Alan Rowe completes his series on wine, cyder and perry with guidance on how to make your own cyder and perry

Chambers Dictionary considers 'cyder' to be ‘the same as cider' and many would dub my preference for differentiating 'cyder' from 'cider' to be no more than affectation, and rightly so lexicographically. But it is based on the discovery, when I was about sixteen, that real Worcestershire and Somerset cyders were a far cry from the bottled fizzy drinks sold then  as cider. My opinion has not altered.

The French generalise that English ciders are apple flavoured corn syrup and such has been the case for too many and may remain to be true of some poorer commercial brands. Now that previously less well known makers' cyders are becoming more easily available, it is not so. Some remain as a relatively cheaper and faster route to boorishness for cider-louts, than are pseudo-lagers. Our word c(i)(y)der, comes from Old English, sidre, Latin sicera, Greek sikera, Hebrew shekar and originally, so far as we know, from the Sumerian sikaru, meaning 'strong drink'. Sikaru makers had to offer products of regulated and of designated quality - those who failed to do so, repeatedly, were drowned in their own substandard brew! Modern times and slack language usage have misled us into accepting the word 'quality' as requiring no qualification, but it may mean 'made as cheaply as possible and to as poor a standard as may be tolerated'.

Making Good Quality Cyder
I live in the east of England, where cyder has been made, always, from ‘whatever you have by you’. It was a safe alternative to pond water until the late 1930s and the coming of  the ‘mains'. Almost every household had the pond from which had come the clay lump for its making and almost every child had time off school with gastric infections during the summer.  Joseph Arch, the founder of The Agricultural Workers' Union, believed that all farmers were mean, but that Suffolk farmers were the meanest and would rather their rabbits be well fed than allow them to their labourers. All that was in a worker's garden had to have a purpose for  existence; for example, all apples grown were culinary or dual purpose 'keepers' or crab-apples and because of this there is no definitive 'Anglian taste’, Some would be acidic, some bitter, and a few sweet. Nevertheless the 'quality' of East Anglian cyders came from fermenting 100% apple juice. The exception is Aspall Cyder, its founder Clement Chevalier came over from the Channel Islands in the early 1700s, bringing cyder, dessert and culinary varieties with him. To this day, Aspall cyder
remains to be an Anglian cyder with some 'bite'.

Each county, to the south and west of the midlands owns a regional ‘taste', but the quality which is held by all is the 'bite' which comes from the cyder apple's tannins. The majority of culinary and dessert apples share many of the characteristics of Malus sieversii, the very variable Khazakstan species which may have been their primal source, but recent research suggests that cyder varieties owe more to the Malus species of the Caucasus. They have more tannins than domestic varieties and it is these tannins, which are of varying severity, which lend ‘bite’.

Cyder Apples
Cyder apples are classified as being - sweet, bittersweet, sharp or bittersharp, with self-evident qualities. One or two varieties are called ‘vintage’, meaning they are capable of making high quality cyder alone. Most cyders are made from a blend of two or more varieties and very often with two vintage varieties. This classification, modern orchard practice and cyder production have resulted from the work done by The National Fruit and Cider Institute which was founded in 1903, later to become The Long Ashton Research Establishment and closed down in the late 1980s by a pomologically ignorant government. How useful it would be to have an active research station at this time of cyder and perry renaissance!     

Taste
Unlike most wines cyder and perry taste of apple or pear and so the  smell and taste of that which you put in comes out in the finished product. I have been making cyder here for just on 50 years and I was introduced to cydering  by Joseph Wilgress -  'Dusty' Miller, 'Wheelwright, Carpenter, General Faker and Cydermaker'. His blend was three quarters Bramley’s Seedling and a quarter ‘whatever comes'. My first ferment was half Bramley, quarter Worcester Pearmain and quarter James Grieve. Over the years the mix has changed, as different varieties have matured. Russets gave a little bite, but my cyders are now wholly from bittersweets - Yarlington Mill, Dabinett, Harry Master's Jersey and a couple of Yarlington Mill crosses of my own. Varieties that I grow, simply because bittersweets are to my liking. You decide eventually, but 100% fruit is the key to ‘real’ cyder. Consider 45^o Oechsle as a minimum sugar content (5.8% alcohol).

