Craft Cider’s Challenges. More Like Wine Than Beer

Craft Cider’s Challenges.

More Like Wine Than Beer

You can see the lone Elstar is bigger and better looking than the surrounding Dabinett!

Gin, Whiskey and Cider were among the tipples highlighted in a drinks series at Merry’s Pub in Dungarvan as part of the West Waterford Food Festival. Simon Tyrrell spoke on Craft Cider on Saturday and gave us an idea of the challenges, both natural (weather, terroir) and regulatory (punitive duty), facing the new wave of producers.

Simon, a winemaker in the Rhone, makes Craigie's Cider in County Wicklow, where his partners are Angus Craigie, Ralf Högger, Emma Tyrrell and Alan Garrioch.  Sourcing good apples can be a problem; Simon is convinced that Ireland produces some of the best apples in the world “but difficult to find”.

Dabinett and Michelin are perhaps the best known cider apples in Ireland. Simon works a lot with Dabinett. “It looks awful, gnarled, small. The flesh is woody and it has tannins.” But these tannins give structure and also help the cider age and eventually helps the interaction between cider and food.

Cider makers only get one chance a year to get it right - a major difference with the making of beer! “We only make vintage cider, “ he said, as he introduced us to Craigie’s Dalliance 2012. “No blends from different years. Cider should taste different from year to year.” Cider looks to express the best qualities of the fruit, show where the nuances lie.

The apples used in 2012 were from the Cappoquin Estate. Elstar is a favourite with Simon: “the finest eating apple” accounts for fifty per cent of the blend. The varieties, the other is Falstaff, were fermented separately “because they ripened separately” and are then allowed sit on the lees for 15 months.

“You have pear and apple like flavours and a natural freshness. The PH, at 2.9, is very low and this helps protect the emerging cider”.

Next up for tasting was the Dalliance 2013 and there were differences, some down to the weather which was better for this one. June and July were very good months and September was above average.

“This is a different drinking experience. It is drier, has a less complex flavour profile but not the concentration of the 2012. Might get there but not sure!”

If the Dalliance illustrated the effect of the weather, the next cider, the Ballyhook Flyer, showed the way soil can impact on the cider. The Flyer is their “principal” cider and is made from 80% Dabinett (availability of this type is increasing) and also some Katy (desert) and Bramley. As he talked  us through the Flyer 2012, we could see that the “dry” sensation is more prominent than in the Dalliance. “Because the PH is higher.”

An extra orchard, near Carrick on Suir, was used for Dabinett in 2013. Here, a slight change in the soil type gave the cider more body, more tannin, and Simon is thinking of using barrel aging in future vintages of the Flyer to “help polish the tannins”. The aromas at this stage are less expressive. It has some of same characteristics as the 2012 but the style is “more gripping” because of the new source for the Dabinett.

Get the best of Irish drink in Merry's: beer, cider, spirits.

And if the problems posed by the weather and the terroir weren't enough of a challenge, you have the punitive tax imposed by the government if the ABV (alcohol by volume, expressed as a percentage) is higher than six per cent and remember that higher ABV could be a natural outcome of the harvest. Luckily EU law allows variations but generally Irish law on the subject does not cater for variations of nature and this can encourage people to water it down. Not what we want at all. And certainly not what any craft cider maker wants.

Happily, we have dedicated people like Simon leading this new wave of cider makers and they should be supported in their efforts. You can see the list of makers here at Cider Ireland. The best way that we can support them is buy local Irish craft cider. And there are some excellent ciders out there as was so ably illustrated in Merry’s.
See also: A Tour of West Waterford Producers on the Bus Bia
See also: The Tannery Kitchen Supper.
See also:

Dungarvan Wrap-Up. West Waterford Festival of Food

See Also: 

From Power With Love. A Persian Dinner. Gorgeous. Generous

Taste of the Week. An Elegant Cider from Orpens

Taste of the Week

An Elegant Cider from Orpens

Orpens Apple Cider Medium Dry, Vintage 2012, 5.3%, stockists include Bradley’s, North Main Street, Cork

A beautiful golden honey colour enhanced by a fountain of bubbles rising and sparkling in the Easter sun. Lovely fruit aromas arise too, cooked apples mainly, and even a hint of cinnamon.

