It's a Mighty Long Way Down Rock'n'Roll
What do Mott the Hoople & Oliver’s Cider
Farm share in common? It’s a slim connection but they’re both from Hereford. If
you delve deeper you’ll also find Tom Oliver’s done his share of band tour
management and as it turns out Mott was Robin from Stourbridge Camra’s first
gig (where Queen supported!). Cider’s just got all rock’n’roll.
It
was a cold April Bank Holiday Saturday sat round Oliver’s table in his cider
tasting room in Ocle Pychard but after our first sample of Vintage 2010 Real
Herefordshire Dry Cider a lovely warm apple infused feeling started to dawn.
Sixteen like-minded West Midlands Camra members enduring the weather; all
looking to find out more about cider and perry. Tom Oliver talked in depth
about his craft and we sampled a wide range of ciders and perries from Shezam
to Moorcroft Perry to Red Pear Cocktail Perry to my favourite of the day Posh
Scrumpy. Everyone agreed the variety on offer from the ciders and perries was
so much more than they initially realised. From dry to sweet flavours;
bittersweet kicks; single varietal batches; cloudy Scrumpy; bottle conditioned
techniques; natural wild yeasts, there were so many differences and
combinations involved in producing cider and perry.
Oliver’s Farm is open Saturday’s 10am till 4pm and I’d
recommend anyone to go visit, whatever the weather!
After
a quick visit to the farm shop to purchase bottles of Posh Scrumpy, given it’s
name as it was produced in a champagne bottle conditioned style to celebrate
the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this year, we headed off to Tom’s recommended pub
the Green Dragon Inn. Hereford branch pub of the year numerous times and it
didn’t disappoint. A cosy main room centred around a roaring fire, with two
varieties of cider and five plus real ales on the handpulls. After a swift half
of Purple Moose Brewery’s Snowdonia Ale (3.6 per cent) we carried on to
Bringsty Common to a beautifully restored thatched pub with wondrous views
across Worcestershire – The Live and Let Live (pictured left). Luckily due to it being a bank holiday,
the owners had decided to put their own ale and cider festival on offering a
huge variety in addition to their usual array of Otter, Malvern Hills and Wye
Valley Brewery ales. I decided to stick on the cider and continued my
admiration for Oliver’s products by having his dry blended draught cider (6.5
per cent).
A
long pit stop ensued sampling the festival goodies before deciding to head back
to Birmingham and finish off at the Inn on the Green, Acocks Green. Brendon the landlord at the Inn (pictured
left) had spent the last month preparing for his big Easter Mad Rabbits Ale and
Cider festival and it showed in the good selection. Favourite for me, and a
nice switch from cider, was Red Willow Brewery’s ‘Heartless’ chocolate stout
brewed with 85% Colombian cacao (4 per cent). Thanks to Brendon for his warm
welcome and a great finish to the day.
www.theolivers.org.uk
/ oliversciderandperry@theolivers.org.uk
(Originally published 'Out in Brum' Birmingham Camra branch publication Spring 2012)
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