| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Gents
HMZ God
Trinidad and Tobago
2214 Posts |
 Posted - 26/11/2004 : 14:06:07
|
well i might just take up that generous offer next year, but we will still try to make some cider this end too. I think i may attempt to get hold of a cloth & rack press but try and have a basket lined-up if not, got a year to think about it anyway. definitely a good idea to try and bolt the press to the ground somehow.
ZIDER! |
 |
|
|
Ivanhoe Martin
Cider Bus Convert
Oman
273 Posts |
Posted - 26/11/2004 : 15:58:34
|
(It's Friday afternoon, and I'm at work, so) I've just been on Andrew Lea's cider archive and see that he has instructions for building a rack and cloth press from scratch. That might interest you.
[Any of you HMZ boys are very welcome to come and meet up if you're in London, and anyone at all will always be welcome to come and press with us. Can't believe I'm thinking about next year's pressing already] |
|
|
|
Gents
HMZ God
Trinidad and Tobago
2214 Posts |
Posted - 14/12/2004 : 11:19:21
|
quote:
Originally posted by Tharg drinker of cider
I've spoken to the photographers, and you can have what you like, let us know nearer the time and we'll email them to you, as the quality is compromised if you copy them directly off the site.
Tharg, I am hoping to finally put an article together later this week hopefully, or at least over Christmas if not. Would it be possible to send a few snaps to hannahmorezider@hotmail.com ? Im not too fussy which ones really, a selection would good, but if its not too much trouble these would be handy:
- the dual scratters in action
- a few of the flat-bed press
- the big group photo
- the spent cake!
Cheers for that.
ZIDER! |
|
|
|
Tharg drinker of cider
Cider Bus Convert
Borneo
184 Posts |
Posted - 14/12/2004 : 14:23:35
|
I'll have word with the relevant authorities.
An Asda (I believe you call it Asdall, while in the Forest, we call it Azderz) has just opened in the Old Kent Road. It has an absolutely magnificent range of bottled beers, the best I've seen in a supermarket, while the cider section is certainly better than the neighbouring Tesco's. While it has the usual range of non-cider (Strongb*w etc) It also has Merrydown vintage, in both dry and medium; Frome Valley, dry and medium; Thatcher's Katy, Spartan etc; Weston's vintage dry, and their scrumpy, which comes in an impressive 2 litre glass demi-john.
And you will know us by the trail of empties.... |
|
|
|
Ivanhoe Martin
Cider Bus Convert
Oman
273 Posts |
Posted - 14/12/2004 : 14:43:14
|
| Right. Off to Arsdarw (as we call it in the posh south) |
|
|
|
Gents
HMZ God
Trinidad and Tobago
2214 Posts |
Posted - 15/12/2004 : 10:16:55
|
Thanks for looking into the photos, i have got some good ones from Al Caholic so it should be a good little cider-making feature when i can put it together.
It sounds quite funny anyone being excited an Asdaaaawwwll has opened up near them cos we have loads of the buggers here, but the more cider that you can get hold of, the better! They do usually have a pretty good selection, those are all pretty good that you mention in my opinion. You can get the jugs of Westons quite easily round here, i used to take a couple to parties as a youngster, as a nice easy drink to drink.
Is Merrydown actually any good then?? I used to see people drink it in parks along with White Lightning, Ice Dragon, etc so have always tarred it with the same brush. Maybe i should re-assess?
ZIDER! |
|
|
|
Ivanhoe Martin
Cider Bus Convert
Oman
273 Posts |
Posted - 15/12/2004 : 14:24:33
|
| I find Merrydown a bit "thinner" than other ciders (like Blackthorn) |
|
|
|
Tharg drinker of cider
Cider Bus Convert
Borneo
184 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2005 : 09:41:10
|
Went to The Head Of Steam at Euston last night, had some draught Weston's Vintage Dry, very good for a commercial cider: clear, still, dry and actualy tasted as though it had some apples in it. Crossed town to The Wenlock for pasties and black pudding, washed down with Rich's. I've not had their cider before, the first sip or two was a bit strange (I could still taste the Weston's) but I must say I enjoyed it, as did quite a few other drinkers there.
