CasselsCider

2009-02-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

The Cambridge Winter Ale Festival has been and gone and we picked up our award for the bottled beer competition at the Summer Festival. many thanks to all at Camra for their support.

The Hunts Beer Fest is next month and Cassels Ciders will be there. Check out the CAMRA web site for full details.

We have fermented most of our single variety ciders in Rum and Whisky barrels and Hogsheads. These should be coming 'on stream' in March at the usual outlets.

Additionaly, the 2007 mVintage Stock is still available in limited quantities.

October Apple Days

2008-10-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Apple harvest time again and also Apple Days all over the country.

This weekend sees Apple Day at Burwash Manor on the 11th, then on the 18th the Wandlebury Apple day on the Gog Magog Hills. Cassels cider will be available at both events.

Bedford Beer Festival is in full swing with 4 of our ciders available and Norfolk and Norwich Beer Festival is at the end of October. Check out the Camra website for details.

We are now getting busy with apple collection and start pressing soon.

Beer Festival at RED LION Histon

2008-09-03T00:34:00.000-07:00

The famous Red Lion Histon Beer Festival is on again this yer running from 1st to 6th September and featuring 30 real ales plus Cassels Ciders.
We are presenting our award winning Yarlington Mill, our Dabinett and our Stock ciders with possible top ups later in the week with Bulmer's Norman and Dabinett/Stoke Red blend.
For thos not in the know, Bulmers Norman is a cider apple variety developed years ago by them from a French cider apple.

See you at Histon!!

Stop Press Silver Award at 2008 Cambridge Beer Fest

2008-05-20T09:39:00.001-07:00

Cassels single variety cider, Hereford Chisel Jersey, won the Silver award at the 34th Cambridge Beer Festival Bottled Cider awards this week.
A full dry cider HCJ is available in bottles and draught in and around Cambridge and, of course, at the Festival itself.

Please take time to enjoy our fine ciders.

Cider Update

2008-05-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

Our ciders are now available in 330ml and 1litre bottles from Origin8 Deli, in St. andrews Street Cambridge.
We are supplying several ciders to the Cambridge Beer Festival (19th-25th May, Jesus Green, Cambridge), including a Festival special, 'Oakey Coakey' conditioned in oak rum casks and made slightly sweeter than our usual ciders. Enjoy!!

Yarlington Mill cider now being delivered to our usual outlets and Hereford Chisel Jersey also to be found on draft around town.

With the warmer weather we are looking forward to a great summer for our award winning ciders.

Red Lion Histon

2008-04-02T00:28:00.000-07:00

The Red Lion at Histon held abeer festival over the Easter weekend including Cassels Stock cider, medium dry version and the good news is that they still have a few pints left on draught.

Check out the new extension and enjoy a good pint of cider or the great ales on offer there.

Cassels at Beer Festivals this Weekend 1st March

2008-02-29T04:53:00.000-08:00

Cassels Fine ciders will be available at two local Festivals this coming weekend (1st March 2008).
The Camra 6th Elysian Beer Festival takes place Friday 29th February and Saturday 1st March at the Larkfield Resource Centre on High Barns, Ely CB7 9DD.

At the same time a second opportunity to taste Cassels cider is available at the Cambridge Rag 2008 Charity Beer Festival at the University Assistants Club on Mill Lane. Dates are also 29th February and 1st March. The Festival is raising money for the Cambridge Council for Voluntary Services which allocates funds to local Voluntry groups.

Website Update and More

2008-01-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

We are in the process of updating the whole website since our move to new premises, (see last Blog) and while some pages are fully updated we await photo's and stuff to complete.

Since our move in Autumn 2006 we have upgraded our pressing and processing to allow us to be more efficient in both time and juice extraction. With larger premises we have the luxury of additional space that was always a problem at Stapleford. We can now do all our pressing and cider making inside the barn rather than suffer in the elements during the pressing period.

