Cider Day goes biennial
Invercargill Brewery is making its Cider Day a biennial event after more than a decade – citing lack of space.
A decade the brewery juiced apples for an entire year’s worth of cider in a single day, using the traditional rack and cloth method; and most of the fruit was collected from wild apple trees and abandoned orchards.
Brewer Steve Nally said when demand increased, apples for pressing were sourced from Darlings Orchard in Ettrick; and when it increased again Darlings began sending fresh juice which is used in the production of Nally’s Cider.
“For many years now Cider Day has been more about keeping a tradition alive rather than production – and this year we just ran out of space.”
That’s both physical space, and time.
“We’ve seen phenomenal growth in the boutique beer industry in the past eight months – which is taking up all our tank space and most of our floor space.
“We’ve got plans in place now to expand capacity, but realistically that wasn’t going to come on stream for this year,” Mr Nally said.
“Finally we reached the decision that it just wasn’t going to work.”
Invercargill Brewery is one of the few New Zealand breweries to have cider on its product list –Nally’s Cider, which is available year round and a limited edition Heritage Cider under its own label as well as contract brewing cider.
Meanwhile those who donated fruit and labour for the 2009 pressing could expect to be rewarded with a bottle of the distinctive Heritage Cider when it’s released in July. Made from donated fruit, each vintage is a unique beverage – and with this year’s even cancelled it will be 2012 before there is another one.