Orchard Hive and Vine, cider perry and history of glass bottle making

	........More about the background of Cider and Perry Making

	There are a few single variety ciders available. They are not just curiosities because each variety has its own character. In the 17th and 18th centuries ciders based on Foxwhelp were held in the greatest esteem, but these are far too acidic for the modern palate. Nowadays Kingston Black seems to be the favourite for single variety cider. It is also a bitter-sharp but not so searingly acidic as Foxwhelp.

	There are often two fermentations in cider, one performed by yeast to convert sugar to alcohol (usually in the autumn) followed in the spring by a malo-lactic fermentation which converts the sharp-tasting malic acid into the more gently acidic lactic acid. The mellow fruitiness of Kingston Black ciders is largely thanks to the Malo-lactic bacteria which bring about this transformation

	Traditional ciders are served still, and are often cloudy. Apples contain pectin, which is better known to jam-makers as a setting agent. It also causes the cloudiness in ciders and perries. Cider which has been left to mature in the tank to mature will throw a deposit of pectin and come out clear. The pectin can also be removed by filtration or by adding pectolytic enzymes to the juice to digest the pectin during the fermentation. A clear product may still be an unfiltered in spite of its appearance. A cloudy product is not necessarily showing signs of micro-biological activity.

	Many good ciders and perries are carbonated. CAMRA is against the carbonation of ciders, but they do form a large slice of the market, and if a cider-maker thinks that carbonation improves the product, then we at Orchard, Hive & Vine are not going to disagree.

Historical Digression.

In the 17th Century there was an embargo on the use of charcoal. This was to protect the oak woodland for the use of the growing Navy. Sir Kenelm Digby had an estate in the Forest of Dean, an area where coal had been mined since medieval times, and experimented with coal to make glass rather than charcoal. The furnace got to a higher temperature and the glass was harder and stronger. The glass bottle was born. (Before this bottles had been made from leather.)
It was also Sir Kenelm who hit upon the idea of closing the glass bottle with a cork. Ciders and wines could now be stored for longer, the glass and cork keeping the air out. Ciders and wines could age gracefully, allowing their true character to come through rather than just going off. Some of the ciders began to ferment inside the bottle. The carbon dioxide produced had nowhere to go and sparkling ciders were born. Recently discovered tasting notes of members of The Royal Society show this conclusively.
Forget the Methode Champenoise - it was invented in the Forest of Dean at least a hundred years before it was re-invented in Champagne! The bottle-fermented ciders produced by Bollhayes, Burrow Hill and Gospel Green are not inferior Champagne look-alikes but are an important part of the British Cider tradition.

	Another digression. During the reign of Charles II, there were more licensed cider-houses than ale-houses in London, and Herefordshire cider was more expensive than any imported wine except Chateau Haut Brion. The ascendancy of Herefordshire cider was due in the main to the Redstreak cider apple developed at Lord Scudamore’s estate at Holme Lacy. Unfortunately it is now a rare apple, and in fact the variety may no longer exist. There is a Somerset Redstreak cider available from Thatcher’s and one or two others, but, although delicious, it is not the same variety.
	The National Collection of Cider Apples is at Brogdale in Kent.
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	Some interesting links to other related sites..... \|http://www.ciderbrandy.co.uk/\| \|http://www.celticspirit.co.uk/\|

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