Good morning. Have a bit of travel ahead of me today. Deutsche Bahn changed the timetables after I booked my tickets, so have been dropped at the next changeover station along the route to derisk. But super early as my wife has to go to work. 😁

A repost for the Sunday readers out @barmas.bsky.social pays tribute to part-time cider and perry makers, dedicated artisans who embody tradition, craftsmanship, and a deep connection to the land. And all in their spare time!

Barry @barmas.bsky.social sings a song of praise to part-time cider and perry makers, artisans with a deep commitment to craft, tradition and the land. #cider #PerryisAlive

Quick break for a slice of pizza and a cuppa, and back down to the cellar for more labelling. My neighbour did the design this time, and I love the simple elegance of it. And I’m really happy with the contents too. Will probably soft launch tomorrow, which means a website update.

I have lists, maps, labels, it can mean only one thing: nursery status check and planning what needs to get planted out.

As promised… This started life as dictated notes while walking the dog a couple weeks ago, and was intended to be an Instagram post about what it’s like being a part-time cider maker and orchardist. But there are many more out there doing the same afterhours toil. So this is for them.

This used to be my beer cellar, my pride and joy. It has been taken over by cider, perry, spirits straight from the still, hoses and equipment. I need to sort it out. Part of that means drinking more again.

Live from my cellar: the life of a part-time, afterhours cider maker. More about this on @ciderreview.bsky.social tomorrow.

Having some me time in the cellar, finally getting some Goldparmäne 2023 labelled. Was in the mood for a beer, but decided to open this. It’s one of my favourite perry pears, but I wasn’t a fan of this vintage, so have not been recommending it to customers. But sometimes time changes everything…

Oh, wasn’t expecting this package! That’s a nice surprise.

I know what I’ll be doing this weekend

Hmmm, my foldable Japanese tree saw has gone missing from the barn. I don’t want to point fingers, but I feel I have to ask the roofers if one of them borrowed it and forgot to put it back. Wasn’t cheap. 😕

Night mode on a camera phone combined with a full moon makes it look almost like daytime at the orchard! But there’s the Pleiades and Taurus, I guess. Picking up empty bottle and beakers from today’s tour.

Think I’m ready for the tasting. Cheese boards prepared, juice, water, bread… check. But don’t know how many are coming! Started with 25 then went to “not more than 15”. Hope I didn’t buy too much / did buy enough cheese! Will have to ad lib some blah blah for the next two or three hours.

Have a group coming for an informal tasting tomorrow afternoon, to include a walk to look at trees on the way. Woefully unprepared, but just got a load of cheese and brought bottles over to the venue. Will drop bottles off at orchards tomorrow so we can have tastes on the way. Need to plan a route 🤔

Still no roofers, which is a shame, as the weather is absolutely perfect for taking off an old roof and putting a new one back on. It’s a big surface on the 1960 cow stalls. About 180 square metres. In the shadow of the church spire. 🙂 And a new view of the scaffolding for @sarahmay1.bsky.social 😁

Good morning.

Time for a last clean before the BierWagen goes into hibernation.

Thought the roofers were coming to start the second roof this morning. Apparently not. But they put the scaffolding up last Friday.

FFS. If someone asks me for a mobile number of someone else, I always ask first if it is ok to share. Just had some guy phone to ask if I could shorten his fucking big old pear trees (20m tall!) and I know who gave him my number. Felt under pressure, but a clear no. I am not a tree surgeon.

Charnwood Cider: An Orchard in a Forest. Our intrepid reporter Jack muses on the timescale of orchards, and visits the lovely Rob Clough of Charnwood Cider. #cider #perryisalive

More destruction of small biotope in the name of, well, conservation? The argument goes that birds of prey will sit on large trees making the protected Partridge population easy pickings. So the group running the project like to get rid of tall trees in certain areas. Neighbours are not happy.

I really should delete my LjnkedIn account, it’s just a waste of space. Message today from some pension advisor “Hello Barry, I hope you're keeping well. I work with Irish expats who have made the move to Germany, much like yourself.” Lost me at expat. I prefer the term immigrant.