And you will know us by the trail of empties.... |
|
|
|
Tharg drinker of cider
Cider Bus Convert
Borneo
184 Posts |
Posted - 24/03/2005 : 13:05:52
|
In the last couple of days, I’ve tasted 5 different batches of Thames Cider. The unladylike Jo Dubiel has gone the natural route, and has produced a dry, fruity cider with a touch of sharpness, which promises to become very good indeed. Off to see another lady, Victoria, who yeasted hers, and had a quicker brew. It has been sweetened and bottled, and is a beautiful, appley medium cider. Myself and another London cider maker, Ollie, tried some that had been chilled and it was quite wonderful. Victoria thinks that it doesn’t have a very strong apple character, I have to disagree, I belched about 10 minutes after drinking it, and got a good blast of apples. We went off to try our own cider in a state of great excitement, as we hadn’t checked it for over a month. We tried cider from three barrels, all had had a long, slow, natural fermentation outside on a balcony, all three were slightly different. When we did our pressing, I tried to mix the fruit up as much as possible from the various varieties we had, although it was obvious that the juice on Sunday had a different character to that pressed the day before, and we allocated the barrels at random, so I'm guessing that we had juice from two different days. Two of our barrels shared a dry, lemony character, with a wonderful nose. We dangled the dooberryometer into them and got a reading of 1000. The third, bizarrely, had orange notes and a very refreshing zestiness that sparkled on the tongue. This was a tad drier at 0998. We’ll probably rack off next week, and then allow them to bask in the warmer weather for a month or so before bottling.
All of these ciders were very obviously superior to any commercial cider available, furthermore, they’re better than some real ciders I’ve tried.
By the way, they are also very strong, I was boss-eyed afterwards!
And you will know us by the trail of empties.... |
|
|
|
Tharg drinker of cider
Cider Bus Convert
Borneo
184 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 10:54:25
|
I've now tried 10 different se1 ciders, it's amazing the differences between some of them given that we all started with the same apples. Everyone seems to have gone about making it in slightly different ways. I'm going to try and lay down some of mine for a couple of years - I shared a 5 year old perry last week with the Ivanhoe's - it was the smoothest I've ever drank, rich and creamy tasting, I know people don't ordinarily lay cider down but I think it's worth the effort, if it's live it'll carry on developing.
And you will know us by the trail of empties.... |
|
|
|
Gents
HMZ God
Trinidad and Tobago
2214 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 14:38:38
|
Ive never really thought about it before, I always thought the idea was to drink it ASAP! Ive heard of it being left to mature in barrels for 6 months or so, but i always assumed it would go bad if you left it much longer, although if it's possible for cider to still be drinkable after 40 years then leaving it a few years can't do much harm for an experiment can it? If you've got plenty of the stuff then i reckon its worth a try, if you can be disciplined enough to leave it that long without cracking it open.
ZIDER |
|
|
|
Jungle Jim
HMZ God
Falkland Islands
1872 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 14:41:56
|
I poured some 2-year old thatchers on the lawn last week, and it burned a big hole in the grass. I think its fair to say if what went on that lawn had gone down someone's throat they would not be with us now, so I for one will be steering clear of any 40-year old cider. I hope to have a photo of the Thatchers lawn to go on the site soon!
Cider's coming home...
 |
|
|
|
Tharg drinker of cider
Cider Bus Convert
Borneo
184 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2005 : 14:03:59
|
Greetings to you all, I'm taking a day off to visit Catford on Thursday (Spike Milligan said that coming from Catford is like being born dead with cancer) where they're holding their annual beer festival. This is the cider And perry list, and I intend to write up some tasting notes, I'll take along a portable minidisc recorder to help me. Incidentally, I helped press Jon Hallam's MYNEDIAD YSBYTY cider.
BIDDENDEN
Cider Medium - Bushells
Kent
6.0
An Old favorite from Kent, a vineyard that has been making cider since 1978.
BUTFORD
Cider Dry
Hereford
6.0
Small organic (but not registered) smallholding, set up in 2000.
