So all I want to establish at this point really, is the fact that cider and perry have a lot more in common with wine than they do with beer.

Wine and cider are made from pressed fruit juice which is left to ferment and mature slowly. They are not made from a selection of recipes which always produce an identical product  year in year out like beer, which is created from chemically neutralised and adjusted water with added malt sugars and hops flavourings.

Each craft cider or perry maker develops their own blend of fruit and either natural or selected yeast fauna. The vintage  will vary from year to year almost as much as the terroir from one cider producing area to another.

The problem is that industrial cider is seen as little more than an alternative brand of lager beer, but this has nothing to do with the full juice craft cider which we promote at ukcider. And the role of cider and perry within the real ale organisations will always be a minority role, and that has proved to be much more of a restriction that it has an opportunity. Real cider and perry need a campaigning organisation of our own, not one tied to the interests of the lucrative beer festival organisers, which will always attract overwhelmingly beer drinkers.

In the meanwhile we would do well to explain , explain and explain again that cider has much more in common with other fruit wines than it does with beer.  You need to understand that in order to produce quality craft cider, and to appreciate it too. To that end we  would do well to read, learn and associate a lot more with our European counterparts with small vineyards who produce craft grape wines than with the beer drinkers.

Longstanding cider making guru on UKCider Andrew Lea who once worked at Long Ashton Cider Research station has a new book out, called simply “Craft Cider Making“.

Andrew dispenses valuable cider wisdom to beginners and experts alike on the ukcider mailing list discussion group from how to make cider to dealing with emergencies.

The new book is out on the shelves at discerning bookshops, and available now via amazon.co.uk below

A book on Craft Cider Making by Andrew Lea ? “That one’s got to be a must!”

ukcider is a community of 500+ people appreciative of craft cider and
perry. We claim amongst our midst a substantial minority of members
who are actively involved in the production of real cider and perry on
a small scale, and maintain the definitive online guide to good cider
outlets and cider making advice.

I’m writing to you today on behalf of ukcider to endorse the letter
which one of our members, Roy Bailey has recently sent in regarding
the 7,000 litre exemption as adopted below:

“We understand that the National Association of Cider Makers (NACM) is in support
of the EU’s proposal to get rid of the 70 hectolitres duty exemption on
cider and perry.

We believe that this would be a grave mistake of the part of the NACM,
and would be disastrous as far as craft cider makers are concerned,
leading to many of them ceasing production.

The present exemption is a valuable concession which has enabled a large
number of small cider makers to start up in recent years, unbedevilled
with the paperwork and expense attendant on paying duty. They have been
able to produce interesting and distinctive products, making use of
fruit that might otherwise go to waste, and sell their cider and perry
at a competitive price. Like the micro-brewers, they have been
instrumental in introducing new tastes and flavours which the larger
commercial producers fight shy of.

Instead of being confined to the West Country and East Anglia, cider
making is now carried on in the majority of the counties of England and
Wales, and even in Scotland.

Furthermore, many of these craft producers have sought out and rescued
rare and threatened varieties of apples and pears, grafting them and
planting new orchards which add diversity to the countryside and to the
national stock of fruit.

The brewing industry has only recently been able to enjoy a concession
similar to cider’s duty exemption in the form of Progressive Beer Duty.
This has enabled new breweries to start up, and existing ones to either
invest in new equipment or maintain competitive prices.

Rather than abolish the 70 hl concession, it should be retained and
amended so that duty is only paid on the excess over that limit when it
occurs, rather than on the whole of the production as at present. The
current arrangement penalises those producers who wish to produce
between 70 and about 140 hl per annum.

If the NACM goes ahead with its support of this EU proposal (and once
again this is a case of the EU sticking its nose into something that is
not its business) then it will only provide more ammunition for those
who believe that the NACM exists only to further the interests of the
big commercial producers, rather than of cider makers in general.

Regards,

Andy Roberts

ukcider convenor
http://ukcider.co.uk