One of the problems of having given two talks this year, including one as keynote at the @3ccpa.bsky.social CraftCon 2025 conference, is getting asked to do more. Have been asked to give a talk at the state pomology society AGM next year. Less confident about doing so in German. 🤔

This is a Gloster apple. It still hangs quite late in the season. It is not a pear, as Anu disappointedly informs us.

I wanted to take a shot to show how time has passed as the moon is now directly behind the church spire ( I, on the other hand, have not moved), but didn’t expect this particle accelerator plot! 😍

My wife says I’m being too Irish as I have a sudden desire to light a fire outside. 🤔

Diane Flynt is key not just to the renaissance in cider throughout the South, but also at the very heart of orcharding for apples, specifically cider apples. It is always a joy to speak with her about not just cider apples, but growing apples for cider - an important distinction. #craftcider

I thought maybe I could sneakily use my sick days to catch up on some pressing, but there’s no way I’m fit enough to do anything that requires physical effort. I must go out with Anu, but even this is slow.

I’ve been laid low by Corona since yesterday, brought back from Spain by the mid. Could be worse, but brain like jello thanks to a bit of a temperature. 🤒

The TCCPA announce their Perry is Alive campaign in response to Westons recent declaration that perry is "dead" Imagery: @helenannesmith.bsky.social tccpa.co.uk/perry-is-ali...

This is a lovely conversation we published on CR, a transcript of my friend Jack and @tomoliverscider.bsky.social’s chat on stage at the recent PerryFest in Hereford’s Museum of Cider. An honour to have my little project mentioned by Tom too! 😊

Not my coaster, and technically not my cat. Have to get her at the right angle next time 😄

It seems we have enough fruit in the yard to do the five pressings required to fill a 300L tank. Goldener Reiter, our almost annual Apple/quince coferment for sure. But weather not conducive to pressing outside, so taking the time to clean and sort what we have in advance.

Forgot to post that the main barn roof was finally finished last week. The cowstalls still need to be done. And I need to sell a shit load of cider in the next year to cover those costs 🤦‍♂️

My mother has a little teapot that’s perfect for making two mugs of tea with 1 Barry’s Gold Blend teabag. Used it every day when we were in Ireland, so bought myself a similar one. Perfect. My wife, says why not just put a bag in the mug, I say because it goes too strong. But then that’s her mug. 😆

I should be pressing today. But I need to fill a couple 300L fermenters, and I don’t think we have enough apples harvested. Need about 500kg. But we also have about 200kg of quince in crates. I wanted to do a pure quince wine again, but maybe 300L of our usual coferment would be good.

Westons' statement that "perry is dead" dismisses centuries-old craftsmanship and cultural significance. Barry (@barmas.bsky.social) argues that education, not erasure, is essential. With reference to @beesononbooze.bsky.social’s recent article.

I felt compelled to rant a little about an article on The Grocer in which Westons, a long established cidery, declared perry is dead because they renamed their perry to “pear cider”. Apparently it was too difficult to explain 🙄

We were in Frankfurt tonight to pick up the kid after their trip to Asturias. They brought me back some Sidra! Shouldn’t have had that rest stop burger.

Medlar the size of apples! Ok, pretty small apples, but still. 😜

Pushing down the cherry plums in the coferment. Or trying to, they like to do the backstroke.

It’s been absolutely lashing rain all day, now there’s a break and although it looks nice, there’s quite a gale blowing. Any pears left in these two Bayerische Weinbirne trees have now been blown down.

Anu wants a walnut. She ain’t getting one.

Scaffolding came down at the back and gables of the barn today. Front still missing a patch of tiles, but hope they finish that off this week. Will be raining all week so a first test of the roof!

A bit of a repeat performance tonight,and a Gewürzluiken

Last night was the first night in a week that I got more than two or three hours sleep. Feeling a lot more human today! Having a shortish walk to take a look at the perry pear project phase 2 Orchard. Next month we need to start planting more trees there.

This has done my soul good, getting some close friends/neighbours together, just so they can have some normality in a really shitty time.

Kinda going through the motions today, pressing because I must. Today an orchard blend with 13kg of cherry plums. 2kg ended up on the floor of the cellar, they roll far when frozen. Don’t normally store fruit in the barn, so never saw such mouse destruction. 4 crates dumped.

#Naples #Italy