2013 Update (labeling)

The Siders from last year’s crop that have already been boxed have now been labelled. Labels can be viewed in the photo gallery.

Still quite a bit fermenting away in the garage and a couple of bins ready for racking off.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from everyone (!) at Woodley Sider, still got a good few gallons fermenting away in the garage so going to have a busy month ahead with racking, bottling and labeling.

All going well you will be able to drink Woodley Sider in a pub in Reading, exciting stuff. We’ll also hopefully be at the Reading Beer Festival in May, and RAAJ Festival in July in 2014 with more Summer Fruits Sider which was popular!

Festive greetings to you all.

2013 Update

Racked off the chilli (somewhat nuclear version) cider and a bin of standard cider.

Bottled/boxed GrApple (apple & grape), Summer Fruits 2013 (rather tasty) and two 3 ltr boxes of Perry (extremely limited edition).

Below is a picture of the Summer Fruits 2013 that we bottles a few of (the majority was boxed) looking rather scrummy!
image

2013 Production – Pics added!

Some new pictures added to the Photo Gallery (2013-09 & 2013-11) and as promised below is a picture of the new press stand – constructed this year and proving to be a quality addition/enhancement to the kit list.

The new Cider Press Stand!

The new Cider Press Stand!

 

Some stats for 2013

7 batches of Sider made this year
7 sources of apples this year
500g of sultanas used
3kg of sugar used (varying types)
1 five gallon bucket of grapes used
300g of honey used
2 gallons (ish) of Perry made
91 gallons in total produced or in production
Which is approx 414 litres
Which equates to approx 728 pints

Batch 7 (aka 6.5) update

Batch 7 pulped and pressed today, 5 gallons made from the remaining apples from last weekend, topped.up with some from the garden.

This takes the total to 91 gallons for this year and to celebrate this record the last batch will be known as “ninety one”.

Batch 6.5 continuation of the last of the season! + general update

Having not managed to finish working through all 14 crates last weekend, tomorrow sees the processing of the last crate plus any more that have fallen off my own tree to complete the final batch.

This years acquisitions to the equipment list amount to:

– 4 more fermenting bins to cater for the increase in production (mostly a result of the additional apples supplied)
– 2 more buckets for the pulped apples
– 1 newly built press stand (designed and built exclusively for Woodley Sider)

Batch 6 Update – A P.B. for Woodley Sider

A mammoth session today, started at 9am and finished at around 6.30pm! The reason for this was 27 gallons pulped and pressed, a record for a single batch, and we’ve still a large crate of apples left to do (next week)!

That takes this year’s production to 86 gallons, which should keep the pub (news coming soon on that one) and next year’s beer festivals in stock.

A new brew for this batch is a gallon of apple and honey (known as cyzer apparently) which should be interesting. The cider equivalent of mead.

A result of today’s mammoth pulping and pressing is that both Adam and I are broken now!

Batch 6 – last of the season!

Final batch of the year being pulped and pressed this Sunday, looking at around 20 gallons to make judging by the quantity of apples this time round, maybe more! :-S

Gonna be an early start with amount we’ve got to get through.

2013 Update

Huge apple collection made today from Purley-on-Thames – looks like it could be enough to make another 15 gallons – plus got a ‘shed’ load more apples being delivered tomorrow! Batch 6 to be pulped and pressed next weekend.

First lot of boxing/bottling done today too…. (4 fermenting bins worth)

2 bins racked off and should be ready for bottling in a couple of weeks.

Had a little taster of the chilli Sider (nearing the end of fermentation) and Wow……. not the faint hearted that one!