.

Workhorse of the world, a Lister Junior powers the Scratter for the vintage pressing demonstration

Levelling out the Perry Pear pomace on the vintage Workman Press.

Charles Martell, accompanied by Britains youngest distiller George Lewis, presented their new 'Owler Pear Spirit in the afternoon sunshine. I can confirm that it's very nice indeed, and despite being a little pricey for a young spirit, I've now secured a bottle for future enjoyment.

Gloucester Cattle crop the grass in the recently planted Perry Pear orchard.

The Goodnature Squeezebox Press in action

Perry Pears. All types, prior to washing and sorting.

Building the Cheese on the vintage Workman & Sons press. The pressing demo proceeded at a leisurely pace, interrupted by lunch breaks, downpours and the odd sample of last years vintage. Just as it should be.

Washing and sorting perry pears the 'hand-raulic' way, much as we do at home.

Thoroughly Modern Milling

2011-09-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

I've got a love-hate relationship with Malvern Hills perry. Obviously I love the taste or I wouldn't bother making it, but from a commercial perspective the high tannin is a bit of a problem.

Here are some other loves: Usually nice weather for harvest. Loads of fruit available. Consistently high sugar levels can give very high alcohol in the finished perry. A naturally clear perry. Nice name.

...and for balance, some hates: Very tall trees make harvest difficult. Harvest/Pressing time ultra critical. Consistently high sugar levels can make for a perry which is hard to sell.

Freshly Milled

But back to those high tannin levels. Malvern Hills perry is a clean, fruity, and quite subtle tasting drink, but the tannins are really quite fulsome and astringent. That's to say they dry the mouth in an uncompromising way. I'm fine with tannins generally, but even I find them a bit 'wearing' at this level. It means that our Malvern Hills Perry is perhaps more of a connoisseurs drink, when we'd much rather it had more general appeal, though the last thing we want to do is dumb it down.

After Maceration

After our recent disastrous blending experiment, I've decided I need to tackle the issue at source. My new-fangled innovation for this years Malvern Hills perry is the old-fangled processs of Maceration. Maceration is simply the process of milling the pears to a fine pulp, and leaving well alone for a few hours before pressing. In this way, the tannins in the pears oxidise, and hopefully precipitate out, leaving all the lovely perry taste but with less of the mouth-drying tannin. It's a bit of extra work because it spreads the processing out over two days instead of one, but hopefully the results will be worth the effort. I went for a 24 hour maceration, milling the pears on Saturday, ready for pressing on Sunday.

I can't say that the pressing was a pleasant experience, but then the first of the season never is. Nothing is in the right place, every piece of kit needs a thorough clean, and fatigue takes hold as we're using muscles that have lain idle since the last cidermaking season. Putting the fun-factor aside though, it was a successful weekends pressing, giving us around 220 litres of juice with an average Specific Gravity of 1.070. One batch achieved 1.071, the highest gravity we've recorded, with the potential to give a final alcohol level of around 9%.

The warm weather we're having at moment should mean fermentation will romp away, and it now remains to be seen how successful our maceration has been, and whether it's worth repeating again next year.

Time for a Swift One

2011-09-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

In between the arduous task of harvesting a trailer load of perry pears, and the equally hard graft of milling and pressing them, I managed to find time for a mini cider crawl in the tourist hot-spot of Broadway. All work and no play as they say...

First a refreshing Cup'O'Tea, kindly supplied by the owner of the orchard we'd been bending our backs in for the last few hours. While we chatted, Johns wife dug out a few old photos of the cidermaking from back when my Voran press was still under warranty. It's good to see these old photos, which feature a spectacularly quiff'd John, his father the original cidermaker, and Ted, an old boy from the village, milling and pressing in the ciderhouse as it's always been done. It's represents a nice bit of continuity as we're now using the same press, and harvesting the same orchard as John was over 20 years ago, and his father before him. With Johns permission I'd like to reproduce a few of these on the Blog some time.

Tea refreshes up to a point, but real thirst requires something a bit stronger, so into the village for a pint of Hogans Draught Cider at the Horse & Hound, our usual lunchtime refreshment venue when working in the orchard. This pub is also handy for several top quality charity shops, so something for the ladies too.

Onwards to the smart and bustling Swan Hotel. Always busy it seems, and very popular with thirsty tourists. I retired to the patio with a pint of Aspalls Draught Cider, a great vantage point to watch the world crawl by whilst basking in what may well prove to be the last of the Summer sunshine. Beer options here include the excellent Purity Brewery Pure UBU, which is what I'll usually have when I'm not drinking cider.

My final destination was the ultra-cosy Crown & Trumpet, tucked away off the main drag and all the better for it. Popular with visitors to the village, but still a proper locals pub, and always very welcoming even when busy.

The beers are generally all from local brewers, including Cotswold Spring, Stroud, and Stanaway, but I was here for the local ciders. Hogans Draught Cider is a long standing regular, but occasionally during the Summer there's also something from Gwatkin of Herefordshire. The bottled cider and perry in the fridge were a little too sweet for my taste, but on handpump was a fresh barrel of Silly Ewe, a new-ish dry cider from Gwatkin. Properly dry, and surprisingly full-flavoured for a cider of only 4.5%.

There's much to admire in the Crown & Trumpet, not least the unusual range of traditional pub games on offer, which apparently include Evesham Quoits (otherwise known as Dobbers!), Devil among the Tailors, and the rarity shown in this picture, Ring the Bull. Perhaps not quite as sophisticated as our beloved Northants Table Skittles, but a game of some skill nonetheless. It definitely warrants a return visit in the hope of catching a competitive game in full flow. At the very least it's a chance to try more good ciders in one of our favourite Cotswold pubs.

Harvest-Ho

2011-09-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's been unexpectedly busy this weekend at Rockingham Forest Cider. The business of picking and pressing for the 2011 vintage is well and truly upon us, and once again, it's come a little earlier than we'd have liked.

There's no excuses really. It's been widely reported that the cider apple harvest is up to a month earlier than ususal. But in our case, it's not cider apples that have kept us busy all weekend, it's perry pears, Malvern Hills perry pears to be precise. Somehow we'd assumed that venerable old trees like these are rather more set in their ways than feckless faddy young cider apple trees. We were wrong!

We've come to expect the Malvern Hills pears (more correctly known as Moorcroft, or indeed Stinking Bishop) to ripen around the third weekend of September, which is a very convenient weekend to be in the Three Counties area as it coincides with the Hartpury Perry Pear Day in Gloucestershire. I'd pencilled in the weekend just gone for final preperations in the ciderhouse, in readiness for the Malvern Hills harvest next weekend. It therefore came as a bit of a shock when John contacted me to say the pears were already falling, and since we know that Malvern Hills pears rot within days of ripening, we were going to have to drop everything and high-tail it to the orchard or miss the lot. Worse still, the pears would need pressing immediately we got home! Bye-bye relaxing weekend, hello hard orchard graft!

It was an eventful and exhausting day in the orchard. We managed to harvest around twice as many pears as last year, this despite several major Panking Pole failures and a couple of broken branches along the way. John had already warned us that quite a few branches had come down in the orchard recently, probably down to the very dry conditions making the wood less flexible in the wind. These Malvern Hills trees are very old indeed, and it grieves me to damage them in any way, but this variety of pear simply must be shaken from the tree, so no matter how careful we are with the Panking Pole, some damage seems inevitable.

So that was the Friday of what has now become known as Malvern Hills Weekend. More on the new, and innovative (for us) Saturday processing later...

Some Gift Ideas for Christmas... Please!

2011-09-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

All the signs are indicating that Summer has now definitely departed these shores. We're going to be far too busy during Autumn to think about anything but cider and perry making, so I feel that now is an opportune time to get my 2011 Christmas wish list out there in the public domain, giving you all plenty of time to 'peruse and choose' in time for the big day...

There's something here for all depths of pocket, but please don't feel any obligation to choose a cheaper item from the list if you can think of something else of a greater value that we might like. We're nothing if not flexible, and aim to make your shopping experience as stress free as possible. Please bare in mind that hard cash is an acceptable alternative if the gift of your choice has already been taken. So Yo-Ho-Ho, and on with the list:

Voran Apple Washer & Elevator - In buying us this fantastic piece of Austrian precision engineering, you'll not only be making it very difficult for us to get to sleep on Christmas Eve ('Is it Washer-Elevator Day yet Karen?'... 'No, go to sleep'), but also helping us prevent further injury to Knees, Back and Elbows during the 2012 cidermaking season. We want one of these beasts more than life itself, and would be more than happy to take delivery right now if it makes things easier for the purchaser. The price may seem high, but we'll be getting an awful lot of food-grade steel for your money, so it's a bargain really...
Ex-Rum Distillery Cask - Just the one required. Full would be best, but we're prepared to take and empty one if that's all you can get. No other spirits please.
'Owler - This might take some tracking down, but I think we're worth it. 'Owler is the latest quality project from Charles Martell, he of Stinking Bishop cheese fame. Not content with making world-class cheeses, he's now distilling perry at his farmhouse in Gloucestershire to produce a very limited quantity of smooth, clear Pear Spirit. I want some, and don't for one moment think that a bottle of Poire Williams will do instead.
Croft Gold - You may have to go all the way to Shropshire to find a truckle of this rare-as-Hens-Teeth cheese. Croft Gold is produced in the foody capital of Ludlow. A pungent rind-washed cheese, which benefits from a daily wash in the very finest Herefordshire Cider Brandy (I'm guessing this is done by flaxen haired Shropshire Dairy Maids in the dewy morning... or something similar). Like all good cheese it's probably quite expensive, but please don't be mean. A measly slice won't go far on the Christmas Cheese Board, Man-Up and buy a full round. Catch me in the right mood over Christmas and you may even get a nibble yourself... Ho-Ho-Ho!
Return Tickets to Oviedo - All right, I know I'm pushing it a bit with this one, but we're desperate for a holiday...
4 Acres of Good Pasture Land - Much less affordable than you'd imagine, but hey, if you don't ask, you don't get. A gently sloping, south facing field is ideal, vehicular access and a water source would be handy, but I'd be happy with pretty much anything within 10 miles of home to be honest. Throw in a hundred or so cider apple saplings and I'll name a cider after you.
1 x Barnevelder Pullet - Karen has said (repeatedly) that the Rockingham Forest Cider Flock is quite large enough and I can't have any more hens, but if someone were to buy me one....
A Monkey - Yes that's right, a real live Monkey. Preferably a nimble, sure-footed, curly-tailed cheeky climbing Monkey. A Monkey capable of training in the essential task of shaking perry pears out of very tall trees. Easier to look after than small children, and not (as far as I'm aware) subject to the same onerous health and safety legislation. Do make it a cute Monkey though, not one of those primates with a gross looking bottom.
Socks - Ha-ha! For all those hanging on for the 'Budget Option', here it is. Big, woolly, Welly-socks are what we're talking about. All the better to insulate my toes against the chill of Autumn cidermaking. But feel free to pop one of the above items inside before hanging them on the bedstead. A few Oranges wouldn't go amiss too...

Ciderhouse News - Late-Late August

2011-08-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

It's the last knockings of the August Bank Holiday weekend, and it really feels like the Summer is drawing to a damp and chilly close. Cidermaking starts up again in a couple of weeks time, maybe earlier if Hurricane Irene makes it to the UK with any great force. The current cider season is anything but over though:

The Hangar One Beer Festival (2nd - 4th September) is a new one on us, and indeed everyone else since it's the very first one. There seems to be a firm focus on beers from local breweries at this event, and we've been asked to supply a few barrels of cider and perry to give fruit lovers some local choice too.
Local CAMRA festivals on the horizon include Hinckley (15th - 17th Sept) and Melton (16th - 17th Sept). We're sending cider and perry to both, but will probably have to toss a coin to decide which one to visit...