On the palate, this fresh pressed cider is rather elegant and refined, slightly tart, refreshing, and with a good dry finish. One for sipping rather than slugging! Perhaps not surprising, considering the amount of wine connections and wine-making knowledge among the principal players at Orpens.

Indeed, quite a few of the new wave of Irish craft cider producers have strong wine connections including, for example, Simon Tyrrell of Craigies who, lucky fellow, makes wine in the Rhone and cider in Wicklow.

Orpens are listed among the Irish craft cider makers in Slainte (pub. 2014) by Kristin Jensen and Caroline Hennessy and you may find out more about the company and their stockists at www.orpens.ie

• Wasn't too sure what glass to taste this in; eventually settled on the Riedel Restaurant series Riesling/Sauvignon blanc. Thought it worked well and showed the cider at its best but then it looks as if most tulip shaped glasses would be suitable. Open to suggestions here!

A Sweet Exception

A Sweet Exception

Chateau Tour de Calens, Graves Superieures 2010.

The big sweet wines of France are pretty well known. Sauternes will top most lists but next door in the Dordogne you’ve got Monbazillac. In the Loire, they’ll boast of their Layon and more. 

But the French do make many sweet wines, not all as intense as those previously mentioned, and you'll find gorgeous and versatile moelleuxs (semi-sweet), such as the white of Jurancon and the red vin doux naturel (naturally sweet) of Rasteau, all over the place.

I was up and down Bordeaux’s left bank a few times recently and, of course, a call to Sauternes (what a tiny little place) was on the cards. Before that though, I made a couple of visits to the Maison des Vins de Graves in Podensac and got educated.

While Sauternes (and its entwined neighbour Barsac) are on the left bank, their wines were not on sale in the Maison. But that doesn't mean there is no sweet wine produced in the rest of the area. Indeed, there are quite a few and they are labelled Graves Superieures.

I got to taste a few of the fifteen they had in stock, including Chateau Rougemont 2006 and Chateau Cherchy Desqueyroux 2011. Enjoyed both and also the winner of their 2013 Gold Medal for the category, Chateau Brondelle 2011.

But the one that caught my sweet tooth was the Chateau Tour de Calens 2010, the category winner in 2012. “This is the exception that proves the rule,” said my hostess as she poured. All the others are from land adjoining Sauternes or Barsac to the east (where you'd expect the Botrytis cinerea mould that gives the sweetness to occur) but the Calens is out on its own in the west. It is produced on the bank of the Gironde in the environs of the town of Beautiran, closer to Bordeaux itself than to Barsac. 

The Doublet family are the producers and offer both Red Graves (75% Cabernet Sauvignon) and White (a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon blanc). In exceptional years, “a few feet of vines, harvested in late fall, allow the development of the Graves Supérieures : a soft sweet wine with a rich palette of candied fruit”.

I bought a few bottles and one made it home. Sipping it now, the €8.80 I paid for the half litre was money well spent. But where will the replacement come from? Pretty sure it is not on sale in Ireland.

* There are a few ways of producing sweet wines. Noble Rot (Botrytis cinerea), as in Sauternes, is probably the best known. The other main method is Late Harvest (Vendage Tardive), used in Alsace for example. Read more on the subject here.

Two drinks events, cider and champagne.

* The multi-award winning Franciscan Well Brewery is proud to host its first Summer Cider Festival from 4^th July to 6^th July. Cider makers showing include MacIvors, Tempted Cider, Craigies, Cork’s very own Stonewell Cider and Little Island Cider and Scott's Irish Cider, to name but a few.   The Cider Festival will open at 2pm on Friday 4^th, Saturday 5^th and Sunday6^th. 
Admission is free.

