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NOTES
Mike Henney started making cider as a hobby in 1996. At that time, it was 5 gallons fermented in his airing cupboard, but the hobby got a bit out of hand and in 2008 production has reached over 200,000 gallons! (no longer in the airing cupboard). Making cider is a relatively simple process. It starts with the selection of genuine cider apple varieties, the juice of which, when blended, will give a good balance of flavour, acid, tannin and sugar to start with. At Henney’s, the preference is to use a selection of Dabinett, Ashton Bitter, Tremletts Bitter and Yarlington Mill with a small proportion of Bramley. The fruit is chosen from Herefordshire growers and comes from both traditional ‘standard’ orchards and more modern ‘bush’ orchards.
When mature, the cider is ready for bottling. First it is tested for alcohol; on an average year the alcohol will be somewhere between 6% and 7% by volume. Unlike many makers, Henney’s do not add fermenting sugars to the fresh juice or use concentrated juice. This means that the declared alcohol of 6% can be achieved with the minimum of dilution or none at all.
TASTING NOTES
Pours a very deep apricot gold; has a large white head that, while diminished, maintains incredible ring atop the cider throughout. Very nice apple aroma. Slightly musty. Fantastic sweet flavor, very low acidity or tartness but a solid drying at the end, leaving the mouth parched. Very nice cider.
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