The History Room
The idea of this section is to put here a
number of historical reprints about cidermaking in past times.
There's
some very interesting stuff dating from the first half of the last
century,
when the scientific understanding of cidermaking was just beginning,
but
the role of the bean-counters in dictating cidermaking practice and
'quality'
in purely financial terms was yet a distant business nightmare!
Professor
Barker, writing in the 1950's after half a century of cider research at
Long Ashton, regarded the best of those ciders from the 1900's
as
the finest he'd ever tasted (while the worst probably
defied
polite description)!
It's interesting that the cidermaking
discussions
in these articles all make the assumption that bottled cider
would
be slightly sweet and naturally-conditioned in the bottle.
This practice died out commercially in the 1950's to be replaced by
artificial
carbonation and pasteurisation... some of us are still doing it,
though,
and we believe it makes the finest cider!!
The other interesting thing is that cider in
those
days was a totally seasonal activity. It took one whole year for
the cycle to repeat itself and nobody thought of trying to make cider
at
times of year when the apples weren't available. Nowadays, most
commercial
cider is made throughout the year on a short fermenting and maturing
cycle
from juice and concentrate. Many amateurs, especially if they
have
a brewing background, also try to do the same...! But the true
craft
cidermaker, like the winemaker, works with the seasons and not against
them!
I haven't had time
to add much to this section yet, and so far there isn't a lot
here.
As time goes on, I'll try to scan in more.....
Other
Historical Downloads
The scanning and digitisation of various historical texts into the
public domain has now reached as far as cider. Here are some
links to seminal texts in cidermaking and orcharding which can now be
downloaded for free. The files are mostly pretty big, but well worth a
read if you have a broadband connection.
Report on the results of investigations
into cidermaking, carried out on behalf of the Bath and West and
Southern Counties Society in the years 1893-1902 (1903) by FJ
Llloyd. This is the classic series of experiments (the 'Butleigh
trials' ) sponsored by the Bath and West Society and Neville Grenville,
which led to the foundation of the Long Ashton Research Station. There
is still plenty of value in this 145 page report to interest the
serious craft cidermaker today, and a number of pertinent remarks about
the state of the market which are no less true than when they were
written! .
A study of cider making in France, Germany, and
England with comments and comparisons on American work (1903)
by
WB Alwood. This classic 114 page book was written by Alwood to a
commission from the US Department of Agriculture. It contains detailed
descriptions, details, drawings and photographs of turn-of-the-century
cidermaking in four countries. It has to be said that British practice
does not come out very well, with the exception of Bulmers and the
Butleigh experiments (the precursor to Long Ashton Research Station)!
A view of the cultivation of fruit trees,
and the management of orchards and cider; with accurate descriptions of
the most estimable varieties of native and foreign apples, pears,
peaches, plums, and cherries, cultivated in the middle states of
America: illustrated by cuts of two hundred kinds of fruits of the
natural size .. (1817) by William Coxe. The first
American fruit book, and an absolute classic. Interestingly, it
contains quite a lot of cidermaking information too, much of it drawn
from the work of the Herfordshire cider pioneer Thomas Andrew Knight,
with whom Coxe corresponded. Coxe himself was a New Jersey
cidermaker.
Back to my
contents page
This page last updated 3rd March 2007