TRADITIONALLY MADE CIDER & PERRY

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Lyne Down cider and perry is crafted in small batches from 100% juice pressed from handpicked apples & pears grown in our traditional orchard on the edge of Marcle Ridge in South Herefordshire, an area famous for cider making over the centuries.

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Our orchard contains over 30 different types of cider apple trees which have been carefully selected to include a mixture of bitter sweet and bitter sharp apples, varieties include Dymock Red, Browns, Major, Foxwhelp, Frederick & Reine Des Pommes.

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We have recently planted more apple trees to enable us to produce some single variety ciders including Dabinett, Katy & Kingston Black.

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In the spring the fruit blossom is pollinated with bees from our hives, our Ryeland sheep graze the orchard maintaining a healthy sward of grass. As spring turns to summer the fruit sets and begins to swell and ripen fruit variety and quality.

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In Autumn, when the nights start to draw in and the leaves start to fall the ripe fruit falls to the orchard floor where they are hand picked and sorted. The fruit is milled to a pulp before it is packed into cloths separated by slatted wooden boards.

These ‘cheeses’ as they are called are then stacked one on top of another to form a stack before the hydraulic press increases the pressure up to 24 tonnes and the juice begins to flow into the collection tank.

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Once in the tank the natural yeasts start to ferment the juice turning it into cider & perry. This process can't be rushed and continues over the winter.

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In the spring of the following year, the cider & perry is removed from the sediment a process known as racking, and is transferred to a clean tank where it will mature for another year before bottling.

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