Whilst CAMRA is better known for banging the drum about real ale and pubs, we also campaign for better availability of proper cider and perry in pubs and bars and have two months a year – May and October – when we are asked to make a special effort to promote cider & perry and encourage drinkers to seek it out and try it. The reason those two months are chosen is October is typically when the apples and pears are harvested and pressed and May is usually when new batches of cider and perry are ready and released!
When we talk about “real” cider or perry, we mean products that are made by fermenting freshly pressed juice and using only natural, genuine flavours. The vast majority of ciders on the bars in the UK are industrial products manufactured from concentrate.
Sheffield isn’t exactly known for its cider scene but we do have a few people and places doing great things. The longer term stalwarts have been Liz at the Harlequin and Steph & Kev at the New Barrack Tavern which both stock a large range of bag in box ciders with a number of them fitting CAMRA’s definition of “real” and just over the border in Holmesfield, Derbyshire, we have Dick Shepley at Woodthorpe Hall making cider.
Since then they’ve been joined by Hop Hideout in the Kommune food hall in Sheffield City Centre stocking an impressive selection of bottled ciders and perries as well as occasionally having a keg conditioned cider on tap and for national Cider Week in April a number of events were organised by Jules showcasing various producers and I attended a special tasting session with Albert from Ross on Wye cider. Whilst the majority of the differences in flavours and characters in the different ciders are down to which apple variety is used, they also make a number of interesting ciders that have been fermented in oak casks and also do blends of different vintages to maintain the right flavours.
Finally, the newest show in town, Mike Pomranz, who opened the Cider Hole at Shalesmoor and started making his own cider there under the Exemption Ciderhouse banner. He’s also worked with us to host tutored tasting events at our Steel City Beer & Cider Festival and the CAMRA Members’ Weekend plus each year he works with Heist Brew Co. to put on an annual cider festival in their tap room, this year it is planned for 15 July. The end of May saw the Cider Hole close with it all relocating to a new City Centre bar – The Old Shoe in Orchard Square – opening in partnership with Matt from the Bear on Abbeydale Road (read more elsewhere in this issue).
You may have noticed the headline also mentioned mead – an alcoholic drink made from fermented honey – and wondered where that fitted in. Well partly because I have memories of attending certain CAMRA beer festivals years ago where the cider bar randomly had bottles of mead tucked away at the end and I don’t ever recall seeing mead on sale at any pubs or bars in that era – but also because Grizzly Grain brewery has been making Sheffield mead in small batches using honey from Heeley City Farm with bottles available at their tap sessions. Interestingly as well as the traditional strong mead in big bottles they also offer a session mead at a more sensible strength with a hopped version available. Changes are afoot on the mead front however with beekeeping due to end at the farm so the honey will be sourced elsewhere with an opportunity to produce slightly bigger volumes as a result and there is talk of putting mead into cask for a pub to serve on handpump!