Originally published in 2013. Retained as part of our early cidery archives.
I’ll admit it: I’m probably not the world’s best blogger. I actually enjoy writing these posts, but time always seems to get the better of me. What felt like a few weeks between updates somehow turned into eight months. So here we go — a catch‑up of the past eight months in an eight‑minute read.
In my last post, I announced that I’d “jacked in” the day job to become a full‑time cider maker. And believe me, the months that followed were full‑on cider making. With my new, larger 120L hydropress, I was able to process around 1,500kg of apples a day, producing roughly 1,000 litres of juice. Getting the fruit, however, was a challenge. Spring 2012 brought low temperatures and strong winds, giving the bees little opportunity to wake from their winter slumber and do their vital work. As a result, fruit outside our larger orchards was in short supply.
Fortunately, additional orchards — including some with remarkable provenance, such as those once belonging to Katherine Parr — allowed me to produce a similar quantity of Hard Core to the 2011 season.
Working with the commercial orchard was a highlight. Orchard Manager Andy proved to be an invaluable contact, and by moving the pressing operation to his farm, we ensured that not a single apple went to waste. All the pomace went straight to his cattle. Another bonus was being able to press whole batches of single varieties, opening up exciting possibilities for 2013. By mid‑October, the juices were flowing, 10,000 litres were already in the bag, and attention shifted to our cider apple orchard in Milton Keynes.
One acre. Two hundred and eighty‑nine trees. A six‑week window to maximise the harvest. Collecting as much fruit as possible from Woughton Orchard was always going to be a challenge — especially as all the fruit is harvested from the ground. Thankfully, I had willing helpers (thank you Hannah and Carol), plus volunteers from The Parks Trust. Together we harvested six tonnes of apples. Annoyingly, we missed the final 1.5 tonnes thanks to some rather grim weather in late November. Still, it was a fantastic result — the best we’d ever had from that orchard. This year, I vowed to be better prepared.
Back at our commercial partners in Nether Heyford, we continued pressing throughout November and well into late December. The final press took place the week before Christmas, and I wasn’t sorry to see the last apple crushed. The season had been long — more than four months — and Christmas couldn’t come soon enough.
It’s worth remembering that every apple pressed is moved four times: picked, moved to the crusher, crushed and moved to the press, then the juice moved to vats and the pomace to bins for the cattle. So while we processed 40 tonnes of fruit, we actually shifted 160 tonnes by hand. A Christmas indulgence was well deserved.
So what did we learn in 2012? That leaving IT to go full‑time into cider was the right decision? If nothing else, I was fitter, happier, and enjoying life outdoors. I met wonderful people, built new relationships, and realised that perhaps I really could make a modest living from cider. Oh — and did I mention the apple brandy? That probably deserves its own blog entry, but yes… we became the proud parents of our very own English Apple Brandy.
To sum up: 2012 was a fascinating year. New people, new opportunities, more than 20,000 litres of cider in progress, and 2013 promising to be challenging, interesting, and exciting in equal measure.
This post captures the graft, optimism, and sheer physical effort of our early cidery days — the foundation on which everything that followed was built.
