CIDER IN THE NORTH
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AMRA was formed in 1971 to campaign against the growing mass-production of beer and homogenisation of British brewing at the time. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve been successful in these aims and although there is still plenty of work to do, the future of British real ale is secured. CAMRA’s aim to secure the long term future of real cider and perry however is a little more precarious, with a lot of work still to be done to protect these ancient British tipples. Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Edd, your CAMRA Central Lancs Cider Officer, a position I’ve held for a little over two years now, over which time I’ve been learning about how cider is made, visiting the cider-selling pubs of Central Lancashire and dabbling in making cider and perry of my own. I took on the position of Cider Officer because I love drinking great cider (having studied at the University of Gloucestershire I was rather spoilt for choice), I’m fascinated by the history of cider making and most of all because I wanted to learn whatever I could about cider. One of my biggest passions, and one of the things I find most frustrating about the northsouth divide of cider drinking, is what I perceive to be a vicious cycle of not enough Northerners appreciating and enjoying good cider because not enough northern pubs serve good cider or a varied range of cider. There are certainly many exceptions to this rule, with our Cumbrian neighbour Phil at the New Union in Kendal showing that the adage of ‘if you build it,
they will come’ can certainly come true when it comes to cider. Having won CAMRAs National Cider Pub of the Year 2019 the New Union has built a community of cider lovers around their excellent pub. The Manchester Cider Club, which meets monthly at the Crown and Kettle, is also a great example of how much love there is out there for cider as long as there’s places to enjoy a wide range of ciders and perrys. Excellent cider is really very easy to stock, needing no special equipment for bag-in-box, bottles or cans, all of which don’t diminish the quality of the drink, it has a relatively long shelf life (especially when compared to real ale) and is quick and easy to pour and serve. Cider is generally broken down into three flavour categories; sweet, medium and dry, but the reality is the range of complex flavours and styles varies as much as in real ale. I think one of the main reason many people don’t acquire a taste for cider is that when they started out drinking they probably only had a choice of a few frankly terrible mass-produced ciders, products that are often not much more than the minimum legal requirement of 35% apple juice. Imagine starting out drinking real ale and all that you could find locally was a lacklustre boring mass-produced product, it’s hardly an appealing prospect is it? Living in the south-west made it clear to me that real cider can be hugely popular provided an infrastructure exists, like with real ale, for people to find the styles they enjoy and try new things. I wholeheartedly believe that a few pubs championing excellent real cider in Lancashire could kick-start a local movement as exciting as we have seen with the revival of interest in real ale since the formation of CAMRA. The CAMRA campaign for real cider does somewhat suffer from the difficulty for pub-goers to identify what ‘counts’ as real cider under CAMRA’s definition. Identifying real ale is mostly as simple as figuring out whether a beer is cask or not, real cider however is defined as a cider made without concentrate and without chaptalisation (i.e. sugar added after pressing), making it essentially impossible to work out whether or not a cider is real without researching it or having a list of real cider producers. Although I appreciate that CAMRA has set these definitions to try to protect traditional ways of cider production I think in practice the definition is totally unworkable for the average casual cider drinker (including myself). I would support anyone drinking any kind of cider beyond the big mass-produced giants, I think the most important thing for us to do as CAMRA is to support people trying something new and celebrating British cider rather than creating a confusing and exclusionary atmosphere for people trying to find good cider to drink. For all my doom and gloom and general venting of my spleen I do honestly believe that the cider and perry world is in the strongest position it’s been in a long time. The popularity of ‘craft beer’ has increased drinkers and landlords adventurousness towards trying new things and has created lots of bars that have fridge space for bottles and cans of great cider to sit alongside craft beers as well as creating a drive for pubs and bars to have more extensive drinks menus. I’m sure many CAMRA members would debate the benefits of the popularity of craft beer on the beer world but I would certainly celebrate the positive impact it’s had on cider. Another relatively recent change that I think has helped push forward the popularity of cider is the marketing of some ciders as a product closer to wine than to beer. These ‘fine ciders’, often sold in 75cl bottles with artfully designed labels and drunk from smaller glasses, have made cider a desirable product for many people whose previous impression of cider was as big jugs drunk
real cider & perry
Pubs serving real cider Bamber Bridge: Bamber Bridge FC, Beer Box, Brig N Barrel, Hospital, Olde Original Withy Trees, Walton Fox, Withy Arms. Broughton: Broughton Inn. Chorley: Ale Station, Artisan Ale House, Bob Inn, Malt n Hops, Shepherds’ Hall Ale House, Sir Henry Tate. Clayton-le-Woods: Beaumont. Croston: Black Horse, Crown. Euxton: Bay Horse. Goosnargh: Tap & T’Ales. Haighton: Haighton Manor. Heath Charnock: Bay Horse. Higher Walton: Mill Tavern. Hoghton: Royal Oak. Leyland: Golden Tap, Leyland Lion, Market Ale House. Longridge: Hoppy Days Real Ale Room, Tap & Vent. Longton: Dolphin, Longton VM Club. Penwortham: Tap & Vine, Preston: Ancient Oak (Cottam), Angel, Baker Street, Black Horse, Continental, Eldon, Ferret, Grey Friar, Guild Ale House, Niko, Orchard, Plau, Plug & Taps, Roper Hall, Wellington (Ashton), Winedown, Wings & Beer.
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Ale Cry
ISSUE 127 WINTER 2021
