Extra 146 Storage...

It is finished. As you will see from the snowy pressing picture, the 146 cider garage is all but overflowing with juice – with not much room for anything else. And there is a lot to happen – bottling, storage etc. So, last year Fruitwise agreed to build a new shed on the orchard as a storage place for 146 cider. And it is now complete:

It is an exciting development for 146 – not least because Stephen and Julia of Fruitwise are such lovely people – but because I now have the one thing that I had run out of – space to develop the company.

For this year, it will act as a cupboard of sorts – empty barrels and bottles. The aim is to store some of the larger barrels there (not easy to move, let alone nick!) which frees room in the cider garage for full bottles etc.

Next year it will come into its own – as I can press to my hearts content knowing that I have sufficient space to put it.

If the business plan continues to travel in the direction planned, I anticipate outgrowing both garage and shed in around 3-5 years – but by then of course I hope to have help and sufficient turnover to pay for something bigger.

Exciting stuff!!!

Ending 2010...

Happy Christmas (belated) and a peaceful New Year to all those who read this blog.

I am sorry to say that apart from any 146 Cider left at the regular outlets, the 2009 season’s cider is now done and dusted. However, do not panic or fear. Supplying cider throughout the year is a problem that better cider makers than I have to deal with, although I only have to think about a couple of pubs and retailers.

The issue is made easier for me by the spacing of the two remaining festivals – the Gosport Winterfest, run by South East Hants CAMRA is on for February 25-26. On March 25-26, the Winchester Beer & Cider Festival is being run by South Hants CAMRA. There ought to be enough to last these two events, but once it’s gone, I cannot supply more. More information will be posted closer to the time; I have been asked to help out and ‘be there’ at Winchester for a session if you’d like to meet me, offer any advice or just try the cider and say ‘hi’.

So there is always something to look forward to... and 2010 seasons cider will be ready by May! A proviso though: if the new cider is rubbish, it won’t be going anywhere!!

The 2010 pressing season itself is all but over now; I am hoping to collect a few more very late quality desert apples but the bulk of the pressing is done. Sad man that I am, I can confirm that I have pressed 3.4 tons of apples of varying sorts (I will post up the varieties and percentages at some point closer to launch as a part of the attempt to be transparent in what I offer.

In all there should (hopefully) be over 2000 litres for 2011 – though not all the traditional ‘146 Cider’. In fact, 146 Cider is changing a little for 2011. No, not the cider itself - the blend used is the same as the 2009 season! However, it would seem that the name itself is a bit confusing (I hadn’t considered that calling the cider ‘146 Cider’ AND the company ‘146 Cider’ would be less than simple!). Also, the supply of, and varieties of apple available to me have allowed 146 to push on with plans to produce the three different styles of cider that I aim to offer as a business. So...

As of 2011, 146 Cider will become ‘146 Cider Company’ (did I hear someone yawn?), and the main blend ‘146 Cider’ (which I would describe as a ‘Hampshire’ style – 50% cider and 50% desert/culinary) will become ‘Hampshire Heritage Cider’ for 2011. That’s all that’s changing... honest! There will be about 400 litres more than this year, so it ought to go further?!

In addition to this, 146 is launching two new blends:

‘146 Western’ is (go on, guess) a West Country style of cider – 90% cider fruit. Its gonna be dryer and more tannic than Hampshire Heritage, but as it has a base of 10% sharp, acidic apples, I suspect it’s going to come out more Somerset than, say, Devon or Herefordshire.

‘146 Eastern’ is the one I didn’t expect to make until next year, but with Fruitwise having some market quality desert fruit going spare it seemed the ideal time to start. This is a blend made up of 100% quality heritage desert varieties of apple – no cider fruit, no sharps. Its proving to be the hardest to start fermenting, and (at the moment) there is only 120 litres of it. So its probably going to be a ‘festival special’ for 2011. Who knows though, if more fruit becomes ‘spare’ for Fruitwise, then there may be a little more to go around.

Talking of fermentations, everything is going well (albeit very slowly in this cold weather). Very little ‘fluff’ to skim off the top, although the pectin cap has been absent totally this year – we shall see what difference this makes to the finished product. I suspect it may be a little dryer in the mouth than last year (although I have resisted temptation to artificially sweeten... and shall continue to for now, thank you very much). By the way, the image above demonstrates an important aspect of planning a cider house, shed or garage - make sure there are more than two electrical sockets! I was using two pumps here, and had to use the lamp instead of the main light in order to do so!!

The final thing to report is that 146 Cider has finally been presented with its 'Cider of the Festival' for the 2010 Southampton Beer Festival. Yeah, done to death I know, but its my first award, so here it is:
Happy New Year to all... see you in 2011:-)

Apple Days...

As well as being the cider making season, its worth remembering that it is the apple season too. Yeah, I know this may seem like the bleedin' obvious, but its a neat way to get on to think about visiting an apple day somewhere.

