Help! I’m in a pub and don’t know what cider’s real!...

...You need: Beer drinkers' guide to Real Cider - PDF

Real cider & perry is #NotFromConcentrate
CAMRA now defines real Cider or Perry as being fermented from the whole juice of fresh pressed apples or pears, without the use of concentrated or chaptalised juices. In order to be real, cider and perry should never be concentrated then diluted – either in terms of the juice used, or the alcohol content.

Chaptalised juice is where the fruit has been pressed and then large amounts of sugar are added to the juice. This is then fermented to a very unnaturally high alcohol level, so it can be stored prior to being diluted with water in order to achieve the desired alcohol content for sale.

Concentrated juice is where the fruit has been pressed and then a lot of the water content removed to reduce the volume for transportation and storage. It will then be rehydrated prior to starting the fermentation process.

This gives a commercial and practical advantage when scaling up to large scale production enabling regular smaller batches to be freshly fermented through the year without having to be stored in very large bulk, as once was the case. These products are very consistent but far less engaging than the artisan magic found in CAMRA’s “Real” ciders and perries.

Why did CAMRA review its definition?
The use of these methods, plus the changing methods of dispense for traditional cider and perry, (changing mainly from polypins to bag-in-boxes), led CAMRA to review its definition for real cider and perry. CAMRA contacted as many cider and perry producers as possible to confirm their production processes and generated a map and downloadable list of producers complying with the definition. These are living documents that are regularly updated. You may be surprised to learn that some of the larger commercial producers such as Thatcher’s, Lilley’s and Weston’s do not feature on this list!

Learn more about real cider & perry
To learn more about real cider and perry visit the Learn & Discover area of the national website. It has information on where to find it, an introduction to tasting it, different styles, cider terminology, how it’s made, food pairing, cider apple and perry pear varieties and much more; so if you are keen on learning more about the product then have a look.

(NB: some of the more detailed content is only available to CAMRA members. Another good reason to join CAMRA!)

Back to Real Cider & Perry