More awards...

I wondered whether to list all of the events that are coming up for 146 over the next month. However, having spent a lot of time reworking the website there is an events calendar - so hopefully I get to blog about it less (not that this blog has been faithfully or reliably updated so far:-)

My bad!

What I would like to do is to brag about my newest, greenest award. Once again, the bottle fermented Hampshire Heritage has won a prize at the Big Apple Cider Trials in Putley, Herefordshire. This time it is a third place.

Whilst 'award winning' cider producers are two a penny these days - and 3rd place isn't exactly winning - it IS a useful measure that the standards are being upheld or even improved... and that is good for reputation and the drinker. After all, I want to continue to grow 146 Cider and the only way to do it is in a way that ensures quality and standards are kept as 'the same' as I possibly can!

So - 3rd out of 18 bottle conditioned ciders isn't bad... it will be available to buy this year too (though in limited numbers!!!) Look out for OneFourSix Reserve!!

The story of Thornleigh Estate...

As a blend, Thornleigh Estate cider is a blend of two traditional cider varieties of apple, Kingston Black and Michelin. Kingston Black is renowned as being the best variety of apple to make a single variety from. It is a mild bittersharp apple with plenty of flavour to go with the (reasonably) balanced tannin and acid. Pitched with this is Michelin; a very under-rated mild bittersweet apple with a much less dominant profile. Both of these apples were sourced from Hinknowle Orchards in Dorset.

Why? Because I feel that Kingston Black is more acidic than I would like as a single variety and blending it with another mild apple will not destroy the best bit… the taste. I am very pleased to say that the experiment has worked well.

The name ‘Thornleigh Estate’ is a bit more local – the place where 146 Cider is was build as the Estate Managers house for the Thornhill Park Estate in the 1870’s. Now simply known as 146, it still retains its original name of Thornleigh. I wanted to reserve this name for a special cider… and I think this is it.

Having a proper name for this cider is a move away from naming ciders after styles:

• Eastern Delight = Follows the Eastern style of making cider using just dessert apples
• Wild West = Followed the Western Counties style of making cider just from cider varieties of apple
• Hampshire Heritage = Is a true Hampshire cider, made from heritage varieties of apples sourced from Fruitwise Heritage Orchards
• Hampshire Perry = Again, a truly Hampshire sourced and made perry, why call it anything else!

2014 Ciders… and a Perry too!

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.

Medium Dry and Medium Ciders (6.5%)

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!!