Tales from the smallholding

A new cider blend from a year of plenty.

An early blend of cider.

The first cider using mainly Hollow Ash fruit

The latest iteration of a classic Perry.

We were excited to find this critically rare Perry tree and to try making perry from it.

A medium-sweet single variety cider

The latest incarnation of the ‘Foxwhelp/Pig’s Face’ theme.

A full-bodied cider using fruit largely from Hollow Ash orchards.

An experiment using Black Worcester pear juice to make a Perry.

A rare Perry from the Monnow Valley.

A blend of the renowned and well respected bitter sharp apple, Dabinett, with the more acidic dessert apple, Ashmead’s Kernel, together producing a well-balanced cider. Variety % Source Dabinett 72 Orcop Ashmead’s Kernel 28 Hollow Ash Method Made in a small batch of 300 litres using the pet-nat method. The juice was fermented using wild… Continue reading Dabinett/ Ashmead’s Kernel blend 2021

Fermentation notes.

Dry Perry 2021 2021 was a good season for pears and one of the trees we had planted in our Two-acre Orchard in the winter of 2008/9 was loaded with fruit. The tree was planted as ‘Winter Nelis’, a late season dessert pear, which according to Hogg was ‘…one of the richest flavoured pears, flesh… Continue reading Jerry’s Perry

Click the heading to read about the method and fermentation record.

A cider made largely from Dabinett, a renowned bittersweet, and Browns, a reliable bittersharp. There are in addition eight varieties making up the blend, many from trees planted in 2009 in our orchards and just beginning to crop. Variety Crates Origin Dabinett 9 Orcop Browns 6 Hollow Ash Bulmers Norman 4.5 Broad Oak Slack Ma… Continue reading Dabinett /Browns blend 2021

A very old variety (first recorded 1676) which is early to ripen. Fruit collected in September from standard trees in a young orchard about 15 – 20 years old between Ross-on-Wye and Hereford. Method Made in a small batch of 360 litres, from full juice, using wild yeasts and the pét-nat method (see below) to give… Continue reading Thorn perry 2021

Fruit collected almost entirely from Hollow Ash orchards and blended at pressing in the following proportions: Perthyr 8 40% Tom Putt 7 35% Cherry Norman 4 20% Katy 1 5% The standard trees are planted 30 feet apart to create a traditional orchard and the fruit is unsprayed to encourage nature to thrive. Fermentation record… Continue reading Perthyr / Tom Putt blend 2021