The best list of apple days around the country can be found on the Common Ground website, which each year gives details of more and more apple day events. An apple day event will generally have a display of apples of various kinds - sometimes focussing on 'local' heritage verieties, as well as selling fruit and juice. Invariably there will be pressing demonstrations, and likely cider ad apple juice on sale too. On the fun side, expect anything from apple bobbing to competitions to peel apples in order to get the longest peel!

New Forest Cider's 'Steam Pressing weekend turns the apple day on its head by concentrating more on the cider side of things - its more like a festival in som respects. As well as a number of groups pressing juice, there are plenty of other traditional crafts being demonstrated... and you can get your cider hot or cold. Truly recommmended!

Although the plan is to attend New Forest Ciders event (as a punter - no 146 on sale there... yet), 146 will be found at the Fruitwise Apple Day, at Durley Village Hall on Saturday 25th September. From a cider point of view, this is still quite early in the pressing season - though I plan to take the kit along and do a demo - please don't hold me to it though! However, thanks to the hall having a licence I can sell a few glasses and folk are welcome to a complimentary taster!

The Fruitwise Apple Day takes place on Saturday 25th September at the Memorial Hall in Durley (SO32 2AR). Full details can be found on their website.

0 to 146 - the story so far

OK, I admit it. I am proof that Magners drinkers ARE human beings and can go on to actually make real cider! I used to believe that I was a sophisticated cider drinker – well, may be all the marketing money that they spent actually worked a bit eh! No, I wasn’t into ale or beer and although having been to a few festivals, was by no means versed in ‘real’ cider.

The first year of cider making, I made about 50 litres from apples that I either scrounged, scrumped or nabbed from trees that I found at the roadside. The cider was thin, flat, but drinkable. And I had caught the bug and had not made a fool of myself.

A couple of things that you realise as a new cider maker. First, if you have the passion, you never make enough. Secondly, in order to do this, you will realise that the weakest part of the cider making process is the thing that is replaced the following year until you become the weakest part of the process. Oh, and you can never get enough barrels, tubs and things to hold juice/apples/equipment – cider makers are very creative when it comes to what you can use containers for!

One other thing, which is a useful tip for anyone wishing to make cider and improve it, is that having cider making friends is very, very useful. I joined an online community and found a ton of information, as well as a ready source of experienced folk to ask my daft questions. On the whole, I would recommend this to anyone with an interest (which is why there is are links to it all over the blog!)

In my first year, I used a small 6 litre Vigo screw press and a blender. I decided, in order to double the amount I produced the milling needed to be quicker and less complicated. This is the weakest link theory in practice. With a Vigo hand scratter, I doubled the amount to 100 litres in the second year.


In the second year of making cider, a valuable relationship with Fruitwise Heritage Orchards was born. Located near to 146 in Southampton, Fruitwise boast extremely fine fruit for sale at markets (yes, to actually eat and cook with!). 146 has been lucky enough to strike a solid relationship with the owners which will go on for as long as they are allowed to grow whatever apples they wish. If you have tried 146 Cider, the odds are that it will have been made from heritage apples from the Fruitwise orchards. In 2009, 146 has used pretty much all of their windfall or ‘ugly’ apples to produce a heritage cider – a name that will stick to this particular blend as 146 grows.

The second year produced a cider that was technically better, and had more body to it. It seemed to disappear far too quickly, with relatives and friends scoffing the lot (well, we are generous people!). It was still fairly light, but there was a distinct flavour to it – not too West Country, yet more so than a typical Eastern style.

And this has been the blend that we have worked with ever since; a cider that contains both quality cider apples with heritage desert varieties and sharp (cooking) varieties. I often refer to it as the ‘Hampshire’ style… well, there is no real tradition in Hampshire (although there are long standing cider makers that I respect tremendously, such as Barry Topp of New Forest Cider). I would have thought that sitting neatly in between East and West, our style fits rather nicely.

The quantities doubled again to 200 litres in the third year, and again to 405 litres in the fourth, together with a new steel framed ‘Ray’ press, named after Ray Blockley of Torkard cider who laid out the design for it (see weakest link principle in action). The 2008 batch forms our first commercially available cider. This is more Western in style than in previous years – something that we hope to correct with 2009’s pressings. Incidentally, this year we replaced the mill with an electric mill and are currently aiming to produce 800 – 1000 litres.

What are the plans? Well, as a one man band, 146 will continue doubling production year on year until either I fall over or one of the family give in and decide to start helping out. This doubling up of cider gives time to evaluate equipment, play with styles and, most importantly, take my time over doing things. There is no rush to make thousands of litres – the apples will be there next year.

This is a very short version. I haven’t mentioned my micro orchard of ‘obscure’ cider varieties, or the cider ‘garage’. There is so much more to say about the apples that go in to 146 cider… and the people who grow them!

Next time maybe?!