I'm sure that like us you've been having sleepless nights over our recent disastrous perry blending experiment. You haven't! Oh well, whatever. I'm pleased to report that all that clumpy cloudiness has done the reasonable thing and floated to the top, leaving lovely clear perry underneath ready to rack off for yours and our drinking pleasure.

In marked contrast to the blending experiment, our Perry Vinegar seems to be going in the right direction, ie. vinegary. In the image you can see two sheets of 'Mother' which would have originally formed a film over the surface of the vinegar. I've disturbed them so they've sunk into the vinegar, but another has formed on the surface, helping to keep the aerobic bacteria responsible for vinageriness in contact with the air. It may be that this also helps prevent the perry vinegar from oxidising, so I'll try not to disturb its formation in future batches.
A plug for our friend and un-payed artistic director Diana Fegredo, who's exhibiting her stylish work, this weekend and next, at the Artwave Festival in Lewes, Sussex. As if Lewes wasn't attractive enough already...

Festive Season

2011-08-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've been to a good few beer festivals over the years. Less than some folk I know, quite a few more than most I'd imagine. Possibly enough to consider myself an 'experienced' festival-goer, which is not that big a deal in itself, but perhaps surprising when I tell you that actually (and I'm going to whisper this) I'm not actually that big a fan of beer festivals!

Shocking I know, particularly when you consider that a fair bit of our own cider and perry is consumed at festivals, and many of our friends are involved in running, working at, and indeed spend a good deal of their time drinking at them. So why the antipathy?

Put simply, it's not so much that I find beer festivals necessarily bad (though some inevitably can be), more the fact that by and large they're not located in pubs (though some naturally are). For my taste, I've always found that drinking is a social experience best enjoyed in the atmospheric environs of the pub. For the most part, beer festivals resemble a pub only in the fact that beer and cider are served into glasses by friendly bar staff, and with the best will in the world, it's just not the same.

The busy Cider Bar

At their best, beer festivals are busy, bustling social events, with the added attraction of music, good food, friendly faces and, well... Beer. Some, can quite literally be the highlight of the local social scene, with a wide mix of clientele, there for the buzz as much as the beer. Sadly, this isn't always the case, and there's no getting away from it, at worst a beer festival can be nothing more exciting than a big hall full of barrels and (ahem!) beer enthusiasts. Alright if you like that kind of thing, but in my opinion, that's not a festival, it's a Conference. I need something more or I really might as well be in a good pub.

So what for me makes a beer festival worth travelling for? Well, to use a well-worn cliche, Location, Location, and for me at least, a really good range of ciders and perries. A well located stillage makes a hell of a difference to a beer festival, and I'm not just talking aesthetically. Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival is, on the face of it, a hall full of barrels, but what makes it a destination is that the hall is located within a top quality Indian Restaurant. Our local Welland Valley Beer Festival has a head start by being spread out around several rural pubs, connected by a truly unique vintage bus service. The recent Rutland CAMRA Beer Festival has as its backdrop the County Museum, which is eye-candy of sorts and helps to give the festival a unique character. The Derby Winter Beer Festival is located in the similarly eye-catching location of the Roundhouse.

Which one would you vote for...?

A cider-gut, yesterday

I must say at this point, that the old fashioned 'hall full of barrels' style of beer festival is getting much harder to find now. Festival organisers are only too aware that if they want to attract more fringe custom (arguably the whole point of a beer festival, particularly a CAMRA organised one), they have to raise their game a little and offer something more than a very well stocked beer cellar.

Perhaps the best example of this is the well-established, and extremely popular Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival. Located under canvas on the edge of the town centre, and probably attracting more 'non-enthusiast' drinkers than any comparable festival in the country. Live music plays a very important role in the success of this festival, along with a wide range of good quality food, English Wine bar, funfair, brewery bars, and an all-round proper 'festival' feel. The fact that well-supervised children and dogs are welcome on site during the daytime sessions, is I feel a crucial factor in the ownership Peterborough folk obviously feel for the festival. It's a big social day out for many, the beer just one of several attractions to locals and visitors alike.

Cyderman (aka Ray Blockley of Torkard Cider)
almost ready for lift-off

I went to the festival yesterday, met up with friends, chatted, drank a little too much perry, and came home fully satisfied and slightly envious of those staying for the evening entertainment. Congratulations to the organisers on another great event, and thanks also to the hard working volunteers who kept filling my glass throughout the day.

A Tale of Two Perries

2011-08-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's getting close to End of Season Report time. We've still got cider and perry available for sale and there's stock put aside for a few important events going into October, but the ciderhouse is little more than a storage area for empty fermenters now. It is of course, little more than two weeks until we start pressing again, assuming the Malvern Hills perry pears haven't dropped much earlier than we expect.

On the subject of Perry, it's been a generally good year for us here at Rockingham Forest Cider, although not without a few difficulties. Getting them all to ferment in the sub-zero temperatures of Winter 2010 was perhaps our biggest problem, although on the up-side, this did lead to most of our perries finishing naturally sweet and relatively low in alcohol, which is no bad thing from a commercial perspective.

The Malvern Hills pears continue to produce a high alcohol, high tannin perry. As perries go it's quite a refined flavour, but the tannin is astringent and mouth drying, and not likely to be to everyones taste. With this in mind I've been experimenting with a new blend, not entirely successfully it has to be said.

It's often stated (without too much in the way of qualification) that some perries simply don't blend well. I've never fully understood the reasoning behind this to be honest. Is it a flavour clash, or maybe just a bit of reverse logic since a fair few perry pears can make a good single variety perry. I think I may now know at least part of the answer...

The thinking behind my experimental blend was to take a low acid, high tannin perry (Malvern Hills), and blend 50/50 with a low tannin, high acid perry (Green Horse), thereby achieving a balance of sorts, toning down the tannin, and perhaps even giving a more complex and interesting flavour. Simple. What could possibly go wrong? Well the blending went well enough, and the flavour was indeed better than the sum of its parts. The tannin is still there, but more restrained, and the acidity of the Green Horse makes for a more drinkable perry. Everything was looking good so I barreled up a couple ready for delivery to a local festival. The problem with this blend became apparent a few days later on the eve of delivery. Apparently, and unbeknownst to me, if you mix a crystal clear Malvern Hills perry with an opaque Green Horse perry, what you get is a typically odd bit of perry chemistry, and an unacceptably cloudy perry. The fact that this doesn't become apparent immediately is no help at all. Oh dear!

Polymeric Perry Tannins

Unfortunately, by the time the blend was ready for sale at the festival, it had gone from quite cloudy to quite clumpy, which is not an attractive look in any drink I think you'll agree. I've reason to believe this is down to Polymeric Perry Tannins, a common occurence in perries, and not usually a problem so long as they sink to the bottom, or float to the top as shown in this image of a Blakeney Red ferment. The only thing we could do was apologise to the organisers, remove the offending barrels from the invoice, and chalk the whole sorry tale down to experience.

This simple blending experiment may not be a complete loss though. Another 70 litres of the blend is now sitting in the ciderhouse clearing nicely. Unsightly clumps of rubbery tannin like this are bad news if they're floating around in the perry, but thankfully they have a tendency to sink to the bottom of the fermenter out of harms way. Given a little more time, this blend looks like it will come good after all. The moral of this tale is, be careful when blending perries with very different characteristics, and always blend well ahead of the time you'll need it, rather than the week before!!!

On a much brighter note, I finally got round to racking off this years 'Mystery Perry', the one we make from a late pressing of unidentified perry pears. I have to say, this fermenter has been shamefully neglected. The quantity of gelatinous sediment left behind (see pic) suggests that it may not have been racked before. Even worse, there was a good 4 inches of head space above the perry, which by luck was filled with a blanket of CO2 due to a continuing slow fermentation. I wasn't holding out much hope for this one, but to my surprise and delight, it's probably the best perry we've ever made. Vive Neglect!

Mystery Perry 2010

It's always a difficult task trying to describe the taste of traditional perry. Yes, there's citrus, grapefruit, melon, maybe pear, but perry has a unique flavour all of its own which can only really be described as... well, perry! This years Mystery Perry is 'all perry', and I'm very tempted to say 'all mine'. But no, this stunner had always been earmarked for the East Midlands section of the Cider & Perry Bar at Nottingham Beer Festival. All except for a few precious litres destined for Champagne bottles, which will be staying at home with us here at Rockingham Forest Cider (& Perry).

Sidra With Tobie

2011-08-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today, being a Saturday, and more importantly being the first Saturday of a long-awaited holiday week, we decided to sally-forth and indulge our foody (and drinky) passions on a day trip to upmarket Stamford. Mmm! Lovely, lovely Stamford. Home to some of the finest pubs, cafes, cheese shops and wine merchants in the land.... and a Waitrose. Yay!

Pizza!

Whenever we visit Stamford, we're inevitably drawn to the top of the town and the cosy, boozy, foody delights of the Tobie Norris pub. Top quality Pizza and fine Ufford Ales are the main draw, though the historic building itself is worthy of investigation. We like it in the Tobie (yes, we're on first name terms now). It's the perfect place to lose an afternoon, aided and abetted by the three 'P's of civilised lunchtime pubbing. A Pint, a Pizza, and a stack of the days Papers. Lovely! There are probably other pubs in Stamford, maybe even really great ones. We really wouldn't know.

As if things couldn't be bettered at the Tobie, they've only gone and increased the range of ciders on offer. There's now a Westons cider on handpump, and the rare treat of Hogans Draught, a full flavoured keg cider not often seen round these parts. I'd really better stop drooling now before I start to sound like a fan-boy...

Anyway, inspired by our friends Tania & David of Birmingham, who're always doing exciting things with food and drink and Tweeting about it to make us really envious, we decided to stock up on a picnic basket full of Epicurean delights, and have a Spanish themed evening. In front of the telly. With some French and English bits thrown in for good measure.

All praise to Waitrose for supplying the Manchego and Aged Ossau Iraty cheeses, as well as the Paleta Iberico air dried Pig meat. Other cheeses came from here and there, the star of the cheeseboard being a ridiculously runny Époisses de Bourgogne, rind washed in local Brandy for extra pungency/offensiveness. To complete the (ahem!) Spanish theme, I opened my very last bottle of Basque Sidra Natural, bought several years ago on a holiday in Bilbao. Standing manfully in the gathering dusk of the garden, I poured the precious drink in the traditional way, from a great height into our prized pair of Basque Sidra tumblers.

It was a little bit past it to be honest. Sidra like this isn't made to be kept for any great length of time, and this bottle had gone a little too far down the road of vinegariness to be entirely enjoyable. It was however thoroughly authentic, which is more than can be said for our Spanish themed evening.

Blackberry Boogaloo

2011-08-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already noticed, the Blackberry season is well and truly upon us. To be honest, I hadn't noticed myself. It's thanks to sister in law Susan that I'm now on the case Blackberry wise. Thanks Susan.

Not that I'm a big fan of the common-as-muck Bramble. I'm more of a Raspberry man myself. A far more noble berry to my taste, and besides, I've been digging the barbed blighters out of the orchard ever since we moved to Middleton. It's a free harvest though, and I'm all for exploiting natures bounty, so I've been for a little Bramble Ramble across the road to the village orchard, plastic tub in hand.

Picking Blackberries is a Summer ritual as old as the hills, and it's important that we get the basics of the tradition right. Only the darkest, juiciest, least worm-infested specimens will do. Shorts and a light-coloured T-shirt are the traditional costume, all the better to collect scratches, nettle stings, and an artful selection of ruinous purple stains. You could of course wear more protective apparel. A nice pair of Black Chinos say, or maybe a long Woollen Skirt. You could also buy your Blackberries in tiny plastic trays from Sainsbury! Come on. It's Summer. Live a little...

I've decided to experiment with my Blackberry booty. I've also decided to shamelessly follow the current hot trend in cidermaking, and make a 'Fruity Cider'. It's what we do here at Rockingham Forest Cider. Bandwagons jumped-on, dignity not an issue, no frivolous trend too small. Fear-not though 'Real Cider' fans, we won't be making enough to sell. It's just for personal interest, and besides, the duty payment is far too large for a cidermaking minnow like ourselves.

