As per usual, May/June sees the release of the 2013 vintage
ciders. And so, here is the line up for this year (with some descriptions). The
website will be updated shortly!
Hampshire Heritage Cider – Off Dry (6.5%)
Well, it wouldn’t be 146 Cider without the original cider
making an appearance. And, rather helpfully, it has remained at 6.5% for this
year.
An off-dry cider made from 50/50 cider and dessert varieties
of apple sourced locally from Fruitwise Orchards, Heritage is a very easy
drinking cider. There is both tannin and acid in equal measure – perhaps a
little more acid (once again) as a tiny bit of Bramley was used to beef it up a
bit.
This year, these are sweetened versions of Hampshire
Heritage rather than mixtures of blends. Having had plenty of practice now with
sweetening, expect these to be on the drier side of things – so that the cider
itself actually tastes of something other than sucralose!
Eastern Delight – Dry or Medium Dry (7.1%)
Made from 100% dessert apple varieties sourced locally from
Fruitwise and Hill Farm, Eastern is still quite sharp at the moment. This will
calm down, but luckily a few hundred litres have been blended with the much
more mature 2012 vintage to tone it down a touch.
Wild West Cider
Sadly, due to lack of varieties last year, there is no Wild
West (or, as a result, Mild West) this year. This has been replaced however and
given me the chance to play around with blends. You won’t be disappointed!!
Thornleigh Estate Cider – Dry (6.3%)
And this is Wild West’s replacement: a 50/50 blend of
Kingston Black and Michelin. A cider with quite a lot of character, the
moderate flavour of Michelin allows the Kingston Black charisma to shine
through.
As there is only 1300 litres of it, Thornleigh will only be
available as a dry cider in 2014.
Hampshire Perry – Medium Dry (7.3%)
With only 650 litres produced (it is a trial after all) this
is 146 Ciders first perry… and it is really rather good (if I say so myself). A
floral perry with a touch of acid, this is made from dessert pears sourced from
Hill Farms once disused pear orchard simply called ‘Old Pear’… they don’t know
what the varieties are, but I am very glad I tried it!
There will be some bottles and it will be available on
draught at selected festivals.
So, there you have it – the 2014 line up. I hope you enjoy
them and do give feedback!!
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