Producers

The land of Herefordshire and her neighbours is a place of rural peace and tranquillity in which apples, hops, grapes and soft fruit have been grown in fertile soil and a gentle climate for hundreds of years. We have more English cider and perry producers than the rest of the world combined; some have been producing their drinks for many years, others for only a short time.

The makers of all of our traditional drinks have two things in common, a love of the countryside of England and a passion to produce the best drinks they can. Some are producers on a small scale so they may be new discoveries for you. The quality of their produce is marked by the awards they have won but more, as you will find for yourself, by the care they put into producing the most exquisite drinks which, as you might expect, are subtly different each year yet give the flavour of their authenticity and provenance to any who delight in the real drinks of England.

Our Producers

Our Producers







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Ashgrove Orchards
Ashgrove Farm is 65 acres of typical Herefordshire countryside: mainly permanent pasture with two orchards in which grow at least eight identified English cider apple varieties on venerable 70 year old standard trees. The Hereford cattle and Ryeland sheep whcih graze under the trees are native Herefordshire breeds kept in a very traditional farming system. No sprays or chemical fertilisers are used. Rod and Rosie Hawnt produce all the farm's cider from their own apples.

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Brook Farm Cider
Peter Keam makes cider and perry at Brook Farm, Herefordshire after retiring from the Fire Service, he has gone from quenching fires to quenching thirsts. He has a photograph of his orchards taken forty years or so ago. The trees are older, some have fallen and been replaced, a few have fallen but continue to yield fruit from a crazy angle but essentially it is the same view.
He uses as many as fifteen different varieties of apples including some from neighbours and friends to make his Herefordshire cider. Each variety is kept separate until bottling when the different ciders are blended to make the final drink. Bottling usually takes place so that the finished cider is available in June each year.
Peter's perry is made from Blakeney Red and Brandy pears, the process to the finished perry is just the same as in cider making.

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Dunkertons
Dunkertons Cider Mill is set in the ancient parish of Pembridge, Herefordshire, an area of farmland, woods and hedgerows, where medieval half-timbered villages meet the stone market towns of Wales.
Susie and Ivor Dunkerton began pressing rare cider apples from the old Museum orchard in their neighbouring hamlet of Broxwood in the autumn of 1981. They were determined to make the best cider in Europe. The process of understanding the qualities of each variety was slow but fruitful. Experimental orchards have been planted over the years at Dunkertons to determine the most interesting varieties for cider production and for organic cultivation. Dunkertons aim is to raise the quality and awareness of English "real" cider and particularly ciders made from organically grown orchards free from harmful sprays that threaten the environment. Dunkertons make only organic drinks.

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Hermitage Farm
Adrian and Julia Blackshaw grow seven different varieties of apples at their 50 acre organic farm in Herefordshire. The entire farm is licensed by the Soil Association, so no pesticides, fungicides or artificial fertilizers are used. The farm is also part of the Environmental Stewardship Scheme, so there is a wide variety of wildlife on the farm. The Blackshaws have discovered that the blend of Red Pippin, the perfect eating apple and the sharper Bramley makes a really refreshing juice. The apples are picked by hand, pressed and the juice is then gently pasteurized so the bottles have a two year shelf life. Pure cloudy apple juice is full of anti-oxidants and vitamins. It makes a really delicious alternative to alcohol. Hermitage Farm produces only organic drinks. www.thehermitagefarm.com

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Hobsons Brewery
Hobson's Brewery in Cleobury Mortimer, Worcestershire was founded in 1993 using second-hand equipment (one of the fermenting vessels had been used in lipstick manufacture - at least it was used for something fit to be applied to the lips). The first brew on Holy Saturday 1993 was a failure, something to do with the difficulty of adapting second-hand gear, but the second, started on Easter Day was a success. It just shows what a gifted amateur with determination can do. Since the early days production has expanded with two breweries in adjoining buildings producing six varieties of traditional beer including Hobson's Mild the Camra Champion Beer of Britain 2007 - sadly only available on draught alongside Best Bitter. We can, however, offer you four bottled real ales which are fine drinks in their own right. All Hobson's beers are real ale.