I've taken as inspiration the excellent Sandford Orchards Fanny Bramble I tried at the Criterion Cider & Cheese Festival. A cider of modest strength, but chock-full of smooth Brambly loveliness. It's not a cider though is it. More a pint-drinking country wine. Nevertheless, I liked it a lot, and it's only natural that I want to slavishly copy it.

1,2,3 - Blend, Red Kite, Perry

I started with three samples from the Rockingham Forest Cider cellar. A sharpish, scrumpyish blend which I'm currently enjoying (Sample #1); our Red Kite Yarlington Mill Cider (#2); and some Green Horse Perry (#3). The Blackberries needed juicing, a horribly messy task best done whilst Karen was busy elsewhere! You may need a bottle of bleach at this point...

I was aiming for something balanced, with plenty of berry flavour, but still distinctly a cider. The first thing I needed to do was find the optimum blend of cider/perry to Blackberry Juice. After some trial an error, I decided that two thirds cider to one third juice gave the best initial balance. From there it was a case of assessing the three different samples with varying levels of sweetness. So here are my hurriedly scribbled notes (Karen was due back any minute):

Sample 1

Unsweetened: Reasonable berry flavour, but too sharp and cidery. Tannin showing too.

Sweetened slightly: Good balance of berry and cider. Less sharp and more integrated tannin. Nice

Sweetened quite a bit: Like a berry cordial. Not enough cider, too sweet.

Sample 2

Unsweetened: Good balance of berry and cider. Smoother and less sharp than sample 1. Pretty good.

Sweetened slightly: Excellent blend of cider and deep berry flavour. Lovely stuff.

Sweetened quite a bit: Like sample 1 but less sharp.

Sample 3

Unsweetened: Pear, citrus, slight berry finish. Odd flavour to this, not nice.

Sweetened slightly: Better, but perry flavour dominates. Little berry flavour.

Sweetened quite a bit: Just tastes like sweet perry with a very slight berry finish.

So, there you have it. The lower acidity of the Yarlington Mill cider works very well with the Blackberries, although the sharper cider is good too. Perry and Blackberries just don't hit it off at all. I'll be bringing a bottle of the most succesful blend to the Peterborough Beer Festival later this month, where you're likely to find me propping up the cider bar on Thursday afternoon. Do feel free to ask for a sample if you like that sort of thing.

More Trouble With Tremlett's

2011-08-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

A feature-length Horror Story about the consequences of not thinning heavy crops on fruit trees.

Featuring (in no particular order):

Young Trees with Excessive Top-Growth
Poor Crotch Angles*
High Winds
A Bit of Rain
A Shamefully Neglectful Orchardist
Hens

Since my last spot of bother in the orchard, I've been working myway through the trees, replacing some of the older rotten stakes with newer longer ones, weeding, tidying, and even doing a bit of Summer pruning. All seemed well. Some of the trees are carrying heavy crops, but thanks to the modest rainfall we've had this year, the fruits are generally small, and the branches seem to be coping with the weight well enough...

Then it rained... and the wind got up! Blissfully unaware of the rapidly swelling fruit, I felt secure in the knowledge that the new, taller, sturdier tree stakes would keep the slender trees fine and upstanding. Which they did, but what I hadn't accounted for was the increased weight from rapidly swelling apples pushing several branches to the point of breaking. As you can see from the photo above, one heavily laden Tremlett's Bitter couldn't take the strain, and has lost a branch in the most undignified of ways.

Quelle Disaster! This branch is obviously now beyond repair. I'll leave it hanging until harvest time since there's possibly enough bark intact to continue ripening the apples, but how I wish I'd thinned the apples in the first place, or propped up the branch with these (Karens) natty little crooks. Lesson learnt.

*The 'Crotch Angle' is the angle between the main trunk of the tree and a branch. Too acute an angle creates a weakness at the union, and leads to an increased likelihood of breakage under the strain of a heavy crop.

Trophy Wife

2011-08-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Uppingham Fete, Flower and Produce Show comes around but once a year, which is just as well in my opinion. Winning prizes at this level of competition takes some effort. Late nights bottling and baking, early mornings straightening carrots and polishing Marrows. It takes real dedication, even without the aid of a hangover the size of Rutlandshire (more of which later...). So was it worth it?

Well, yes and no!

It's certainly true that the High Sheriff of Rutland will awake tomorrow wondering where half the county's silverware has gone. Three of the coveted Flower Show Cups have now been smuggled across the border to a small village in Northamptonshire. We're particularly pleased to have retained the Mathews Rose Cup, but we also won the Uppingham Home Produce Association Cup, and the mighty Uppingham Flower Show Cup for the most points in show. There are of course many Cups, but there's only one Uppingham Flower Show Cup. It's a kind of 'One Cup' to rule them all, and rest assured, we're keeping it safe, keeping it secret...

Our Cups Runneth Over

The downside of all this is that I won't be getting my name on any of this hard-won booty. Each year we take it in turns to 'own' the entries, and this year it was Karens turn. Her name, and her name only, will be inscribed on the silverware for all eternity. Bah! Not Fair!

Anyway, back to that epic hangover, brought on by a late-late night of fried Lough Neagh Eels, Chucklehead Cider, and an all-you-can-drink Wot's Occuring buffet in a secret location in Cottingham. Bad is it was, it could have been so much worse. The polite offer of a decadent dip in the Hot Tub was intriguing, but very sensibly declined. Another day maybe...

Hangovers like these need a jolly good feeding, so once the early morning business of delivering Karen's entries to Uppingham had been accomplished (I'm not bitter, honest...) , it was off for a bit of cosy comfort food. The Veranda Cafe Bar at Wing Hall provided the cure with homemade Cheese-topped Beef Chilli with Nachos (and 'stuff'), washed down with a restorative pint of Rockingham Forest Red Kite Cider. Goats Cheese Tart with Salad (and 'stuff') for the ladies. Both equally delicious, though for a hangover I can only really recommend one of the above... with cider of course!

We took the opportunity to deliver more of that Red Kite Cider to the Farm Shop and Cafe today, so they won't be running out any day soon. I'll also be delivering some of our Green Horse Perry in time for the live music session next Saturday (featuring multi-talented local muso-legend Chris Conway in cool Jazz mode). Karen will be available for autographs, and photos with the Trophys during the interval.

Happy Tolly-Days

2011-08-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Happy days indeed at the Tollemache Arms in Harrington. Their annual Beer Festival week has now kicked off, and the event seems to get better every year. The beers have settled, the bunting is up, and Braybrooke Morris will be shaking their bells and bashing sticks this evening.

Other highlights include a Classic Car & Bike Rally, Beer Festival Bingo, Quiz, 4-a-side Football, and a Tug of War. The music starts on Friday with over 25 acts lined up for the weekend Music Festival.

There will of course be cider and perry available, including our own Rockingham Forest Cider & Perry, and Eve's Eastern Promise Cider from nearby Kettering.

Some of the ales, racked and waiting for a tap'n'spile

Discovery - To Buy or Not To Buy...

2011-07-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

Current orchard gossip suggests that apples are ripening earlier this year than ever before. I view this news with a mixture of mild curiosity and blind panic. I'm really not ready to press apples yet. Can orchard fruit please stop ripening.

This untimely rumour, put about by the heavyweight intellectuals of Radio 4 no less, needed some further investigation, so I've been out 'in the field' as it were, investigating.

Yesterday I went for a short walk, from the sleepy Northamptonshire village of Holcot, over the causeway of Pitsford Reservoir and up the hill to Brixworth, home of the eponymous Pate. It was a pleasant walk in fine Summer sunshine, all the more so when I finally managed to get off the busy main road and strike out across parched pasture and stubbly Wheat fields. The presence of the Reservoir helps to boost the wildlife count in this area. I was particularly pleased to disturb as many Brown Hares as I can remember seeing in recent years (that'll be three if you must know).

So much for grassy fields, walking along grass verges has little to recommend it. Fast traffic, rough ground, limited views, all make for very dull walking indeed. On the plus side, many verges double up as linear orchards, populated by a rag-tag of wild grown apple trees often seeded from a causally thrown apple core (something I make a habit of doing myself). These pip-grown apple trees are a bit of a genetic lottery, never growing true from the apple they came from. For the most part they're likely to be of little value, but fun can be had in the possibility that one or two may just be the next Cox Orange Pippin, or Yarlington Mill. The road which climbs from the reservoir towards Brixworth has a few likely specimens, though I was more interested in their stage of ripeness than whether they'd make my fortune with the supermarkets.

The first tree I came to was laden with small-ish fruit, green with a rosy blush. These were sweet and crunchy in a Jonagold kind of way, not quite fully ripe, but pleasant enough to eat. The next tree yielded medium size fruit as sour as anything I've put in my mouth. Truly horrible. On to the next tree which had larger fruit, hard, sweet and low in acidity like a Spartan. Not too bad, but still a little way off ripeness. The final tree was classic Crab Apple, small green fruit, perhaps even sharper than the previous sour specimen. Nasty, and a very good example of why it's rarely a good idea to follow the frequently given advice of adding a few crabs to your cider for their tannin. My advice is to always taste first, you really wouldn't want these in anything you're planning to drink.

A mixed bag then. I probably wouldn't have expected to find edible apples in the hedgerow at this time of year, but there are varieties which ripen this early, including Beauty of Bath and Irish Peach (see here: http://youtu.be/63CHZ6c7QVU), so perhaps we're not that far off.

One variety I can fairly comfortably use to gauge the progress of the season is the early variety Discovery, which usually appears in the better grocers round here a week or so into September. I bought my first clutch of Discovery this Friday, maybe a week or two earlier than usual. I'm a big fan of Discovery. I love the aromatic quality of this apple, and delicate floral flavour and soft acidity. Sadly I've been disappointed with most of what I've bought in recent years. Under-ripe apples are never exciting, so I wasn't expecting great things from this latest purchase. I'm pleased to say though, that despite the pips not being as deep a brown as I'd like, the flavour of these are very good, and probably not far off their peak. I recommend you get out there and buy some while they're available.

So an interesting bit of 'research', from which I'm none the wiser to be honest. I really do hope that the season is not as advanced as predicted. I wasn't joking when I said I wasn't ready to press apples yet. There's work to be done in the ciderhouse yet...

Hock & Roll

2011-07-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

Wintery weather (like wot we're having now) calls for the most comforting of all comfort foods. Soup and a Crusty Roll works for me, and there can be no better soup for our traditional chilly Summer months than the humble Ham & Pea variety. Thick as a Bulls Lug, and fashionably Cheap-as-Chips in these days of austerity.

I say cheap, what other meaty treat can you buy for £1.20 which gives enough ham off the the bone to make a cauldron of soup and enough spare for a sandwich or two. The lovely ladies at Sherwins Cheese Stall in Leicesters Indoor Market supplied the Hock. Just try buying one of these bargains in your local supermarket. As for the recipe, Cooking In Cider by novelist Norah C James provided the inspiration, with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall supplying a more practical modern 'River Pottage' alternative that doesn't involve the liberal use of Frankfurters!

Soak a Ham Hock overnight in a bowl of water. Also soak 300g of Split Peas or Red Lentils in water for at least a couple of hours prior to cooking.

Place the drained Ham Hock in a pan just big enough to comfortably contain it. Cover with half a pint of Dry Cider (I used a bottle of our 2009 Rockingham Forest Cider), and enough water to barely cover the Hock. Add a chopped Carrot, Onion and Celery stalk, plus a sprig of Thyme and a couple of Bay Leaves. Bring to the boil and simmer for an hour or so.

