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The Welsh Perry & Cider Society, or ‘Cymdeithas Perai a Seidr Cymru’ as they say in Wales, was honoured with CAMRA’s Pomona Award in 2003. Secretary Dave Matthews puts us in the picture: Welsh Cider History Cidermaking as we know it today came over the channel with the Normans at around the 12th Century, and had swept across the border from Herefordshire into Wales by about the 14th Century. It became well established in the farming communities of the south-eastern part of the principality and in the region of mid Wales adjacent to the English border, but the harsh mountains prevented its spread much further. Only the shelter of the Usk and Wye valleys allowed green fingers of orcharding to reach inland areas such as Brecon and Builth Wells. In common with the cidermaking areas of England, cider in Wales went into decline with the industrialisation of agriculture just after the end of World War II. However, unlike England, no commercial Welsh cidermakers were left to continue the tradition. But the orchards remained, and in the 1980s the first of a new wave of craft cidermakers started to use the fruit from the old trees. In Monmouthshire, Mike Penney’s ‘Troggi Seidr’ started to produce both cider and perry with his Victorian machinery, whilst up in Radnorshire Ralph Owen’s ‘Ralph’s Cider’ pressed local cider apples on an antique mobile twin-screw press. Society Beginnings It was in 1999 that Alan Golding and I hit upon the idea of making cider, and so our company ‘Seidr Dai’ was born. By sheer luck, our first brew was a success, and in our subsequent enthusiasm we decided to found a national association. At that time there were cider associations for cidermakers, and of course CAMRA was there for the drinkers. Why not have a society that caters for both? And so the Welsh Cider Society was born at the Clytha Arms one June evening 2001, with Alan the Development Officer, and I the Secretary. Wales’ perennial problem is its geography. The same mountains that stopped cidermaking spreading out of the south-east make it difficult for our national membership to get together. Luckily most of our membership have email access, and our IT officers have constructed an excellent website. Festivals and Championships The best possible way to promote cider and perry is with a cider festival. The Welsh Perry & Cider Festival is held at the Clytha Arms, 6 miles east of Abergavenny, each Whitsun May Bank Holiday weekend. The first event in 2002 was a great success, and each successive year has seen an increase in the range of ciders and perries on sale, with great crowds of people filling the pub and its extensive grounds. One festival is not enough, and regional festivals are an excellent way of spreading the word – events in Gower, Cardiff, Pembrokeshire and Wrexham are becoming established on the annual calendar. The Welsh Perry & Cider Championships are held in tandem with the Welsh Perry & Cider Festival at the Clytha. Apart from being great fun (all of us cidermakers get to be the judges!), it’s a simple but effective way of improving cider and perry quality. We all swap tips and hints with each other, plus tasting and marking your own cider blind can be a real eye-opener. Cider and Perry With the Society only four years old, it’s early days yet. Nevertheless, we’re already beginning to achieve our aim of successfully promoting Welsh cider and perry. The number of Welsh cidermakers has risen sharply to around twenty (not including all of the hobbyists who make the odd gallon or two), and the overall volumes produced are showing a proportional increase, as consumers discover and demand our products. As a bit of a purist, it pleases me to report that all of our members produce ‘Natural’ ciders and perries, with none of that ‘Industrial’ processing that diminishes the flavour of the fruit. Perhaps the greatest Welsh achievement to date comes from the Llantwit Lads at ‘Seidr Gwynt-y-Ddraig’. Their blended Medium Cider carried off the Silver Award at CAMRA’s National Cider and Perry Championships 2003. In 2004, their appropriately named Gold Medal Cider won Gold, and they clinched the 2005 Perry Gold Award with their excellent Red & Green Longdon Perry. Some hat-trick! Let's not forget Ralph's Cider, who took the 2005 CAMRA Cider Gold Award back to Radnorshire, with their 3B's Cider. So 2005 is the year of the Welsh Grand Slam, in cider as well as rugby! Rare Varieties Welsh cider and perry is essentially similar to that made by our English cousins. Our only real USP is the use of Welsh varieties of cider apple and perry pear – varieties that have been selected over the centuries to suit the local palate and climate. Some Welsh cider apples – ‘Frederick’, ‘Breakwell’s Seedling’ and ‘Perthyre’ – remain in commercial production and are readily available. Others, such as the ‘Broom Apple’ of Monmouthshire, and ‘Pen Caled’ from West Wales have had to be re-discovered, and propagated at Paul Davis’ Dolau-Hirion Nursery at Llandeilo. ‘Frederick’ is a fine apple, streaked bright red with hints of red in the flesh too. With it’s origins in Monmouthshire, its sharp-tasting juice will make an excellent apple jelly. Classified as a vintage variety, it’s too sharp to be made into a single varietal cider, but is excellent when blended with some tannic 'bitter-sweet' apples. The perry pear trees of Monmouthshire are far more localised, often just a single example of a variety may be all that remains. We’ve rediscovered both ‘Burgundy’ trees and the ‘Potato Pear’ (yes, it looks like a spud growing on a tree!) at a number of locations, but other, rarer trees have no known name. I’ve tried to keep to the old conventions when giving names to these trees – “Berllanderi Green” ( a green pear from Berllanderi Farm near Raglan), “Bastard St. Brides” (tiny, a ‘bastard’ to pick up!), “Chapman’s Orange” – and these too are available from Dolau-Hirion, details on the website. These Welsh varieties are now being sold and planted in orchards across Wales, ensuring their survival in the future, as well as providing an important habitat for all manner of wildlife. We've recently established our first Museum Orchard, which will act as a genetic bank, allowing future orchardists to take cuttings from all of the Welsh varieties of cider apples and perry pears. The Future As we stand, the future looks good for Welsh cider and perry. More and more people are planning to join the ranks of Welsh cidermakers, the number of Welsh cider festivals is set to increase, and rare varieties of Welsh apple and pear trees are regularly discovered and propagated. Membership of the Society continues to grow, and we now have members in England and even Hungary. You’d be welcome to join too, just log on to the website (www.welshcider.co.uk), or come along to the Welsh Perry & Cider Festival at the fab Clytha Arms. Originally published in CAMRA's Good Cider Guide 2005, and reproduced here with the kind permission of CAMRA Books. |