CASTLE
Cider Medium Dry
Kent
7.5
Set up in 1987 and only uses Kentish Apples.
CRIPPLEDICK
Cider Medium
Kent
TBC
Small Kentish producer.
GUILLET
Cider Medium Dry
Brittany France
5.0
Good well-balanced Brittany cider, note this may substitute for Kerisac a festival favourite if we can get it!
GWATKIN
Cider Sweet
Hereford
7.5
From original orchards in Golden Valley, Denis Gwatkins cider has won many awards.
HARTLAND
Cider Medium Sweet
Gloucestershire
6.0
3 generations have been cider making not filtered but as they say “has no bits floating around in it”.
KING-TURNER
Cider Dry
Shropshire
TBC
The ciders are made using Shropshire apples, which are then hand pressed using a single screw cider press, which is over 160 years old. The different barrels are then fermented by wild yeasts, which provide different tasting ciders depending on the season, type of yeast and apple varieties.
MYNEDIAD YSBYTY
Cider Medium Dry
Monmouth Wales
TBC
Jon Hallam’s the wholesaler’s own cider, apparently means Welsh Hospital!
NAISH
Cider Dry
Somerset
7.5
Frank and Howard Naish Brothers have been working their farm since 1937 and 2 of the cider industries great Characters. Most cider is oak fermented. Highly regarded cider.
PALMERS
Cider Dry
Devon
5.5
A first for any CAMRA beer festival, a recent producer from Yeahampton, procured exclusively by the cider Bar manager. Doug Palmer is a winner of many awards for fruit in the RHS.
RATHAYS OLD GOAT
Cider Dry
Hereford
7.5
Winner of Catford Beer festival cider of the festival 2004. The Blackmores have been producing cider from their smallholding (complete with Angora Goats) for a few years. SE London CAMRA trip to present the award was very memorable!
RICH
Cider Sweet
Somerset
6.0
Well known all rounder only Somerset Apples are used to make a traditional unfiltered cider. Matured in huge oak vats largest is 10,000 Gallons!
WHITEHEAD
Bottled Cider
Hampshire
6.5
Bottled version of their cider. A recent formed company.
WILKINS
Cider Medium
Somerset
6.0
Founded in 1917, Roger Wilkins is a well-known character and has been running since 1966. Good favourite cider.
PERRYS
BROOK FARM
Perry
Gloucestershire
6.0
Set up seven years ago by a cider enthusiast
BROOME FARM
Perry
Hereford
6.0
Traditional maker of limited quantities of perries
HARTLAND
Perry
Gloucestershire
6.0
3 generations have been cider making not filtered but as they say “has no bits floating around in it”.
HECKS
Perry
Somerset
6.5
Since 1840 they have been making cider, matured in wooden barrels.
National Cider & Perry Awards BRONZE award 2005.
NEWTON COURT
Perry
Hereford
7.5
Father & son team produce cider using traditional methods from Organic pears.
TROGGI
Perry
Wales
TBC
Well-crafted Perry may be the last time they produce.
SUMMERS
Perry
Gloucestershire
5.5
A rarely available Perry.
And you will know us by the trail of empties.... |
|
|
|
Gents
HMZ God
Trinidad and Tobago
2214 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2005 : 21:27:00
|
Greetings to you too Tharg, thats an impressive line-up that includes many of our local favourites. I got excited when I saw this, as I had no idea where Catford was and assumed it must be in London (but it's a bit outside isn't it?). Im in London this weekend so thought i may be able to pop along, but we are short of time as it is so this might just be a bit too ambitious.
Look forward to the tasting notes tho.
Whats the deal with this MYNEDIAD YSBYTY cider? Jon Hallam is the bloke from Bristol isn't he?
ZIDER |
|
|
|
Ivanhoe Martin
Cider Bus Convert
Oman
273 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2005 : 13:44:05
|
It's SE London, but only a short train ride from London Bridge (possibly from Charing Cross as well).
I'm away on Sat daytime, but if you're around our area any other time in the weekend (Tower Bridge/London Bridge/Waterloo/Elephant & Castle/South Bank) then let us know and you can come and try some of our cider if you like. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Cider In London