Leave to cool a little, then skim any excess fat from the surface. Spend a happy 10 minutes picking the surprisingly generous quantity of meat from the Hock. Strain the stock and discard the vegetables. Add the drained peas/lentils, a couple of finely chopped Carrots and Celery stalks, and a couple of medium Onions to the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for about an hour before blitzing to a soupy consistency. Add as much chopped Ham as you like, and adjust the seasoning if necessary (the Hock may have been salty enough). I like to add a tablespoon or so of Oxford Sauce, or a good dash of Worcestershire Sauce to finish.

I haven't included a photo of the finished soup. It's soup after all, and I think we all know what soup looks like...

Ciderhouse News - July

2011-07-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

If you hurry, there's still time to catch this years Cheese, Cider & Perry Festival at the Criterion in Leicester. We popped in for a few halves on Thursday, and particularly enjoyed the Border Orchards Perry, and Sandford Orchards Fanny Bramble Cider (Cider with Blackberries). Quite a few of the ciders listed were being held in reserve, including our own Red Kite, and local Charnwood Cider from Leicestershire, so there should be plenty left for today and the week ahead.

The first release of our new Kingston Black blend of cider has gone to Wing Hall, ready to service the needs of an influx of holiday campers. The Kingston Black is available in the Farm Shop, with Red Kite Cider available from Zia's cosy Veranda Cafe Bar.

It's now only a week until the start of the 6th Tollemache Arms Beer Festival (1st - 7th August). Over 30 ales, ciders and perrys are promised, including our own, and Eves of Kettering. The weekend also incorporates the 2nd annual Music Festival, with 25 acts performing for our pleasure.

The following weekend is the 3rd Raunds Cricket Club Beer Festival (11th - 14th August), featuring 28 ales, cider & perry, plus a whole bunch of entertainment on and off the pitch. I can now confirm that the cider and perry range for the weekend will be: Once Upon A Tree - Tumpy Ground Cider; Rockingham Forest - Kingston Black Cider, Red Kite Cider, Perry; Ross-on-Wye - Cider, Perry. The good folk of Raunds have a habit of drinking the cider and perry dry at this popular event, so we've increased the number of boxes/barrels we'll be supplying so there should be something available throughout the festival.

Mystery Perry 2011

2011-07-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

I've been busy in the ciderhouse today, boxing up the Kingston Black Cider ahead of festivals at the Tollemache Arms and Raunds Cricket Club. The cider is tasting very good, in fact everything tastes good at the moment, a reminder that cider really does need a bit more time than we often give it.

I took the opportunity to deal with a lonely gallon demijohn of mystery Perry whilst I was about it. It's the one with the 'jellyfish' of tannin floating on top, and was originally earmarked for topping up purposes but never got used. I've no record of what it was made from, or what it's alcohol level is likely to be. What I do know is that it's crystal clear, has a rich Elderflower and pear aroma, and a juicy, sweetish flavour with a well balanced and drying tannic finish. Similar to the Malvern Hills (which it could well be), but less tannic, which can only be a good thing.

Anyway, Perry as good as this needs to be savoured, so I bottled up half of the gallon for our own drinking pleasure. The other half is destined for a more culinary fate...

Really good Cider Vinegar is quite an expensive condiment, but common enough. Perry Vinegar on the other hand is even rarer than the drink it's made from. Westons experimented with a Perry Vinegar some years ago, but it didn't take off and seems to have disappeared. The only way you're going to find Perry Vinegar (should you want it), is from small craft perry makers, or make your own. I've decided to make my own.

It's an easy enough process, leave a jar of (unsluphited) perry exposed to the air for long enough, and it will soon become infected with wild acetic acid bacteria and eventually turn sufficiently vinegary to be of use. If you want to help things along, and help protect the perry from the chance of other less useful micro-organisms taking hold, it's best to inoculate your perry with a 'Mother' of live Acetobacter from a bottle of unpasteurised cider vinegar. The problem is, you'll be lucky to find unpasteurised cider vinegar in the supermarket, this is a job for the craft cidermaker.

I bought my unpasteurised cider vinegar from perry (and cider) making wizzard, and all round top-bloke, Tom Oliver. It's good stuff, a lovely deep Herefordshire colour, with a greater depth of flavour than the national brands. Lurking at the bottom of the bottle is a small clump of the all important 'Mother of Vinegar', waiting to get it's digestive system into my perry. I decanted the vinegar off this clump, and pitched it into a not-too-full jar of the perry, gave it a good shake to aerate, and tied a small piece of muslin to the top. I want the air to get to the perry but not the Vinegar Flies.

Perry Vinegar is pretty rare stuff to be sure, but whether this reflects the scarcity of the raw ingredient, or the lack of value of the finished product remains to be seen. In a month or two's time I should hopefully be able to tell you.

You can read more about Cider Vinegar making on Andrew Lea's excellent Wittenham Hill Cider Pages

Cake Sunday

2011-07-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

Before we acquired our little flock of laying hens, we thought we'd done all the research and groundwork on back garden poultry keeping we could possibly do. Hen-house, Layers Pellets, Grit, Mites, Dust Baths, Wattles, Combs, Beaks, the lot. We've had our ups and downs since then, and learned quite a bit about Hen Health and Welfare, but one thing we've never managed to get on top of is the regular delivery of up to 21 eggs a week...

Lay Ladies Lay

Tip of the Egg-berg

Now we like eggs well enough, and there's always the giving away to family and friends option, but even so, the Middleton Egg Mountain continues to grow apace. Those hens just won't give it a rest. Pickled Eggs seem an obvious solution, particularly if my plans to convert a small batch of our perry into Perry Vinegar comes to fruition. The trouble is... Pickled Eggs!... Eggs, Pickled! Well we've tried it, and I can safely say that rubbery vinegar is definitely not our thing. So cake it is then, an excellent way of using up surplus eggs, and a traditional Sunday pastime in this household.

Almond Bars with Cider Glaze

This recipe is pinched from 'A Taste of Cider' by Shirley Harrison, a book which has been gathering dust on my bookshelf for some years now. The cider used for the glaze was a bottle of Moorland Farm Medium/Sweet Cyder.This is quite a sweet cider, but with a fair bit of acidity to balance it, and in common with the draught version I tried at Newark Beer Festival this year, has a lovely soft 'peachy' flavour which goes very well in a glaze.

Cream 225g of Butter with 100g Caster Sugar until fluffy. Stir in 50g of Ground Almonds, 175g Self Raising Flour, 50g of Sultanas, and a few drops of Almond Essence. Spread onto a lined baking tray, and scatter with 50g of Flaked Almonds. Bake at 160C for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile bring 150ml of Sweet Cider and 50g of Caster Sugar to the boil, and reduce by boiling rapidly to a couple of tablespoons of syrup, When the cake is cooked, drizzle the glaze over the surface and leave to cool before cutting into bars.

You'll probably have noticed there are no eggs in this cake. Damn!

Pouring, Not Raining

2011-07-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

It's official, there is a God! A God of village Fetes to be precise... and a minor deity of Beer Tents too.

At 12 noon today, the success of the 2011 Cottingham & Middleton Village Fete stood on a knife-edge. Heavy rain was predicted, and just for once the Meteorologists had got things just about right. All morning the rain poured downwards, the only bright note being that it wasn't pouring sidewards, or indeed upwards. Things were looking a little damp to say the least. The fate of this village Fete was hanging by a thread...

Just when all seemed lost and most of the stalls had retreated to the sanctuary of the village hall, the rain miraculously stopped. The sun came out, the band struck up, and a goodly portion of villagers formed an orderly queue at the bar. Langton Brewery beer, and our own Rockingham Forest Cider & Perry were on offer, accompanied by talented local musicians, and the star of the show, the incredible floating marquee... The wind had got up by now!

We'd like to extend our congratulations to the organisers of this years Fete, and particularly the BBQ team who gamely soldiered on, quite literally in the eye of the storm. We had a great afternoon in good company, and look forward to next years Fete, come rain or shine.

The Trouble With Tremlett's

2011-07-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

It's a cry you'll hear all too often from orchardists, particularly at this, the growing time of year. You'll hear it emanating from orchards large and small, from the vast plantations of rural Herefordshire, to the allotments and gardens of the keen amateur. Needless to say, you'll hear it in the Welland Valley too...

'I've been neglecting the Orchard' they cry, these shame-faced orchardists. Giving in to weed, pest, and disease. Letting nature of all things, have its wanton way. Neglecting their fruity duties no less. There really is no excuse... and yet!... It's Summer. The cider and perry is ready, there's Festivals and Fetes and all manner of Fun and Frolicking to enjoy. Who the hell has the time for orchard work at this time of year I ask you?

Well, I suppose I have actually. I've been putting it off for far too long, the neglect is too great. The orchard is in a bit of a state to be honest, overrun with weeds and riddled with Aphids, so this evening I set-to with my trusty 4lb Lump Hammer, and a pair of Karens Old Tights, in an attempt to get things in the orchard back on track. So, in the first of an occasional series, I bring you 'Orchard Restoration - Pt.1', which looks likely to build week by week into a series of highly embarrassing insights into my orchard laziness... or your money back!

Tremlett's Bitter vs M26

Tremlett's Bitter (3 yo) - Thin rootstock,
heavy top-growth, now staked higher.

The four Tremeltt's Bitter trees I planted in 2008 have been nothing but trouble. Tremlett's is a reasonably well regarded cider apple variety. Full bittersweet, lovely deep red conical fruit, a heavy cropper, great in a blend, particularly one lacking in tannin. I've used Tremlett's before, they crop quite early, and press well. It's not all good though. Tremlett's are notoriously biennial, that is to say they crop heavily on alternate years with practically nothing in the 'off' years. The tannin is very full, and certainly doesn't make a good single variety in my opinion. The variety is also well-known for it's high vigour, making it difficult to control in restricted growing conditions. In the small garden orchard, I'd have to say that Tremlett's Bitter is probably not the best choice, which begs the question, why did I plant them in the first place?

In cidermaking, variety is the spice of life. Really good quality single variety ciders are rare indeed, and it's really not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket with regard to the varieties you grow. Even the most renowned cider apple varieties can have 'off' years. Plant an orchard of Yarlington Mill for example, and you run the risk of having no crop at all every 3 or 4 years. In the case of Kingston Black, I know from experience that you'll be lucky to get a crop worth pressing most years.

Harry Masters' (5 yo) - Nice even growth,
this tree doesn't really need staking now.

I wanted a bit of variety, but being sold on the semi-dwarfing rootstock M26, which is ideal for a modest garden orchard, the choice was somewhat limited. For all it's faults, Tremlett's is still worth growing, but it's the choice of rootstock that's really dampened my enthusiasm for this variety. Tremlett's is a very vigorous variety, prone to putting on tremendous levels of growth right from day one. Not necessarily a problem, but what I've learned from my own experience is that this kind of vigorous growth doesn't sit well on a rootstock designed to produce a smaller tree. This year the problem has really hit home, a combination of excessive growth and a good crop of apples on a rootstock which is struggling to keep up, has left the trees extremely top-heavy. It's not a pretty sight, one tree had virtually fallen over with the weight. The rootstock is thinner than the main trunk, and simply can't support the vigorous top-growth.

The general consensus on the staking and tieing of trees is to tie the tree quite low down, allowing the trunk to bend in the wind, encouraging the production of a strong stem. This is how I've staked and tied all my trees, with generally good results. Not so the Tremlett's, which have just flopped over. There was nothing for it, I had to purchase some new, longer stakes, and I've now tied the trees higher up, with a few additional ties (Karens tights!), to help straighten the leader.

So, the moral of this story may well be, if you want to grow a compact apple tree, choose a dwarfing rootstock by all means, but be careful which variety you have grafted onto the top. Too vigorous a variety, and you could end up with a very large 'step-over' tree, rather than the attractive bush form you'd like.