* On Thursday, 24th July, at 7.00pm, a Krug Champagne tasting with Nicole Burke, Krug USA Brand Ambassador, will be held in the Ballymaloe Cookery School (note venue). Contact colm@ballymaloe.ie for further details and bookings.

Craigies Dalliance Irish Cider. Taste of the Week

Craigies Dalliance Irish Cider. Taste of the Week

“We have just one crop, one shot a year,” said Simon Tyrrell, who produces Craigie's Cider with his partner Angus Craigie, at a Beer and Cider event during last weekend’s Ballymaloe LitFest. “The cider world has a different approach. Ours is very seasonal. The demands are different to beer, indeed more like wine. Cider looks to express the best qualities of the fruit, show where the nuances lie.”

Simon was showing his latest Irish Cider. This is the Dalliance 2012. One sip and I was hooked. Back in the city, I made it a priority to call to Bradley’s in North Main Street and get a few bottles to really test it!

The first impression, that of an outstanding cider, was reinforced. This is a gem, a dry, fruity and refreshing cider and does indeed express the best qualities of the Irish apples that they use.

Craigies recommend drinking it with seafood, poultry, and creamy cheeses or, of course, just simply on its own. This is a must try and is our Taste of the Week. Very Highly Recommended.

Craigies Irish Cider, Dalliance 2012, 5.8%, €4.49 per 375ml bottle.

Sipping Beer and Cider in a Tractor Shed. At the Ballymaloe LitFest

Sipping Beer and Cider in a Tractor Shed

At the Ballymaloe LitFest

Dungarvan's Claire takes the mike at the Beer and Cider event.

“Three years on and it feels like a lifetime,” said Scott of Eight Degrees Brewing at last Sunday’s Irish Craft Beer and Artisan Irish Cider event at the Kerrygold Ballymaloe LitFest. The rapid pace of the craft brewing industry in Ireland has astonished many of us, not least those pioneers (excuse the dry pun) directly involved. “Consciousness has been raised now,” said Claire of Dungarvan Brewing Company. “It is an easier sell.”

Moderator John Wilson (of the Irish Times), who prefers his on draught, is delighted with the progress and is as surprised as anyone else. “Beer and cider are now appearing in restaurants. No excuse though for pubs and off licences not having them, even if it is just the local brews.” And so say all of us.

“The industry is one of experimentation,” continued Scott. “We take a risk in producing, the customers in trying a product. We tend to help one another in the industry as one new tasting leads to the tasting of other craft beers, one of the encouraging aspects of the business. We are trying to create a community of consumers who are highly experimental, making one off batches, full of flavour, being innovative. The consumer's interest has to be held.”

Simon Tyrrell, who produces Craigie's Cider with his partner Angus Craigie, says the cider world has a different approach. “The reason is that we have just one crop, one shot a year. Ours is very seasonal. The demands are different to beer, indeed more like wine. Cider looks to express the best qualities of the fruit, show where the nuances lie.”

Eloquent as Simon was, and always is, the best speech from Craigies came in our first tasting of their fabulous Dalliance, made from 100 per cent dessert apples (three different types). “It has been left on its fine lees for 15 months and then a little re-fermentation to give it sparkle.” This just has to be tried. It is so different with great apple flavours and a long dry finish. Superb!

Four to Taste

Then we were on to the beers and a taste of Dungarvan Copper Coast Red Ale. The red comes from the Crystal malt and the beer has “more of a malt profile”. It is sold in restaurants. I regularly come across it there and it certainly goes well with food.

Ballymaloe's Colm McCan
worked tirelessly over
two long days in
the Drinks Theatre
(a converted tractor shed).

The experimental nature of the craft beer industry was certainly underlined by our next beer, call Gosé, made by the Brown Paper Bag Project, Irish brewers without a brewery but who travel home and abroad and hire out or collaborate with existing brewers.

