If you want a micro alternative to your pint of Guinness you have plenty of choice, but if you want a micro alternative to your pint of Bulmers you have no choice when it comes to anything locally produced. (A few places have that Suffolk Cyder stuff but there's nothing local about it)
Given there are several cider makers on the island why are none kegging? I'm one of those people that has a mental block to drinking bottled anything in pubs (unless someone else is paying ;) ), so on a scalding hot summers day there's a good chance it'll be Bulmers for me again.
It could possibly be due to a question of scale; whereas micro brewers can churn out beer any day of the year and so have a reasonable supply, the small cider producers can really only make lots of cider around the apple harvest.
The peak time for cider sales ( summer ) is about the worst time of year for artisan makers to have any left!
They are eagerly awaiting early autumn and the first pressings.
The big boys store their "fermented apple wine concentrate" all year round and just dilute and carb it up as required.
They can also can import apples/juice/concentrate from around the world whenever and so supply the summer thirst.
This years apple harvest has been so poor that by the end of spring I doubt if there will be any artisan cider available.
Will
QuoteThe peak time for cider sales ( summer ) is about the worst time of year for artisan makers to have any left!
They are eagerly awaiting early autumn and the first pressings.
The big boys store their "fermented apple wine concentrate" all year round and just dilute and carb it up as required.
They can also can import apples/juice/concentrate from around the world whenever and so supply the summer thirst.
This years apple harvest has been so poor that by the end of spring I doubt if there will be any artisan cider available.
Will
Irish apple crop is officially 33% of last years bumper crop :(
Thats coz we bagsed most of it for the NHC :D
QuoteThats coz we bagsed most of it for the NHC :D
[smiley=laugh.gif] that was only a thousand pints! ;)
Talking to one of the cider producers a while back and he told me his apple crop was 20% of average this year, maybe he was worse hit than most!
The Armagh and north county Dublin apple producers were really clobbered with that East wind.
The North Cork and Tipp boys didn't do as badly but it was still dreadful.
Some of these growers have fixed contracts to supply, and this year had to supplement with French and Kent apples :(
It was the eaters and bigger juicers than got really clobbered much more so than the smaller cider apples.