My Great Lost Work

2011-07-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago, I wrote a long, detailed and highly eloquent blog post on a recent cider-themed trip to the Three Counties. It was really very good. Witty, packed with information, riddled with useful hyperlinks, and liberally adorned with top quality images from the trip. It was so good in fact that I'd already touted it to the Nottingham CAMRA newsletter editor, who was very kindly holding a page for it despite already being in receipt of a glut of good copy. During final polishing and editing, I somehow managed to delete the whole damn thing. It was (to use a technical computing term) un-re-bleedin'-coverable. Oh dear!

Days passed. I was adamant I wasn't going to waste any more of my precious time attempting to re-write the piece. I just knew it was never going to be as good second time around, and besides, there plenty more cidery stuff out there to be written about. Some more time passed. I decided to re-write the piece...

It was quite good. Not as good as the first attempt for sure, but definitely worthy of posting. So with great fanfare, I posted the piece to my blog, and announced its arrival on Facebook and Twitter. I was pleased, perhaps even a little smug. I was thinking, this is what it must be like to be a proper journalist. I was still thinking this when Blogger, the quirky portal for all my very best work, spectacularly, and irrevocably crashed, losing all recent posts, including my Three Counties magnum opus. Grrreat!

Well I'm definately not writing it again, life really is too short, and it's absolutely never going to be as good as the second attempt, least of all the original masterpiece. Instead, I give you a picture, because in this case at least, a picture is worth so much more than a few thousand lost words.

The point of my original post was that it is so much easier to find top quality cider and perry in Herefordshire and the Three Counties than ever it used to be. There, I've said it. I'm now going to drink this important message, one lovely bottle at a time.

Ciderhouse News - July

2011-06-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Rutland CAMRA Beer Festival exceeded my expectations. Great cider and perry in a really interesting location at the Rutland County Museum. I'm ashamed to say I neglected to view any of the impressive exhibits, preferring to chat the afternoon away with assorted friends and acquaintances whilst working my way through the ciders and perrys. Highlights for me were the Cornish Orchards Strong Dry, and Jollydale Cider. Cider bar organiser Gillian Cummings reported that our Blakeney Red Perry 'sold out', and was '...definitely cider/perry of the festival'. Yay!

Our next event will be the new improved Cottingham & Middleton Village Fete (16th July, 12-5pm), a local fundraiser we're proud to be a part of. The 'Beer Tent' will feature local Langton Brewery ales, as well as Med/Dry and Med/Sweet Red Kite Cider. If you like it Medium, ask for a blend of the two!

The Criterion Cheese, Cider & Perry Festival is imminent (18th - 24th July). I'll be dropping cider and perry into the pub this weekend, and hope to twist Russell or Karen's arm for a sneak preview of what will be available over the week of the festival.

I was delighted to read in our village newsletter, Cottingham & Middleton News, that funding is being sought to renovate and enhance the Village Orchard in Middleton. This important village green space has been somewhat neglected of late, the trees heavily overgrown with Ivy, with one old specimen having fallen several years ago causing damage to the wall on the road side of the orchard. I do hope that the intention is to retain the apple and pear trees. We don't use the fruit in our ciders, but I know that some local folk do collect the cooking apples for their pies, and the blossom is something to behold in the Springtime.

Three Counties Show and Tell

2011-06-22T04:39:00.000-07:00

The Bath & West Show in Somerset is undoubtedly the regional show to go to for cider interest. Practically the whole of the West Country cider industry decamp to Shepton Mallet for the duration of the show, as well as a fair few of us grockles with more than a passing interest in cider. The cider competition is a particular highlight, as are the numerous talks, tastings, and displays, all backed up by a well stocked cider bar and numerous producers stalls.

I haven't been to the Bath & West for a few years now, so it's been with a mixture of interest and frustration that I've read the numerous online bulletins from the show this year. It's during events like these that Twitter really comes into its own, as numerous cider folk document in minute detail every aspect of the show I've been missing...in real time, Bah!

My envy was tempered slightly by the knowledge that I had tickets for the second best show for cider, and probably the best for perry, at the Three Counties Show at Malvern. The cider and perry section may not be quite the size of the Bath & West, but the cream of local cider and perry producers can be found here, conveniently located in the cavernous foodie environs of the Severn Hall. There's a well respected cider and perry competition, plus tastings and talks are run throughout the weekend, but it's the numerous stalls run by cider and perry makers which are the stars of the show for me.

We met up with Torkard Cider man, Ray Blockley at the show, and proceeded to sample our way around this years stalls which included Barbourne, Olivers, Newtons, Old Grove, Out of the Orchard, Severn Cider, Once Upon a Tree, Gwatkin, Ralphs, McCrindles, as well as a range of Three Counties ciders and perries on the Orchard, Hive & Vine stall. It was a cider and perry festival by any other name.

During a tasting session, I asked Peter Mitchell of the Hartpury Orchard Centre whether a perry tasting could be run next year. Apparently this is already catered for at the Malvern Autumn Show, so there's another date for my diary.

Looks familiar! The Simon Abbiss travelling cider press. Ray was torn between this and the vintage tractors next door.

Some of the entries in the Three Counties Cider & Perry Association annual competition

The well appointed 'Cider Island' featuring the cream of Three Counties cider and perry makers

One (or two) for the ladies. Herefordshire cider and perry making legend Tom Oliver, with his impressive array of bottled and draught produce. Canny dog Tom was conveniently located next to the cheese display...

It's not all cider and perry at the show. Charles Martell's famous perry washed Stinking Bishop took a 1st prize. They all looked well-tasty, and appropriately located adjacent to the cider and perry stalls.

Rutland CAMRA Beer Festival

2011-06-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

The first Rutland CAMRA Beer Festival is a little over a week away now (23rd - 26th June). I was given a sneak preview of the beer and cider list on Friday by a local CAMRA member at the Red Lion, and was hoping to break this exciting news exclusively, right here on this blog. It now appears that just about everyone and his dog has also had a sneak preview of the list, reducing the exclusivity somewhat... Still, some nice looking ciders and perries on offer, plus beer of course, but we don't concern ourselves with that here:

Ciders
Charnwood Cider 6.0%
Cornish Orchard Strong Dry 7.1 % Festival Special
Gwynt Y Draig Farmhouse Medium 6.0%
JollyDale Medium Dry 6.%
Moles Black Rat 6.0%
Mr Whiteheads Newtons Discovery 3.8%
Thatchers Cheddar Valley Dry 6.0
Rockingham Forest Welland Valley Festival Special 7.5%
Westons Bounds Brand 4.8%
Westons 1st Quality 5.8%

Perries
Gwynt Y Draig Two Trees Perry 4.5%
Hecks Blakeney Red Perry 6.5%
Rockingham Forest Blakeney Red Perry 4.2%
Westons Perry 4.5%

Braybrooke Morris @ Fox Inn Wilbarston

2011-06-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

A 'Rain Dance' was requested. It worked. Well done Braybrooke Morris..

Weekend Welland Valley Wanderings... and Wing

2011-06-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Some memorable moments from one of the biggest weekends in the Welland Valley year:

The view from the George & Dragon, Seaton

Barrels and Mr Bip at the Red Lion

Local legend Mr Bip rocks the Red Lion Middleton on Friday night, aided and abetted by a bus load of extremely up-for-it drinkers from the Shoulder of Mutton Weldon. If you want to know why our Green Horse Perry temporarily ran out on Saturday (and why the Red Lion floorboards may need replacing), the good folk of Weldon must (ahem!) shoulder some of the blame. Videos of the evening available 'under the counter' at the Red Lion...

Excellent cider and perry range at Welland Valley Beer Festival newcomers the Fox Inn, Wilbarston. The Burrow Hill Cider was my pick of the festival, closely followed by the Parsons Choice. Served cool and delicious from the outside bar at the Fox, accompanied by the fleet-footed men and women of Braybrooke Morris. An excellent debut from the Foxters.

Multiple cider re-orders for the Red Lion Middleton, as thirsty festival-goers drink the bar dry. Around 300 pints of our cider and perry were consumed over the weekend at the Red, plus another 100 or so of cider and perry from our friends at Charnwood, Ross, and Torkard. Excellent work from all the staff, particularly the glass washing team. You can't drink real ale and cider without a glass...

Ales, Cider & Perry at the Red Lion

Whoever it was that organised the Lancaster Bomber to fly low over Lyddington on Saturday, top job Sir (or Madam)! Or was it just passing through to an air show...

Vintage buses. Lovely!

The mighty Skibbereen do what they do best on Saturday night at the Red Lion, as thirsty customers do what they do best at the bar. A slightly surreal night as the Red seemed to turn into a ciderhouse, and the Skibbereen Pipes player warms his instrument up in the Gents...

The wind-down session at Wing Village Fete was a little bit on the wet side, but just the job nevertheless. A glass of Welland Valley Festival Special Cider helped ease the pain, with tea and cakes in Zia's terrific Veranda Cafe, and more Spaniels and Labradors than you can shake a sausage at, all wrapped up in a thoroughly traditional English Summer drizzle. Well worth getting a hangover for.

Welland Valley Wind-Down Session

2011-06-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

After a hard weekend at the Welland Valley Beer Festival, what better way to wind down ahead of the return to work than tea, cake and a Gun Dog demonstration at the Wing Village Fete at Wing Hall in Rutland. Mind you, if by any chance you haven't had your fill of ale and cider, there's ale and cider available too, local cider at that. Rockingham Forest Red Kite, Welland Valley Festival Special, and Green Horse Perry to be precise.

Red Lion @ Welland Valley Beer Festival

2011-06-10T03:05:00.000-07:00

The festival bar under construction

Cider & Perry @ Red Lion Middleton this weekend

2011-06-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ciderhouse News - June

2011-06-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

A busy day in the ciderhouse today. Barrels and boxes have now been filled ready for the next round of festivals and local deliveries. Barely a drop passed my lips... honest!

First up is a delivery to our friends at the Criterion Freehouse in Leicester, with a box of our new season Green Horse Perry. Like our other perries, this has finished with quite a high gravity of 1.014, giving a rich medium perry of 4.6% abv. Green Horse perry pears make a naturally opaque perry, with a pleasant citrusy sharpness, and just a hint of Ginger to my taste buds.

The cider and perry list for our village local the Red Lion has now been firmed up ready for this weekends Welland Valley Beer Festival:

Rockingham Forest Red Kite Cider (Med/Dry) 7%
Rockingham Forest Welland Valley Festival Special Cider (Medium) 7.5%
Rockingham Forest Green Horse Perry (Medium) 4.6%
Rockingham Forest Blakeney Red Perry (Med/Sweet) 4.2%
Torkard Floppy Tabs Cider (Medium) 6.0%
Ross Blakeney Red Perry (Med/Dry) 6.0%
Ross Browns Apple Cider (Med/Dry) 6.5%
Another local-ish cider (tbc)

This seasons Welland Valley Festival Special has emerged with a bit of soft tannin from the Russets we pressed, and a lovely orchard-fruits aroma. This cider will also be crossing the border to Rutland for the inaugural Rutland CAMRA Beer Festival later in the month, along with the very last barrel of this seasons Blakeney Red Perry.

The Rockingham Forest Cider Guide to Orchard Pests & Diseases

2011-06-04T14:54:00.000-07:00

Orchardists of a nervous disposition, look away now....

This gruesome catalogue of orchard pests and diseases were found during a single morning inspection earlier this week. There could be much more to find, I haven't managed to inspect every tree yet! We've now got over 30 apple trees planted around the garden, varying in age from 2-5 years old. Some of the older trees have put on a good bit of growth since planting, so keeping on top of potential problems like the ones shown here has become more of a task. The good news is that many of the more common pests such as Aphid seem to be much less prevalent on the more mature trees, so I'm hoping we may see less of this kind of thing in the future.

Rosy Apple Aphid - Vile purple sap-sucking critters. Working in tandem with Ants, which deliver them onto the tree, they cause leaves and shoots to curl in a most unattractive way, and stunt fruit growth. Yes, that's right, these bastards are quite literally stealing our cider! Control: Squish between thumb and forefinger, again and again and again...