This beer was made in partnership with the local brewery on the Danish island of Fanoe in an ancient German style called Gosé. It uses 53% wheat and 47% barley along with the addition of sea salts and coriander. It has cider like characteristics and the acidity and salinity are prominent. Very good with oysters!

We finished off with one of the first of the second wave of Irish beers, Howling Gale Ale by Eight Degrees. It was important that the Mitchelstown brewery, then operating out of a cottage, got this right. They sure did set the standard and yesterday’s tasting shows it has stood the test of time and is still up there with many new ale rivals, both local and national.

Great to have the choice but Scott could do with a great choice of hops. The hops he uses are imported. “Hops are not grown commercially in Ireland,” he said. Now, with the industry mushrooming, hop growing must surely come next. Indeed, I think there are green shoots in Tipperary, White Gypsy the folks responsible.

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

Summer may be over
but that's no reason to
leave this cider gem on the shelf.
Well worth a try.

Cider Scope

Cider Fest at The Apple Farm in Cahir




 Looking for something to do this Sunday afternoon? Why not take a trip up to Cahir to the Cider Fest at the Apple Farm and sample some of the amazing ciders available, including the Longueville House, winner of the Best in Show in the presentation and taste category.

Down and Dirty in the Cidery

Down and Dirty in the Cidery

2012 Apple Crop: the Elstar (normal size but scarce); Dabinett (plentiful enough but smaller than usual).

How do you know a real craft cider-maker?

Wait until September or October (or November, as I did) and check his hands. Has he got what looks like a false tan on the digits? If he has, that is the confirmation you need that he has handled tons of apples, the “tan” created by the tannins in the fruit.

And tannins weren’t the only link between cider and wine, as Stonewell’s Daniel Emerson explained to me in his base in Carrigaline this week. The press he uses is a wine press on hire from a French wine-maker who uses it for just two weeks each year whereas Stonewell use it for six months.

Stonewell have just moved much of the operation from the family home in nearby Nohoval. “The scale is very different here,” said Daniel as he surveyed his expensively assembled “production line”: the forklift, the wash tank, the mill, the maceration tank, the press and the four huge tanks where the cider is finished off.

New base for Daniel Emerson and his Stonewell cidery.

 It has been a year of progress for Daniel and Stonewell. “We sold more than we expected in 2012 and as a result our stocks of the 2011 are low.”

But it wasn’t the best of years for the apple crop of 2012, quite the reverse in fact. The eating apples (used mainly in the medium dry cider) blossomed abundantly in March only to be hammered by the frosts in April. That made them very scarce and expensive.

In the wash.

The bad summer led to a lack of pollination for the cider apples (varieties here are Michelin and Dabinett) and growth was slow. The supply is pretty good though and with the firm also securing a supply of Elstar eating apples, it is full steam ahead in Carrigaline.

There were some yellow Elstar in the system during my visit. They are first washed and then hand sorted before going through the mill and maceration stages. Next the mix, now known as a pomace, visits the presser where the juice is extracted and is then directed to the tanks.

 At the moment, Stonewell makes two types of cider: a medium dry and a dry. If the dry is too dry, they use apple juice rather than sugar to sweeten it. Both are for sale in many counties. Here is a list of stockists.



By the way, with the exception of the glass bottles, everything in a Stonewell cider is Irish – apples, labels, cartons, elbow grease, Atlantic sea air and all! “We don’t use any artificial sweeteners and we definitely don’t add any chemical additives to tweak the natural flavour of our cider.”

Considering the amazing impact the Nohoval cider has had in its short life, I was quite surprised to find such a small team sharing the workload: Daniel himself, his wife Geraldine, Ralph and Eamon, all dedicated to getting the very best out of those precious apples. The small Nohoval facility is not being abandoned and will be used to tweak the juices, both creative and fruit, to come up with a different cider. Watch this space.

