There’s been a quiet change within Mansfield & Ashfield CAMRA with the election of an APPLE representative with the specific task of promoting and reporting on anything associated with real cider and perry. APPLE is not separate to CAMRA, simply the part that works with cider and perry. Mansfield & Ashfield CAMRA has committed itself to promoting real cider and perry, in just the same way that the branch is committed to promoting real ale.

So as the person elected to the position of APPLE rep., I’d better introduce myself. My names Ray and I’ve lived and worked within the Mansfield & Ashfield CAMRA branch region for some 25 years. I’ve been a member of CAMRA for about 15 years, but I’ve only become an ‘active’ member since joining this branch in May of 2005 – a late starter! As well as real cider and perry, I’m a long-time real ale drinker; I’ll always drink real ale if there’s no decent real cider available. Which means within the branch area, I drink a lot of beer! As well as drinking cider and perry, I’m a cider maker… something that surprises many folks - having a cider maker alive and living in Ashfield!

The number of people who don’t know what cider is made from – never mind perry – always surprises me. Cider is made from apples, perry from pears; but not just any old apple or pear. Varieties of apples known as cider apples give flavour and body to cider, the best-known varieties having originated in the West Country of England. Perry is made from perry pears, which are hard, bitter-tasting little bullets that bear no resemblance at all to the pears that most people know, like Conference.

So what is REAL cider and perry? Basically, real cider or perry should be made from pure juice, pressed from the fresh apples or pears, and fermented using the natural sugars that are produced within the fruit during ripening, using the natural indigenous yeasts that survive on the surface of the fruit or are to be found on the cider or perry makers equipment. My own slant on this is that it should also be made from fresh British fruit. Not because I’m a xenophobe (I’m not), but because it saddens me to think of the number of British orchards destroyed and rich environments lost due to it being a fraction cheaper to import apple concentrate from Italy or China, rather than buying fruit from our own farmers. Madness? I think it is.

So next time you fancy a drop of cider, look long and hard at the pump on the bar dispensing that fizzy, bland, tasteless apple-flavoured drink – I can’t bear to use the word ‘cider’ to describe it. Who are you supporting when you ask for it? British farmers and cider makers? People with passion and belief? Or high-profit motivated big businesses that don’t care much where the apples and pears come from, so long as they’re cheap?

I need your help to track down the good guys (and gals!), landlords willing to try a craft cider or perry or two on the bar. Makers like Dunkertons, Westons, Gwatkin, Oliver, Hecks, Sheppy’s, Rich’s, Wilkins, etc.

Email me now, if you find anyone worthy of a visit or a mention. Check out the ukcider website link to the wiki to find the Cider Pub Guide to the British Isles. Here you’ll find real cider and perry outlets listed and described county-by-county across the UK.

Here are pictures of the Real Cider & Perry Bar at some of our recent branch festivals.

Click here for further information on the Award Winning Hucknall Cider Company.

Speak soon. Wassail!

Ray.