Brown Scale Insect - My thanks to good folk on the Cider Worshop for helping identify these nasties. The warty shells shown here are the remains of a once thriving colony of sap-sucking insects which have now moved out ready to begin sucking again this Summer. Control: Removed with thumbnail but likely to recur, so vigilance (and possibly an insecticide) necessary.

Woolly Aphid - Ooh! I really hate these. More sap-sucking action, this time concealed within a blanket of candyfloss (Note the drops of honeydew). The damage these critters do can sometimes lead to incidence of Canker, one of the most deadly fungal diseases known to apple trees. Control: Rub out, remove, destroy, attack with a toothbrush if neccesary. Show no mercy!

Powdery Mildew - One or two of our Harry Masters' trees are susceptible to this nasty disease. Long, dry spells (like the one we're having now) encourage Powdery Mildew. Some trees being overhung by our mature Bramley probably doesn't help either! Control: Nothing for it but pruning out. Burn prunings, clean secateurs thoroughly.

Green Aphid - Not a major pest for us, but really bad infestation can lead to reduced vigour or even stunted shoot growth. Control: Squish, and hey, if a few Ants get squished too, what of it!

Grubs - Ok, not very specific I know, but this could be one of many orchard pests. Totrix Moth, Apple Sawfly, or most likely given the black, sticky 'frass' shown on this picture, the dreaded Blastobasis Moth. Control: Err! Still working on this one...

Ladybirds - Not a pest, but not much bloody use it seems. Less shagging, more chomping please...

Fruit Set - Looking Good

2011-05-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

Newark Beer Festival

2011-05-29T03:34:00.000-07:00

So many beer festivals, so little time. Our cider and perry has been (almost) everywhere this weekend, from the cosy environs of our village local the Red Lion, to the vast expanse of canvas and casks at Delapre Abbey, home of the excellent Northampton CAMRA Beer Festival. I can't be everywhere though, much as I'd like to, so the Newark CAMRA Beer Festival got the dubious benefit of my custom on Friday.

I haven't been to the Newark beer festival for the best part of a decade. I recall the festival then was in the grounds of the castle, a slightly bawdy affair, which must have been good because I can't recall much more than that to be honest! In common with all CAMRA festivals, the Newark event has developed into a very professionally run festival, and a firm fixture on the local social scene. Live bands, good food, and of course a wide range of ales, ciders and perries are the theme of the weekend, all housed in a chandelier-hung luxury marquee close to the castle and rail station. It's a hassle-free affair, which is just how I like them.

The cider bar at Newark has a really good mix of well-known national brands and high quality craft producers, including a few local rarities for 'enthusiasts' like myself. This was my first opportunity to try Moorland Farm Cyder from Yorkshire. Their Medium/Sweet was the winner of the inaugural East Mids & Yorkshire CAMRA Cider Competition in 2010. I tried the Medium/Dry, which was clean and very well made, with a nice peachy flavour in the finish. Sandford Orchards is another CAMRA award winner, taking gold in the 2010 national competition at Reading. Their cider is a smooth, high tannin west country blend, well deserving of the accolade in my opinion. Local award winner Torkard Cider had three ciders at the festival, as well as their two cidermakers propping up the bar! Pick of these was their Floppy Tabs which had a good balance of zingy sharpness and full fruity flavour, with a little more of the peachy flavour in the finish. I also tried ciders from Udders Orchard, Green Valley, Lyme Bay, Sarah's, Sheppy's and a quality control half of our own Red Kite Yarlington Mill Cider. I have to say that once again the pick of the bunch for me was the peerless Alpaca Perry from our friends at Ross Cider & Perry in Herefordshire. Something similar from Ross will be available at the Red Lion during the forthcoming Welland Valley Beer Festival in June.

Ciderhouse News - Spring Bank Holiday Weekend

2011-05-16T02:01:00.000-07:00

Another Bank Holiday weekend means another rash of Beer & Cider Festivals. We've been busy barrelling and boxing up for three events over the final weekend of May:

Northampton CAMRA Beer Festival (26th - 28th May) in the grounds of Delapre Abbey is always a very popular event. The cider bar gets through a huge amount of real cider and perry, Northampton folk seem to have a taste for the stuff. I'm hoping that recent CAMRA national award winner Virtual Orchard will have sent some of their Hard Core Cider for us to try, and I'm also looking forward to trying the new season Eve's Cider from Kettering. We'll be sending a batch of our Rockingham Forest Cider, and a slightly drier Blakeney Red Perry than the one currently doing the rounds.

We'll be using the excellent Torkard Cider Courier Service to deliver to this years Newark CAMRA Beer Festival (27th - 29th May), for which we thank Ray & Gail. I'm hoping to visit Newark for this years event, so we'll be looking out for Hucknalls finest, plus plenty of other good stuff. More of that Blakeney Red Perry will be going to Newark, along with a box of Red Kite Cider, our Yarlington Mill single varietal.

Legendary Leicestershire ale house the Cow & Plough, have taken delivery of a small box of Blakeney Red Perry for their annual Booze & Blues Festival (26th - 28th May). A small box is not likely to last very long, so get it while you can.

Ciderhouse News - Shoulder of Mutton, Weldon

2011-05-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

We've just had confirmation of an order for cider and perry from the Shoulder of Mutton in nearby Weldon village, ready for their 1st Beer Festival & Ale Trail over the weekend of the 14th /15th of May. In addition to our own, we'll be supplying a Blakeney Red Perry and a Browns Apple Cider from our friends at Ross Cider & Perry in Herefordshire. More details below:

Great Cider Pubs Pt.1 - The Crown Inn, Woolhope

2011-05-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

I've been to one or two really good cider pubs recently. By which I mean good pubs which also sell a decent range of really good quality ciders and perries. Of course cider of sorts is available in every pub, usually the cold, fizzy, low juice content stuff which does a job (I call them 'Thirst Extinguishers'), but can't compete for depth of flavour with the genuine, pure juice, craft ciders and perries made by smaller producers such as ourselves.

Today I went to a really outstanding cider pub, which involved a trip down the M50 into Herefordshire, and down seriously winding lanes to the pretty village of Woolhope. The Crown Inn is a pub which has been floating at the periphery of my 'cider vision' for quite some time now, so a re-fuelling trip to Ross Cider & Perry gave me an excellent opportunity to pay this pub a visit. It's a great looking village local for sure. Local ales, locally sourced food, host to the village Cricket Club, and all those little bits of community involvement that make the pub such an important part of village life. What takes it onto a different level for me though is that it's positively steeped in cider and perry.

Licensees Matt & Annalisa Slocombe ran the highly regarded Scru mpy House in Much Marcle for several years, which is presumably where they developed a love of all things cider and perry. Here at the Crown, they've brought along draught Westons Bounds Brand Scrumpy and Herefordshire Country Perry from Much Marcle, and an impressive array of bottled ciders and perries sourced from throughout the county.

It's not often I'm spoilt for cider and perry choice in a pub, but where to start? The cider and perry list runs to 16 varieties from Gwatkin, Greggs Pitt, Dragon Orchard, Lyne Down, Olivers, Mays, Checkley Brook, and Ross on Wye. I plumped for a Checkley Brook Cyder, a deep reddish gold, smooth and rich, with plenty of bittersweet character. Lovely stuff!

There's a nice slice of garden at the front of the pub (and a larger one at the rear) with a proper Herefordshire view to go with it. A word of warning though, the local Blackbirds are the cheekiest I've ever come across. I was lucky to finish my delicious Brie & Chorizo Sandwich before one particularly bold feathered resident very nearly succeeded in swiping the lot from under my nose. Cheeky indeed! You have been warned!

This love of cider and perry must run through the Slocombe family. I couldn't help noticing that family members Isabella and Sebastian took the runner up spot in the Novice Perry category at this years Cider & Perry Trials in Putley. They were pipped at the post by Matt. The certificates are proudly displayed in the bar, as indeed they should be.

Fete Accompli

2011-05-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's Bank Holiday Monday, and we're on a roll with our final event of the weekend, the lovely Elton Village Fete. This annual homage to Teas, Tombola, and quality Bric-a-Brac also features a very good beer festival at the thatched Crown Inn, which also features a few ciders as it happens.

Whilst Karen happily rummaged her way through other peoples junk, I joined what seemed like half the village at the (ahem!) Gentlemans Creche for a few well-earned halves. I enjoyed cider from Cassels of Cambridgeshire, a sweetish Gwynt-Y-Ddraig Pyder, and a 'quality control' half of our own Red Kite Cider, which seemed to taste even better than when it left the ciderhouse. Three cheers for the Great British Fete.

The Ciders

A Red Kite in the afternoon sun

The Beers

Red, White & Blue at Cider & Cheese Festival

2011-05-01T04:24:00.000-07:00

Wherever there's a well stocked cider bar, you're sure to find the Rockingham Forest Cider Picking & Panking Team in situ. Such was the case at this years Swan & Rushes Cider & Cheese Festival. Whilst I loitered on the fun side of the bar, our compact harvesting team Paul & Sue, gamely volunteered to help out at the sharp end, pouring, serving, and offering their expertise to customers throughout the Saturday session (whether they wanted it or not).

Cider...

...and Cheese

For my part, I indulged in plenty of cider, perry, and as much cheese as my trembling arteries could handle. The cheese selection was a wonder to behold, and not a pineapple chunk in sight. My picks of the day were the hard as Parmesan Gorsehill Abbey St Kenelm, a mellow, sweetish cheese from very near where we harvest our cider apples and perry pears. Two Hoots Barkham Blue was a really creamy, classy blue; and the Wootton Dairy Ringwell Organic was both crumbly and creamy, with a moreish, slightly pungent flavour. This festival is worth visiting for the cheese alone.

But there was cider and perry too of course. I concentrated mainly on perries, including a sweetish Thorn and rich Greggs Pitt/Aylton Red/Blakeney Red blend from the ever reliable James Marsden of Greggs Pitt fame, plus excellent, well-balanced perries from Springherne and Barbourne.

As usual, the day went far too quickly, and I bid a sad farewell to the many cheeses and ciders I didn't get a chance to try. Congratulations to the Big Cheese himself Grant, and his hard working team for putting on such a fine festival.

Ciderhouse News - Down Under

2011-04-30T02:20:00.000-07:00

It's all cider and perry at the moment, I'm writing this ahead of a trip to Leicester for the Swan & Rushes Cider & Cheese Festival. A little birdy has told me that first to sell out was our Blakeney Red Perry.... Yay!

Cider festivals are breaking out around the world. Here's a report from 'Our Man in Australia', Wal McWalbert drinking for England at the 23rd Kellybrook Cider Festival:

Awesome day. Full cider variety. Well rounded fruity English to crisp sparkling (Bulmers Norman included) average band but great weather. Slightly wobbly. Thank you.

Morris dancers good. Well practiced. Same guys but getting greyer. No one died this year. Yay. Classic dances that bring a great sense of occasion while still encouraging further drinking. Sorted. Thank you.

and...

It's very dark and we're the last ones here again. Becoming a bit of a habit. Excellent.

Nice work Wal, G'nite...

2011 Crop Predictions

2011-04-28T01:50:00.000-07:00

Following our stroll around John's lovely orchards in Worcestershire last weekend, I can now give the Rockingham Forest Cider long-range crop forecast for the season ahead*

Cider Apples

Yarlington Mill (Bittersweet) - Last year we had a very good crop from two mature trees, the other three trees having an 'off' year. All five trees are in full blossom this year, and we expect Yarlington Mill to be our main cider variety again, with plenty of our Red Kite single variety cider available in 2012.

Dabinett (Bittersweet) - One or two trees are showing very well, but these are all quite small, so modest crops expected.

Bulmers Norman (Bittersweet) - This tree appears to be fully biennial, giving nothing last year, but looking to be cropping well this season. Bulmers Norman is not considered a 'vintage' variety, giving quite 'hard' tannins more suitable for blending.