For the third time in five days, it has been my privilege to meet people who are willing to take a chance on and in this country, to get down and get their hands dirty, to invest their time and money in giving us better food and better drink. Support them by buying local and buying Irish.

Stonewell Cider goes Dry!

Stonewell increases cider options


Thanks to a recent win in a Galvin Wines competition, I got the chance to compare the two ciders now on offer from Stonewell. Many of you will be familiar with the Medium Dry but now they’ve added a Dry.

Stonewell Cider, 2011 Medium Dry, 5%, Distributed by Galvin Wines


This, Stonewell's first, has slight amber colour, very slightly cloudy. Classed as Medium Dry, it is certainly dry enough for some palates, and I’ve been an admirer since the start.

Now, both it and the Dry version are made from five different types of apple, all locally sourced: Dabinett, Michelin, Falstaff, Jonagored and Elstar.
While it has made many friends in what are still early days, it is still not dry enough for some, hence the new cider in the yellow version of the bottle with the distinctive Celtic motif.

Been drinking some good Basque ciders over the past few weeks while on holidays in the area (SW France, NW Spain). The craft cider there, used quite a lot with food, is cloudier and noticeably drier than anything here. Didn’t come across any that was even close to medium dry!

Stonewell Cider, 2011 Dry, 5.5%, Distributed by Galvin Wines




The first thing you notice is that this new Stonewell is darker, more of the amber. And the instant it enters your mouth, you know this is a dry cider and a very pleasant one too. It is made from the same five apple varieties.

It gets an unanimous thumbs up from this mini-tasting yet each of the tasters agreed that he or she would not be saying “No!” to the medium dry. No doubt, as time goes on, each cider will have its devotees and occasions and quite often there will be a pleasurable overlap.

Clash Of The Ciders

Clash Of The Ciders

Longueville House cider, medium dry, 5%ABV, 50cl, €3.99 at Bradley’s, North Main Street, Cork.

Stonewell cider, medium dry, 5.5% ABV, 50cl, €3.99 at Bradley’s, North Main Street, Cork.

The Longueville House comes in a distinctive squat bottle and its lovely black and gold label is less eye-catching than that on the Stonewell. It has a nice fruity aroma and a rich amber colour in which you see streams of little bubbles constantly rising.

Very pleasant on the palate where the fruit is well balanced, the kind of balance you’d expect to find in a well made West Country cider, a property previously remarked on by the Apple Farm’s Con Traas in a recent newsletter.

The Stonewell’s Celtic design really stands out on the shelf and there is also a huge visual contrast in the glass. The Stonewell colour is so much lighter, more like honey, and again the rising bubbles are obvious.

Its aroma is lighter, more apple-ly, very pleasant indeed. And it is lighter also on the palate, but nowhere near as dry as the LH. And that factor could well make it a favourite with the ladies, well at least with the lady of this house. It is marginally higher in alcohol and that did not go down as well with the lady.

As far as this amateur referee is concerned, my Clash of the Ciders will have to go to a replay (at least one) after this high scoring draw. Final score: 5 stars each. No need to seek a winner here but rather let us celebrate that, in less than 12 months, we have two outstanding craft ciders being made in the county.

If you do want to set up your own tasting match, just call into Bradley’s and get a few of each and see which one suits you. If you want to know more about cider, click on the link below where you’ll find info such as:

“The flavour of cider varies. Ciders can be classified from dry to sweet. Their appearance ranges from cloudy with sediment to completely clear, and their colour ranges from light yellow through orange to brown. The variations in clarity and colour are mostly due to filtering between pressing and fermentation. Some apple varieties will produce a clear cider without any filtration. Both sparkling and still ciders are made; the sparkling variety is the more common.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cider#Appearance_and_types_of_cider

PARADISE IN NORTH MAIN STREET

PARADISE IN NORTH MAIN STREET

Hennessy’s in Cognac have a room that they call Paradise as it contains much of their very old brandies. I reckon the title could easily be applied to Bradley’s Off License in North Main Street. Here, they stock virtually every drink you can call for and, besides, are great supporters of the local craft brewing movement.