The new barn also gives us more opportunity to make additional single variety ciders and we have again expanded this side of our business. Available now in selected outlets is Dymock Red Single Variety and coming soon is a fine dry cider made from Browns Apple, this has been stored in oak for a year and the cider is a very pale colour, with full apple flavors.

We have invested in additional equipment over the past year including new fermenting vessels, an additional pump and a pressure washer. All these help to make our cider production more efficient and allow us to maintain quality, while introducing additional ciders to our customers.

Look out for our new 330ml bottles in off licences around Cambridge.

Cassels Moves to Harston

2008-01-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

Autumn 2006 was a very hectic period. We wanted to expand our facilities and decided to relocate to new premises at Harston, just outside Cambridge. We chose to move in September before the apple harvest started and when our stock levels were at their lowest. With help from friends and family we duly loaded and transported everything from the Stapleford barn to the new barn in Harston. Despite various incidents the move was successfully completed over a weekend, in time for the first apple pickings to take place.

A big thank you to all involved, especially Pete 'dances with cider' Twitchett!

Stop Press! The Press Has Stopped!

2006-11-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

We've finally finished our 2006 apple pressing and despite the hard graft we had fun and have hopefully made some fine ciders for next year. We have pressed some single varieties that look very promising and they are all bubbling away.

Our thanks to Pete, Mike, Grassy and above all Jerry for their help and sweat during the last 6 weeks. Thanks too, to our technocrat Simon, who runs the website, takes publicity photos and fixes cars.

We used a local supply of Stoke Red and Dabinett to make anamed blend early in the pressing plus a few gallons of Bulmers Norman apple, don't know how we can market that! Maybe a fancy bottle and high price! We also made some single variety Dabinett, always areliable cider apple that will augment our Stock cider through 2007.

Other single varieties will be Yarlington Mill and Browns apple. Our Stock cider used local cookers and eaters plus Michelin, Court Royal, Dabinett and Stoke Red in the blend and looks to be a fine dry cider.

We had our last keg of 2005 Yarlington Mill at the recent Live and Let Live Beer Festival and some may still be available.

Let the Pressing Begin..!

2006-10-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

Cassels 2006 Vintage is in the process of being created!

This week sees the start of the pressing for the Cassels 2006 vintage. This year we're using locally-sourced cider apples plus more from the Hereford area. The varieties include: Yarlington, Browns Apple, Dabinett, Michelin, Bulmers Norman, Stoke Red and Court Royal.

In other news, our fine cider will be available at the 29th Norwich Beer Festival, organised by the Norwich & Norfolk Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) The festival is held at St. Andrew's and Blackfriars' Halls, from Monday 23rd October to the following Saturday (28th).

We will also be at the Cambridge Botanic Garden Apple day on Sunday 22nd with our award winning Yarlington Mill plus our Stock cider and selling a special winter warmer, Mulled Cider.

2006-09-07T06:01:00.000-07:00

Cassels at Histon Beer Festival

The Red Lion in Histon is currently enjoying its 10th autumn Beer Festival, and three Cassels Cider have been available through out:

Cassels Knotted Kernal (7.0%+)
Cassels Naturally Dry (7.0%)
Cassels Medium Sweet (7.0%)

This year will also feature about 30 award winning cask ales along with a choice of Belgian and German bottled beers. Each evening will offer different food options and live music of varying styles.

The Histon Beer Festival runs until Friday 8th September and is open 12.00 - 3.00pm and 5.00 - 11.00pm.

This year will see the total of charitable donations from the proceeds pass the £30,000 mark.

Started in 1996 by landlord Mark Donachy, the festival contributes to the funds of the Histon Feast Committee that supports nominated local organisations. It has also been a significant contributor to the project to regenerate the brook and the green in the village.

Mark Donachy commented "What started as a bit of fun has become a permanent feature of the village calendar and it is good to see that we have been able to contribute to village life with the proceeds of the festival."

Photos to follow...