Sweet Alford/Sweet Coppin (Sweet) - These trees cropped very heavily last year, and we're expecting a much smaller crop this season. Very useful varieties with good flavour, can also help tone down the harder tannic qualities of some other varieties.

Kingston Black (Bittersharp) - The three Kingston Black trees are back to their usual showing after last years bumper crop. We're expecting a bucketful or two. Incidentally, the 2010 Kingston Black ciders are still fermenting!

Tom Putt (Sharp) - Reasonable crop, good aromatic multi-purpose apple, Timing is critical with this one as they tend to rot easily on the orchard floor.

Perry Pears

Green Horse (Sharp) - This tree seems to be a very regular cropper, carrying a good, or excellent crop every year we've been coming to the orchard. This year looks like being a good crop.

Blakeney Red (Mild Tannin) - Patchy this year, with perhaps only enough fruit to make a small batch of perry, or possibly enough for blending with other varieties.

Malvern Hills (Full Tannin) - There are several huge Malvern Hills trees in the orchards, and it looks as if they may be carrying the best crop we've had from them yet. Malvern Hills perry is strong, and quite tannic so may need blending with a milder, or sharper perry.

Red Longdon (Full Tannin) - Little or no crop this year.

Other Perry Pears - There are sevearl unknown perry pear trees dotted around the orchard, all high tannin varieties, and for the most part carrying a good crop. We think this should be a good year for perry pears.

* Crop forecast is for guidance only. True cropping levels could be higher or lower than the figures quoted. This crop forecast is given for one specific orchard in Worcestershire, other orchards may differ. We can accept no liability for crops failing in other peoples orchards.

Blossom Trail

2011-04-25T02:25:00.000-07:00

The Far Orchard, home of Green Horse and other perry pears, several sweet cider varieties, and the Kingston Black trees which are having an 'off' year after last years bumper crop

These three Yarlington Mill trees had an 'off' year in 2010, but are covered in blossom this year. The logs and stump to the left are the remains of the huge, dead, and highly unsafe perry pear tree which John has now removed

Heavy fruit-set on this unknown variety of Perry Pear

The huge Malvern Hills Perry Pear trees in the Top Orchard. We're expecting a better than average crop of Malvern Hills pears this year

There is a reasonable fruit-set on the Green Horse Perry Pear tree this year. This variety seems to be a good annual cropper, it hasn't let us down yet...

Beautiful Yarlington Mill blossom. Plenty of bees about too

The Dabinett trees are small, but this one should carry a very heavy crop

Ciderhouse News - Bank Holiday Special

2011-04-24T05:24:00.000-07:00

Our two regular outlets for cider and perry are now both up and running for the Summer. The Red Lion, Middleton continues to offer Red Kite Cider (7%) on handpump, plus Blakeney Red Perry (4%) from the chiller cabinet. We feel that this lower alcohol, sweetish perry benefits from being served at a cooler temperature than the more robust Yarlington Mill cider. Extra ales will also be available at the Red next weekend, with local band 'This Way Up' playing their hearts out on Friday evening.

Wing Hall Cafe-Bar

Wing Hall in Rutland is now accepting happy campers for the new season, with Zia's excellent Cafe-Bar also open following a Winter break. We've supplied the cafe with Red Kite Cider, which is also available for takeaway from the well-stocked Farm Shop along with our Blakeney Red Perry. You don't have to be a camper to enjoy the delights of Wing Hall, a love of very Free-Ranging Chickens helps though!

What's being billed as 'The Event of the Decade' is shaping up nicely. Here's the latest version of the cider and perry list for the mighty Swan & Rushes Cider & Cheese Festival which kicks off next weekend (the cheese list can be viewed here):

Some of the Cheeses at last years festival

Herefordshire
Greggs Pit (3 perries)
Ross-on-Wye (3)
Carey Organics
Springhern (2)
Upper House Farm
Border Orchards
Olivers Cider & Perry
Gwatkins (3)

Somersetshire
Wilkins Dry & Med
Westcroft Dry & Janet’s Jungle juice
Rich's (2)
Hecks (4)
Naish Cider
Chants Cider
Broadoak Moonshine

Gloucestershire
Hartland (2)

Worcestershire
Barbourne (2)
Boston Farm

Northamptonshire
Rockingham Forest Red Kite Cider & Blakeney Red Perry

Lincolnshire

Skidbrooke

Jollydale

Hampshire

Mr Whitehead’s

OK Grant, you've made your point. Probably the largest range of ciders and perries ever assembled in the county and all that... Leicester Beer Festival need to raise their game etc... Size isn't everything you know!

Go East...

2011-04-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

If there were ever a time to kick back, soak up the rays, and enjoy a cool glass of cider, it's probably next weekend to be honest. But in the mean time, there's plenty of hot festival action this Easter Bank Holiday weekend, which should act as a kind of warm up for the Big Royal One.

I've started early, with a pre-weekend snifter at the terrific Pig'n'Falcon in St Neots. Real ale rules here, but there's a good selection of ciders and perrys available too, usually from Westons or Gwynt-Y-Ddraig. During festival weekend the range has been max'd with a few local specialities from Cam Valley and Pickled Pig. If you're anywhere near the area, I can highly recommend it.

The Pig,n,Falcon, not to be mistaken for the nearby Wetherspoon!

Pickled Pig 'Old Spot' and Cider List

Locals polishing the bar

Three Hens, a Handful of Corn...

2011-04-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

Donate your status Chicken Out

Cuckoo Heralds Return of Cider & Perry

2011-04-16T01:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, whilst pottering in the garden, the distinctive call of a Cuckoo could be heard in the valley. This is good news on a couple of levels.

Firstly, the Cuckoo has been designated as having 'Red Status' by the RSPB, which means the species has experienced severe decline in recent years. This part of the Welland Valley must therefore represent some kind of refuge for these birds, either that or some local wag with a Cuckoo Clock is playing tricks on us again!

The return of Cuckoos to these shores is a sure sign that Spring, and warmer weather is now firmly established, and in cidermaking lore, a reasonable indicator that the new season cider and perry is ready to be tapped. We're slightly ahead of the Cuckoo, and have already delivered cider and perry to our local 'Cider Tap' the Red Lion, Middleton.

Dry cider lovers will enjoy our Red Kite Yarlington Mill Cider (7%), whilst those with a sweeter tooth might like to try a naturally sweet Blakeney Red Perry (4%). Medium fans can always ask for a blend of the two.

'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...'

2011-04-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

Tremlett's Bitter blossom, our earliest Cider Apple variety

Calville Rouge D'Hiver

Eaglethorpe Community Orchard

Pear Blossom at Eaglethorpe Community Orchard

Blakeney Red - The Sweetest Pear

2011-04-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Blossom on Pear Tree
Middleton Village Orchard

Well that was one hot-hot weekend.

Friday was spent drinking some very good (and some not so good) ciders and perries in the metropoli' of Nottingham and Beeston, of which I'll write more at a later date. Saturday was just made for a spot of gardening. Sowing seeds, constructing Sweet Pea supports, mowing the tufty remnants of our hen-pecked lawn, and generally working up a good honest thirst. Three cheers then for Red Kite Cider. Three cheers too for a profusion of Pear Blossom and generally frost-free nights. Looks like it could be a good year for perry pears.

Sunday is strictly a day of rest in the Rockingham Forest Cider household. I spent most of the day 'resting' in the ciderhouse with a length of hose and several empty barrels, whilst Karen was 'resting' at Saddington Car Boot Sale, along with a boot-full of highly desirable junk. Not much of a rest then!

'Polymeric Perry Pear Tannins' floating
on top of this batch of Blakeney Red

I'd earmarked this Sunday as the day for barreling up cider and perry for festivals at the Crown, Elton, and the Swan & Rushes, Leicester (see right). I've selected a lateish pressing of Yarlington Mill/Dabinett/unknown Sweet/Bramley, which has cleared nicely for a bittersweet blend, and weighs in at 7% abv. This will go out as a Medium version of our Rockingham Forest Cider.

More intriguing is the perry I've chosen, a single variety, naturally sweet Blakeney Red. Most of our perries have finished quite sweet this year, although one or two are still fermenting away quite merrily. This one has finished with a very high gravity (1.023), giving a full-on sweet perry, not too tannic, and clear as a bell in the glass. It's lovely stuff, but thanks to the higher than normal gravity, it's unusually low in alcohol at around 4% abv. The holy-grail of cider and perry making is to produce a naturally sweet, relatively low alcohol drink, so I shouldn't complain. Whilst it's well-known that many people prefer their cider and perry on the sweeter side, we've also noticed that some people (women in particular) can be quite put off by the high strength of the more traditional drink. A 4% perry is not something we would normally aim for, but it's certainly a very 'commercial' strength, and I think this perry will sell very well indeed, particularly if we're blessed with more of this lovely warm weather. Oh! sorry, I forgot it's a Bank Holiday. Never fear, it should go equally well with rain...

Ciderhouse News - April Pt.1

2011-04-03T03:03:00.000-07:00

An New Season batch of our Red Kite Yarlington Mill Cider (7.4%) is now available at the Red Lion, Middleton. It's a lovely reddish golden colour, quite soft, and a little spicy, with soft tannin in the finish. Try it as an accompaniment to warm Spring sunshine, Sunday papers, or a spot of gardening.

Details of the forthcoming Swan & Rushes Cider & Cheese Festival are beginning to filter out. Grant has successfully applied to close part of Grange Lane to traffic, setting up tables and chairs during daylight hours so that even more people can enjoy the ciders. The cider and perry list is still in its early stage, but already looks very good, featuring some of the very best producers in the Three Counties... and us! Stinking Bishop cheese is already confirmed, and subject to condition, we may send a barrel of our own 'Stinking Bishop' Perry (aka. Malvern Hills) to accompany it.

That's it for now...

Mulching - When Hens Go Bad!

2011-04-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

The rainy season has finally arrived after one of the driest Winters I can remember. So far it's hardly been the kind of prolonged downpour we really need, but welcome all the same. Let's hope 'Showery' April lives up to its reputation.

With the soil a little bit more moist it's a good time to Mulch the cider apple trees, taking the opportunity to give the them a good weeding too. We've got plenty of well-rotted Chicken manure, which is pretty good stuff for fruit trees, but once again we've got the problem of how to keep the feathery producers of all that manure from scratching it all away just as soon as we've applied it. The Rockingham Forest Cider Hens have the free-range of the garden, we wouldn't have it any other way.

I've tried a weed-suppressing membrane weighted down with bricks, which works well enough, but looks pretty dreadful. This is a garden orchard after all, so things need to look nice as well as be productive. It's time to take things to the next level. Keeping the membrane, I've now invested in a bag of large natural pebbles as a permanent ground cover . Advantages: Looks quite nice, rain can easily penetrate, seems to do the job well. Disadvantages: Expensive, probably not an environmentally sound aggregate, Hens may still be able to scratch the smaller pebbles off.

I'll give it a few weeks to see how the pebbles perform, then it might be worth having a ton delivered and doing the other 30 trees (gulp!)

The Problem: Exposed roots... and weeds

The Culprits: Holes Dug (no job too small)

The Solution: Pebble Dashed, Hens Miffed

Three Festivals and a Wedding

2011-03-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

The last weekend of April looks set to be a Right Bloomin' Royal Wedding Bank Holiday Jamboree Knees-up, Cor-Blimey Guv! Needless to say, this calls for a drink!

It's now accepted tradition in Olde England that we celebrate absolutely everything and anything with a pub festival, so it's no surprise that those pubs still loyal to the crown are going quite literally 'Beer & Cider Festival Crazy' in honour of the royal nuptials. In our own local trading area there appears to be much more festival action than we can possibly digest in a single weekend sitting, but three in particular have caught our somewhat bibulous eye. For want of a better idea, I've arranged them as a three course Royal Cider & Perry Banquet... in French... naturally!