Take cider for instance. They are one of the few, if not the only store, to stock the relatively new Stonewell Cider which has taken off very well indeed. The Stonewell is made by Daniel Emerson in Novohal and now has a rival from Mallow, from William O’Callaghan of Longueville House.

I’ll let apple expert Con Traas, owner of the Cahir Apple Farm, talk on the subject he knows so well. “Both make excellent ciders. William’s is full of traditional cider apples, which makes it a real West Country type cider, as it would be known in the UK. Daniel’s is less tannic, but also excellent. If you get the chance to try either, I would highly recommend them.”

And if it is beer that you’re after, then Bradley’s is the place. There is a wall of beer here, over one hundred craft beers from these islands and further afield, including local notables such as Eight Degrees Brewing and Dungarvan Brewing and sometimes including the limited run specials (such as that fantastic Shandon Century Extra Stout) from the Franciscan Well just across the river.

All kinds of wines on sale here also and you are sure to find something you like. Maybe the NV Innocent Bystander Pink Moscato, the low alcohol wine that is taking Australia by storm. If you fancy a sherry, I can recommend the Lustau range, everything from Amontillado to Oloroso to PX.

And then there are the spirits. No, the place is not haunted, though it was established in 1850. I was in there recently, looking for a gin. I was shown quite a few but, in the end, settled for Bombay Sapphire, my old reliable.

And here’s a neat one. After purchasing the gin, I was presented with a tonic, made especially for gin and containing some of the same botanicals as the spirit. The jury is out as far as I am concerned but if you want to try it, it is called Fentiman’s, available in Bradley’s. Of course!
There is something of a study on the best tonic for gin here.

Amuse Bouche: CANONS FORCED TO DRINK CIDER

CANONS FORCED TO DRINK CIDER

“....wine was regarded much more highly, as attested by King Alfonso IX’s decree of 1213, in which he pitied the poor canons in Galicia’s Lugo cathedral who were forced to drink cider and made them a large gift of Ribadavia wine (from what we now know as the Ribeiro).” From The Finest Wines of Rioja by Jesus Barquin, Luis Gutierrez and Victor De La Serna.

STONEWELL: IRISH CRAFT CIDER

Stonewell Medium Dry Irish Craft Cider, 5.5%, €3.99 for the 500 ml bottle.

During many trips to France over the years, a regular pleasure has been sampling their cider with a lunchtime salad. Now, at last, we have a local craft cider here and it is encouraging to see some Cork restaurants already adding it to their drinks list. Perhaps a smaller bottle size (maybe 250ml) might be more suitable for lunchtime!

Made from local fruit by the Nohoval Brewing Company, this is quite a refreshing drink. That fruit sure comes through well but there is enough acidity, just about, for the cider to merit its Medium Dry tag. It is close to being perfectly balanced.

It is early days yet in their admirable Nohoval venture and, already Daniel, the Master Cider Maker, has a product to be proud of. Good cutting in it, as they say. Now, all we need to go with it is a summer’s day!

Must say though that this cider doesn’t really need the sunshine to illustrate its quality which is orchards ahead of some of the bland insipid watery stuff being imported.

Loads of info on the label, including that one of the three Apple varieties used is Michelin, but if you haven’t brought your reading glasses, don't worry: you’ll know the country of origin by the eye catching Celtic design on the front.

Stonewell. Another good reason to buy local, buy Irish. I got mine in Bradley’s (North Main Street) and you can see the full list of stockists here.

PS: My first bottle was chilled down fast in the freezer while the second was treated to a more leisurely and less extreme cooling in the fridge. The second tasted better. Wonder what the recommended serving temperature is?