2006-08-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Drink Cassels to Prolong Life!

According to a Press Association report yesterday, scientists believe that cider drinkers may well benefit from better health and a longer life thanks to their favourite tipple.

The report, mentioned in yesterday's Guardian, states that scientists believe chemicals in English cider apples can protect against stroke, heart disease and cancer, so get drinking Cassels Cider today for a longer, merrier life!

The full article is available here.

Don't forget that Cassels Cider is made from nothing but unsprayed English Apples so is free from pesticides and preservatives. It's a natural cure-all*.

*May not cure headaches or bad driving.

Shelford Feast

2006-07-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

Cassels Cider featured at the 2006 Shelford Feast last week and wasa real cider success! Jerry Brown ran the Real Ale bar and had the Cassels banners up for all to see. Initial stock sold out and a re-order was quickly supplied. Check out the Shelford Feast at their website www.shelfordfeast.co.uk

CAMRA Festival Accolade for Cassels Cider

2006-05-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

The end of May saw the 33rd CAMRA Beer Festival on Jesus Green in Cambridge and one of Cassels Ciders was voted 'Best Cider of the Festival'.

The Cambridge Beer Festival is the oldest continuous festival in the Country and attracted over 30,000 visitors over the 6 days. Discerning cider drinkers voted for Cassels 'Yarlington Mill' Single Variety cider as the most popular out of all the ciders on offer.

Take a look at the list of outlets to find out where you can get your hands on Award-Winning Cassels Cider!

The Beer Festival Season is Underway...

2006-04-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

Over the last week we have had two local beer festivals around Cambridge featuring Cassels Cider.

During the Easter weekend Girton Golf Club had a three-day Beer and Cider festival organised by the Club Steward, Kelvin. Cassels supplied three cider draft varieties plus bottled cider. The varieties offered were our Stock Cassels Cider. Dabinett single variety and a Dabinett/Stoke Red blend. Thanks to Kelvin for his enthusiasm and support of our ciders. We hope this will be a regular event.

On the weekend of the Celebration of St. Georges day the Live and Let Live held their traditional 3 day beer festival with an ‘English’ theme. Supporting the many English real ales on offer was our traditional English Cider made from unsprayed English apples. We supplied our Stock Cassels, our Dabinett/Stoke Red blend and a variation of a semi sweet Stock Cider. As always the pub was packed throughout the weekend. A great weekend for the Live and Let Live, just voted 2006 Camra ‘Pub of the Year’.

We have also supplied Reading and Berkshire Camra with three ciders for their annual tasting session at their Beer Festival.

We had great news recently when we received a report from Trading Standards on the quality of our cider. The cider had been taken for tests to ensure we can claim the it is made from unsprayed apples. The closely typed report ran over three pages of tests for pesticide residues and was clear on all counts. Both Cassels and our apple suppliers now have the back up of the report to confirm our cider is truly made from ‘Unsprayed English Apples’.

In the new issue of ‘Ale’, there is a short article about Cassels Cider and our aims and tradition. Please take time to read it.

We will be present at the 33rd Cambridge Beer Festival with several of our ciders on offer throughout the week. Make a date in your diary for the 22^nd to 27^th May to visit us at the Marquee on Jesus Green in Cambridge to check out what’s on offer.

First Post

2006-02-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

Our 2005 apple pressings have finally fermented out. The first vat of our stock cider was taken of the lees and tracked into 50-gallon tubs. The other bulk fermentations were also racked off into clean vessels. The stock cider has a fresh, clean taste, which will attenuate down as the year progresses.

Our single varieties are still in final fermentation although the Dabinett looks like it will be ready in the next week or so. The Yarlinton Mill has a pleasing red tone but needs further clearing and settling.

We have plans to improve the space and benches for our bottling to speed up the process and make life more comfortable for the ‘filler’.

Reorganising slightly the layout of the cider barn will allow us to increase production and to press and process more efficiently.