Harvest, Tumping, Scratching, Pressing and Fermentation
It is the tradition with cyderists that the fruit stays on the tree until it has had its fill and most fruit is picked up rather than picked. The practice in large orchards is to wait until the apples begin to fall and then the others are shaken off by a tractor-driven reciprocating belt which 'girds the trunk. The apples are then tumped in heaps for 3 or 4 weeks to mature and dry out. I mimic tumping by stacking the crop in my rat proof apple store using stackable open trays each holding about 5 kilos.

Apples are too hard to press. They must be pulped in some way beforehand. If in fair quantity then a scratcher is a very efficient machine for the purpose. Mine comprises a  3.5 inch diameter hardwood cylinder with eight rows of studs, on a spindle and within a 4X 6X 0.75 inch tube made of ‘outdoor' grade ply. The studs are 0.75 inch lengths of stainless steel (or thick plastic knitting needle), set  into the wood. The assembly is mounted on a trestle. Originally it was turned by hand, but is now driven by a recycled mincer-motor.

The apples are fed into the top and pressed down by a lever mounted above the tube. This machine produces about 60 kilos per hour of pulp, whether by hand or motor. Smaller quantities may be processed with a 'Pulpmaster' which is a hand-drill driven motor on a long spindle. Another efficient method is by deep freezing and thawing in sealed plastic bags. It is most important that, with this method, the unfreezing to ambient temperature is done with the bags still sealed, otherwise the pulp will be considerably diluted by condensation. A very very slow method is by grater. I add two crushed Campden Tablets per gallon of pulp - to stun all the wild yeasts - and one level teaspoonful of ‘Clearzyme’ (or 'Pectolase’) per gallon (5 litres). This is to maximise juice extraction and guard against future pectin haze. Then I leave  covered for 24 hours.

A good press is essential. I made mine more than 30 years ago and it will last another 30. The pressure was achieved by bus-jack, but now it is applied by three 1.5  tonne bottle jacks pressing on 12 inch square platterns and ‘cheeses’ of crushed apples. This was adapted from Woodwork for Winemakers by C. Dart and D. Smith, as was my scratcher. An alternative is to press with a piston in a basket, which I have tried, but it was not my preference. Small quantities may be processed with a twisted cloth, but it would be better to buy or hire a small press. Most Home Brew shops will hire and Vigo of Honiton stocks a range of sizes. My press holds four ‘cheeses' formed in 75% greenhouse shading material and stacked within 0.75 inch platterns.  

Pressure is applied gently and I never over-press. My practice is to fill 5 and 10 gallon carboys to near the top and add the starter yeast at the ambient temperature. I do not rack the extract, but enjoy watching the first fierce ferment self-clean the must. Whether this is good practice, I know not, but I like to do it! As the ferment lessens the must should be closed under a trap and left. There will be, eventually, an end to the first ferment and good yeast will have made a firm lees.

My practice is to rack once only and into pressure barrels. There  will be continuing slow ferment and the aim is to keep just  enough pressure to drive drawing off. At Christmas it will be drinkable but best by the summer - what a good time to have it!   If you have smaller quantities, then one gallon demijohns are fine, but will contain completely 'still’ cyder.

Pears and Perry Making  
Knowledge of perry pears and perry has come through the work of Professor B.T.P Barker and his teams at Long Ashton between 1904 and its closure by the philistine government of the 1980s. During that time Long Ashton Perries and Cyders were famed as were its annual competitions.

I advise against using dessert pears, for the finished ‘perry' may taste like nail varnish. If you have surplus pears then up to a quarter in the fruit mix can enhance the result. Perry pears are not as accommodating as cyder apples and varieties have differing maturing times. For example Moorcroft needs pulping immediately, Yellow Huffcap needs pulping within a week of harvest, whilst Oldfield may need 2 -  9 weeks before processing. Some varieties have citric, not malic as their principle acid, which makes the production of' ’vinegar’ a risk and some are not compatible.

The best safeguard is to use one variety only, but I have found no problems from mixing Oldfield, Brandy, Yellow Huffcap and species pears. Perry pears and wild pears contain large amounts of tannins of varying complexity, some of which can cause unclearable hazes in the finished perry and so it is essential that 24 hours elapse after pressing to allow them to precipitate and then to rack the must off, before fermentation. In all other ways, fermentation of perry is as for cyder and formerly, cyder could be of apple, pear or a mixture.

Cyders and perries are becoming much more easily sourced and range from poor to excellent in quality. Look out for evidence of authenticity and try a selection to find your benchmark. Keep notes and alter your recipes according to your target.