ukcider

The idea of trying to get CAMRA to reverse the recently amended bad definition of real cider put me in mind me of this cartoon by Hugh MacLeod

According to my sources, a motion was passed that shows how little hope there is of ever getting a beer focussed group ever to understand that cider is fermented like a wine, not brewed like an ale.

Motion 11 related to the definitions of real and pure cider. This motion was amended by conference and the former definition of pure cider has been deleted from the external policy document. Apparently, this means that cider and perry made from concentrates are 100% OK as far as CAMRA are concerned.

Apparently other motions passed were concerned with promoting the green aspects of local beer production and consumption, and campaigning for an eco-friendly 21st century brewing industry. But what is so eco-friendly about the carbon-footprint of apple concentrates made in China and shipped halfway round the world, that CAMRA appear to have just endorsed?

Motion 11 came from that well-known heartland of cider production and
knowledge, Halifax and Calderdale branch, and called for a new paragraph
to be added to the external policy document, to read:

‘CAMRA defines real cider as cider that has been stored in the
traditional way, and is living in the container from which it is
dispensed. Real cider must not be stored or dispensed using extraneous
gas pressure’.

So Sheppy’s bottled ciders bad; Saxon draught ciders good. ?!?

By contrast, the ukcider definition of real cider emphasises a high juice content, bans additives, and doesn’t insist on the presence of dead yeast residue in a fully fermented and matured cider or perry.