Cider Taxation - Times Podcast

National Association of Cidermakers chairman Henry Chevallier Guild, speaks out on the issue of punitive taxation to prevent alcohol abuse.

Winter Pruning

A short video featuring graphic scenes of apple tree surgery.

Marcus & Andy Got Wood (If You Want It)

It's not too late to take advantage of the free wood on offer at this years National Apple Scion Wood Exchange. We went today, and can heartily recommend what's on offer. Midshires Orchard Group founders, and all-round top men, Marcus Roberts and Andy Howard were on hand to offer sound advice, grafting wood from some rare and unusual apple varieties, plus their well-honed grafting skills for those that wanted to take home a new apple tree.

We went on the vague off-chance there might be some interesting cider apple scions available, and came home with over a dozen Gloucestershire cider varieties, including some real rarities. I was happy enough to get some Foxwhelp, a wonderful aromatic addition to any cider blend, but was particularly pleased to be offered a twig of Hagloe Crab, a variety only recently re-discovered, and with a reputation for making excellent cider. Of course, every orchard should have a Hens Turd, whether you make cider or not, so I'm pleased to say we can now add this unusually named variety to our own orchard stock.

These events are often very social occasions, and I was happy to make the acquaintance of Dennis Bancroft, a hobby cidermaker from near Rugby, who I've previously only known through the excellent Cider Workshop discussion forum. It's always nice to put a face to a name. It was also nice to see on display some of the 80-odd late storing apples which Marcus and Andy had acquired this season.

I must also give mention to the terrific George at Tiffield, a welcome refreshment break on the long journey home. A great village local, and highly recommended.

Cider News

In the absence of any news on our own ciders and perrys, here's a round up of some local (Leics/Northants) cider news:

Our friends in the 'big city' can look forward to a bit more variety in the cider department soon. Criterion Freehouse licensee Russell Hunt (pictured here for no other reason than he'd probably rather we didn't!) informs me that a substantial order of quailty ciders will be delivered to the pub in the next week or so. Names mentioned include Berriew, Newtons, Kennford, Heck's, Sheppy's, and Appledram. This lot should keep things ticking over nicely at Leicester's premier cider outlet until we've got something of our own to deliver in the Spring.

Budgens Store in Mountsorrel is the unlikely outlet for a genuine Leicestershire cider. 'Thirsty Farmer', made locally by ex-Somerset farmer Andrew Fear, is a rich, medium cider, with a good bittersweet character. Mr Fear comes from a long line of Somerset cidermakers, and has recently brought the ancient custom of Wassailing the orchards to this corner of the county. It's hoped that a barrel of Thirsty Farmer Cider will make an appearance at the cider bar of this years Leicester CAMRA Beer Festival.

It's 6 Nations rugby time again, and we'll be cheering on the mighty Leicester Tigers... err!... England, in their opening match against those tricksy Welsh boyos, in what promises to be a humdinger of a match. If any of the Welsh national team are reading this (as if!), 'Just the 15 men on the pitch today lads'...

In the traditional English spirit of Détente, we've supplied a barrel of fine Welsh cider to our local the Red Lion, Middleton, which will be on tap for the big match on Saturday. Gwynt-Y-Ddraig Haymaker Cider is described as a '...fruity medium cider bursting with the flavour of apples. A true Farmhouse Cider with a smooth finish'. Yum!

6 Nations supporters from further afield can rest assured that there's plenty of English ale and cider on tap, French and Italian wine, a very good Porter for the Irish.... and a fridge full of IRN-BRU!

Winter Pruning

It's oh-so-quiet in the ciderhouse. Fermentation seems to have all-but finished, and I'll need to think about racking off the rest of the ciders in a week or two. Meanwhile, I've used the welcome break to Winter Prune the cider apple trees.

Those Tremlett's Bitter trees which escaped Rosy Apple Aphid damage have put on a lot of, mostly upright, growth. The leaders in particular have rocketed skywards, and the main job here is to tip back this new growth by around half, remove the 2nd and 3rd buds down from the tip, and hope this will encourage a few more lateral branches to break further down the stem. The distorted growth on the tree which was attacked by aphid has been removed completely. Even if these stunted and twisted shoots recover and put on good growth this year, there will always be a weak point near the trunk which could snap in years to come. I'm also concerned that the Aphids could have introduced a viral infection into the shoots, so all-in-all, best removed and hope for better results this year.

The rest of the orchard needed little more than a minor snip here, and the total removal of a branch or two there, all in the pursuit of evenly spaced branches up the tree. Winter pruning is an ideal time to look for problems with tree shape and possible incidents of disease. The pics above show an obvious crossing branch which needed removal, and the tell-tale flaky bark of a possible fungal disease, which also needed cutting right out. Once again there's a lot of upright growth to deal with, and I'll be looking to tie down a lot of branches to a more fruitful level in the Spring.

A nice bonus from pruning this (mostly) young growth is the plentiful supply of 'scion wood' we now have, bagged up and ready to take to the 2nd National Apple Scion Wood Exchange at Buckingham Nurseries. We have Dabinett, Harry Masters' Jersey, Tremlett's Bitter and Yarlington Mill to take along, and hope to bring back...well something rare and interesting for grafting onto the rootstock we have on order.