Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival 2013

For advance warning and information on the 2013 CAMRA Beer/Cider/Curry mash-up in Leicester, follow this link: Festival Webpage. We considered blending up a dubious festival special in honour of the (possible) discovery of King Richard III in the city. Something like.... hmm... oh, I don't know.... maybe... erm, Rockingham Forest Triple Dick Delight!...

...but decided not to. As it is, we'll be sending some vintage Red Kite, and possibly/maybe a Perry. More details as they drip out.

Middleton Village Orchard

The Middleton Village Orchard Project is now in the final stages of the renovation which began way back at the beginning of 2012. The main entrance of Main Street is open, and the orchard has now effectively been given back to the community to enjoy.

A path circumnavigates the grassy interior, with several benches provided for quiet contemplation. The mature trees have all been heavily pruned back after many years of neglect, and it will be interesting to see how they now perform when blossom time arrives in the Spring. In addition there are new plantings of native broad leaf trees, assorted shrubs, and a few additional fruit trees. A James Grieve dual-purpose apple has been sited against the back fence, presumably ready to train as an Espalier. There are also individual specimens of the cooking apple Grenadier, early season dessert apple Discovery, and both Concorde and Doyene Du Comice pear.

What was once a wild and neglected village eyesore has been transformed into a very usable, attractive, and much more accessible space as a result of the work that has been done. I'd have to say that right now it all looks just a little too tidy for my taste, but I'm confident that this will change as the orchard develops, and the new plantings have had the chance to establish themselves and mature over the coming years.

Admiral Nelson Beer Festival, Market Harborough

The bank holiday rush of orders fuddled my brain to such a degree that I very nearly forgot to supply the terrific Admiral Nelson in Market Harborough with our cider and perry! A very big thanks to Jan for jogging my memory with a timely phone call. Normal service will now resume.

The festival kicks off at 3pm this Friday, and you can expect a whole bunch of real ales, as well as several ciders and a perry from welsh producer Gwynt-Y-Ddraig. We've supplied the very last box of Red Longdon Perry and also a Red Kite Cider. There will also be music aplenty during the evening sessions.

Not the May Bank Holiday

So the traditional end of May Bank Holiday has been royally shifted into June this year, but thanks to a rash of beer and cider festivals, you can still Bank on there being a happy Holiday atmosphere this coming weekend anyway... ahem!

The weekend festivities start early on Thursday 24th from 5pm at the Northampton Delapre Abbey Beer Festival, where we'll be sending cider and perry. Friday lunchtime sees the Newark CAMRA Beer Festival open its tent flaps to revellers. The cider & perry list, which includes one of each from ourselves, can be viewed here. Friday afternoon from 5pm is the time to visit the Swan & Rushes in Leicester for their annual Cider & Cheese Festival, where our Red Kite Cider will be making an appearance.

It's worth noting also that our cider and/or perry have been dispatched to the Criterion Freehouse in Leicester, and Langtry's in Nottingham to help their non-Bank Holiday weekend celebrations.

They're All Cider Bars Now...

It's official. Nottingham drinkers have great taste in cider and perry. A recent ground-breaking initiative in the city has shown that discerning Nottinghamshire drinkers, when expressed to preference, will choose local and East Midlands ciders and perries, and blimmin' well like them too*

The image below (c/o Ray Blockley of Torkard Cider) shows the fantastic range of ciders and perries which were available at noted Nottingham ale house Langtrys, during their recent cider festival. I'm particularly pleased to say that our own cider and perry went down well, and we'll be sending more of the same (or similar) very soon. A big thank you to Ray for his part in helping source such a great range of ciders and perries, and Suzi of Langtrys for making it happen in such an eye-catching and professional way.

*Note: Other non-local ciders and perries were also available, and presumably also enjoyed.