Entree

The weekend kicks off in very local style at the Red Lion Mini-Beer, Cider & Perry Festival, in our own bijou villag-ette of Middleton. Monsieur et Madame Barby will be our Gourmands for the weekend, and we recommend an Amuse Bouche from the Rockingham Forest Cider drinks trolley, washed down with... oh, I don't know... perhaps an Entrée or two of Rockingham Forest Perry. Fine local music and all-round Bonhomie will also be on tap during the Friday evening sitting. Bon Appétit. (Incidentally, we're now le cidre du patron, de la maison at the Red Lion... Voilà!).

Le Plat Principal

The Swan & Rushes in Leicester is renowned for delivering generous portions and the very topper-most quality during its annual Cider & Cheese Festival. A whopping 30-40 Ciders and Perries have been promised for the weekend's Plat Principal, accompanied by a similar selection of quality Fromage to aid digestion. In fact so much cider is being imported from the West Country for this popular event, we're seriously worried that the delicate tectonic balance of the British Isles could be upset, plunging most of Anglia and the Fens below the icy waters of the North Sea. Sacré flippin' bleu! We know a few people in the Anglian region. They're not great swimmers to be honest! In view of this we're aiming to help restore the balance by bringing some of our own cider and perry to the festival. I just hope Grant won't be charging corkage...

Le Dessert

Will we have room for Le Pudding I hear you ask? Never fear, there's always room for one last Cidre or Poire, particularly when we can combine it with a small Digestif of genuine Cambridgeshire Bric-a-Brac and Jumble at the Elton Village Fete. The cider and perry selection at the Crown Inn Beer Festival in Elton is modest, but usually includes a few local specialities, including a barrel of our own cider or perry, both local and special... Bien Sur!

The Sap is Rising

2011-03-27T03:26:00.000-07:00

Enough beating about the bush. It's official! Spring has definitely arrived in all its 'almost Summer-y' glory. Buds are a-bursting, blossom is a-bloomin', and right on cue my nose is a-runnin'.

Bramley Seedling bud at 'Mouse Ear' stage

Spring blossom is a joy to behold, but with it comes Spring pollen... closely followed by Spring hayfever. Bah! Could this be the reason Morris Men start waving hankies around at this time of year? Coincidence? I think not!

Whatever. I'm greatly looking forward to blossom time, and this year I'll be making a special trip to our friend John's beautiful old orchard in the Cotswolds to experience the perry pear and cider apple trees in full bloom. Expect some eye-popping orchard-porn on here very soon.

Meanwhile, I have to content myself with some bought-in orchard loveliness in the form of a new book, 'For the Love of an Orchard' (Anova Books, £25). Described by authors Jane McMorland Hunter & Chris Kelly as 'Everybody's guide to growing & cooking orchard fruit', it's a delightful book to dip into, and full of the sort of images we've come to expect where orchards are concerned. Is it possible to take a bad picture of an orchard I wonder!

This is no textbook, but neither is it merely a coffee-table tome. There are certainly better books available for the nuts and bolts of orchard planning and planting, but that's not what this is about. It's an inspirational book, with just enough hard facts and advice to set the suitably inspired potential orchardist on the right road to creating their own bit of orchard heaven. For me, I love the little snippets of fruity prose, such as this one from Geoffrey Grigson's Aphrodite (translated by A.L Loyd) on the lusty Quince fruit:

It is yellow in colour, as if it wore a daffodil tunic, and it smells like musk, a penetrating smell.

It has the perfume of a loved women and the same hardness of heart, but it has the colour of the impassioned and scrawny lover.

Its pallor is borrowed from my pallor, its smell is my sweatheart's breath.

When it stood fragrant on the bough and the leaves had woven for it a covering of brocade, I gently put up my hand to pluck it and to set it like a cencer in the middle of my room.

It had a cloak of ash-coloured down hovering over its smooth golden body, and when it lay naked in my hand, with nothing more than its daffodil-coloured shift, it made me think of her I cannot mention, and I feared the ardour of my breath would shrivel it in my fingers.

Yep, that's Quince for you. There are similarly earthy descriptions of Medlars, Plums, Apples, Pears, Cherries and Mulberries. I'm going to need a bigger garden...

As yet I've only dipped into this book, and needless to say, being largely non-technical in nature, there are likely to be a few errors. In a classic bit of reverse logic, the authors make the assertion that 'Perry is fizzier than cider...', presumably because it was frequently marketed as a Champagne substitute. Perry is certainly not inherantly 'fizzy', unless of course you make it that way...

It's a good book though, and I can attest to it's effectiveness by the fact I'm now wistfully searching the garden for space to plant a Quince tree... and a Medlar...

Welland Valley Beer Festival 2011

2011-03-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

Skibbereen, Ale & Cider

2011-03-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

Every year around this time (or any other time for that matter), Middleton villagers (and others) like to celebrate International Skibbereen Day by raising a glass (or two) at our local the Red Lion, Middleton. This year is no exception, so we'll be raising a glass (or two) at our local the Red Lion, Middleton this evening, in honour of Skibbereen and all its inhabitants.

Skibbereen is a small town at the southernmost tip of County Cork in Ireland. Famous for being possibly the only town in southern Ireland called Skibbereen, and also for being the birthplace of Percy Ludgate, designer of an ingenious Analytical Engine, although not the Analytical Engine, which was designed by Charles Babbage, who wasn't from Skibbereen. He was from London. But it was pretty ingenious nevertheless.

It sounds like a lovely place for sure, and we like to celebrate this fact by raising many glasses in the company of fellow Skibbereen enthusiasts at the Red Lion, Middleton. Local Corby folksters and fellow Skibbereen enthusiasts, Skibbereen, have been invited along for the Craic, and we're hoping they may even play a tune for us at some point during the proceedings. Let's face it, they might as well after coming all the way from Corby... with their instruments!

Our village local, and host of this years International Skibbereen Day, have got into the spirit of the occasion by re-naming the pub after our favourite southern Ireland town. Extra ales have been brought in for the occasion, including the world famous Abbey Stoat from Great Oakley Brewery, and their slightly less famous Marching In ale (something to do with Northampton Saints Rugby apparently...). There will also be a limited edition box of Rockingham Forest Cider to fill your (raised) glass with, a subtle blend of new season Red Kite Cider, with a dash of vintage Malvern Hills Perry. A fitting toast to a great Irish town and its people. Sláinte!

Antici...pation!

2011-03-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

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?...

Cidermaker Scooping at Leicester Beer Festival

2011-03-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

So another Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival has come and gone, well up to its usual standard I might add. From my position at the Cider Bar, things seemed even busier than usual, although this could have been down to myself being even slower than usual.

This years festival was something of an East Midlands cidermakers summit. I 'ticked' cidermakers from Charnwood, Eves, Torkard, and Three Cats. In fact there were so many of them milling around, I had to take a couple home in Pandas Pops bottles to enjoy later...

So congratulations to all the volunteers and organisers on yet another successful festival. Here's a few candid pics from the cider bar for your pleasure:

A Nice Pair

Work in Progress

Peters Slider Rules

A 'Tump' of Cidermakers

Roll Out the Barrels

2011-03-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

Eager young casks of Cider & Perry wait for a space on the Leicester CAMRA Cider Bar stillage

Find out why some of these casks have travelled from as far away as Somerset, Wales, and even Hucknall-in-the-North, by visiting the 2011 Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival, which kicks off this Wednesday. Details below:

Respect Your Elders

2011-03-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Our recent Spirit Cask Cider experiment was reasonably successful (albeit that no 'Casks' were actually used in its production). We're determined to get ahead of the game and develop the next big thing in cider marketing, but let's be honest, Cheap Cooking Rum and lightly toasted Hungarian Oak Chips are never going to deliver the kind of 'story' our increasingly picky customers demand. It's got to be genuine old Spirit Casks, and we haven't got any, so I guess it's back to the drawing board...

Anyway, it's now become apparent that we were wasting our time searching for the cider-zeitgeist in a bottle'o'rum. Apparently, Flowers are where it's at. Elderflowers to be precise, and needless to say, someone's already picked them. We've missed the boat... again!

Homemade wine enthusiasts have been putting these delicate Spring blossoms in their fruity concoctions for years, and one or two craft brewers have dallied with a bit of blossom in their time, but now it's the turn of cider. The distinctive flavour of Elderflower is widely regarded as a 'positive' taste experience whenever it occurs, so it's perhaps no surprise that someone's decided to shoehorn it into their cider. Although needless to say, it came as a complete surprise to us.... harumph!

The 'someones' who've already done it are the ingenious folk at the Sampford Courtenay Cider Co, who make jolly good cider in deepest Devon from apples grown on their own farm. Described as 'undiluted', 'lightly sparkling', and only 'slightly sweetened', it sounded right up my street. I just wasn't sure about the Elderflowers!

The first surprise came when I popped the swing-top on the bottle. I'd chilled things down nicely, but even so the cider frothl'd invitingly up the neck like a fine sparkling wine. The fizz is anything but harsh though, and certainly suits this style of cider. It's a robust little monkey, full of chunky bittersweet flavour, and just a hint of tangy farmhouse character for added drinkability. The Elderflower is subtle. Very subtle. I got a bit of flora in the nose, but not much in the mouth to be honest. Best of all, it's not the sticky sweetie I was expecting, more Medium or even Medium Dry, which is a very pleasant change. I love it, and so does the missus.... bah!

The packaging is real quality too. A 70cl swing-top bottle, labelled in such a way that a gnarled old apple tree can be seen shimmering through the golden liquid. You'll be pleased to learn that this cider was procured from one of the larger Waitrose stores around these parts (Stamford), and at £4.99 is reasonably good value for a cider of this quality (particularly as I get a lovely swing-top bottle to re-use at my leisure).

Now then, back to the laboratory. I'm sure we've got a bottle of Elderflower cordial somewhere in the house....

Leicester Beer Festival Cider & Perry List

2011-02-28T06:50:00.000-08:00

It's here! A Rockingham Forest Cider 'Exclusive', and not a moment too soon. Big enough to satisfy, yet compact enough to fit neatly in your back pocket, it's the 2011 Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival Cider & Perry List. Fresh off the press, and 100% guaranteed almost 90% complete. Just add a stylish Festival Glass and a Crusty Cheese Cob for maximum drinking pleasure:

Brook Farm, Herefordshire
Winter Warmer Dry Cider (7.5%)
Blended Perry

Burrow Hill, Somerset
Cider 6.5%

Chant, Somerset
Cider 6.5%

Charnwood, Leicestershire
Cider 6.0%

Farmer Fear, Leicestershire
Dry Cider 6.0%
Medium Cider 6.0%

Gwatkin, Herefordshire
Farmhouse Perry 7.5%
Stoke Red Cider
Yarlington Mill Cider

Gwynt Y Ddraig, Glamorgan
Black Dragon Cider 6.5%
Haymaker Cider 5.5%
Pyder 6.0%
Malvern Hills Perry 5.5%
Two Trees Perry 5.0%

Hecks, Somerset
Port Wine of Glastonbury Cider 6.5%
Porters Perfection Cider
Blakeney Red Perry
Medium Perry

Naish, Somerset
Dry Cider 6.0%

Newton Court,Herefordshire
Cider
Perry

Olivers, Herefordshire
Cider 6.3%
Perry 6.5%

Pickled Pig, Cambridgeshire
New Season Porker Cider
Rum Cask Cider
Sweet Little Pig Cider 6.5%

Rich's, Somerset
Legbender Cider 6.0%

Rockingham Forest, Northamptonshire
Vilberie Vintage Cider
Malvern Hill Vintage Perry

Ross Cider Company, Herefordshire
Cider
Perry

Thatchers, Somerset
Cheddar Valley Cider 6.0

Torkard, Nottinghamshire
Floppy Tabs Cider

Westcroft Somerset
Dry Cider 6.5%
Janet's Jungle Juice Cider

Willkins, Somerset
Cider 6.0%