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Kingstone Brewery
Kingstone Brewery is a family run micro Brewery which is located in Tintern on the Gloucestershire border,near the beautiful abbey ruins. Kingstone Brewery follows traditional beer brewing methods using locally sourced grain and hops where possible. All their real ale is hand bottled and then bottled conditioned. The brewery also sells casks to local pubs and sells bottled beer to local shops. The brewery is run by Edward Biggs.

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Ludlow Brewing Company
Husband and wife team Alison and Gary of the Ludlow Brewing Company started brewing their traditional beer in their six-barrel brewery in 2006 at Kingsley Garage in Ludlow, Shropshire; a building that before they restored it to the beer business had been a commercial haulage depot - restored it to the beer business because it had originally been a maltings They currently brew two beers "Gold" and "Boiling Well". Gold was the first and quickly won a first prize at the Ludlow Food Festival. They became brewers because when their children were born they could no longer get out to the pub. Despite this they did not name their children after their beers (or the other way round) www.theludlowbrewingcompany.co.uk

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Lulham Court Vineyard
Lulham Court Vineyard is a three acre vineyard in the midst of a mixed family farm lying in the wonderful Wye Valley in Herefordshire. Phil Pennington has been producing English wine there since 1984. The wine varieties used are Muller Thurgau, Reichensteiner and Seyval Blanc. Dry to medium still wines are produced, all the sparkling English wine is brut.

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Lyne Down Cider and Perry
Lyne Down Farm sits on the Marcle Ridge in South Herefordshire, an area famous for English cider and perry making over the centuries. Lyne Down Cider and Perry use fruit mainly from their own orchards, comprising some thirty different varieties of English cider apples and perry pears.
Still made in the traditional way using an ancient wooden scratter mill and 120 year old antique stone twinscrew presses, the extracted juice is fermented in oak barrels until it is ready for sale. Traditionally, the cider and perry made on the farm would have been traded for other goods and paid to farm labourers or sold to passing travellers who stopped at their smithy to have their horses shod. Made from pure fruit with nothing added, different varieties are blended to create specific recipes producing a refreshing, clear and well balanced drink varying from medium sweet through to medium dry with alcohol contents from 5% to 7.5%.
www.lynedowncider.co.uk

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Monkhide
Monkhide is a small, family-run business based in Canon Pyon, Herefordshire just around the corner from Canon Pyon Stores. Lorraine and "Digger" Digweed are passionate about creating, distinctive and exceptional wines and liquers. They have created a unique and interesting multiple award-winning range and many of the recipes have been passed on through the family. The drinks are made using fresh, locally sourced ingredients and are hand-made in small batches - no atificial colours or flavours are used. www.monkhidewines.co.uk

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Newton Court Cidery
Paul Stephens and his father have been making English cider and perry on their farm at Newton Court, Herefordshire for several years and have regularly featured in magazines and tv programmes about crafting these traditional drinks in England. As well as being agricultural engineers, they farm 155 organic acres of grassland and orchards with Hereford cross suckler cattle and Speckle-faced sheep. They produce 6,000 gallons of Herefordshire cider and 3,000 gallons of perry annually. The perry pears come from many different sources but half of them come from a small orchard owned by a neighbour of ours.

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Pixley Berries
The home of Pixley Berries is at Pixley Court, a traditional farm nestling in the rolling landscape of rural Herefordshire near the market town of Ledbury. Fruit and hops have been growing at Pixley for over 40 years. The main crop produced at Pixley is blackcurrants from which they produce their range of super-fruit cordials. The cordials contain no less than 60% pure fruit juice and are made from single strength juices and do include any concentrate. They do not have any additives, preservatives or artificial flavourings.

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PJ
Stephen Walker has been producing 30,000 bottles of English apple juice for many years on his 20 acre family farm at Bearwood, Herefordshire just five miles from Canon Pyon Stores This is in addition to selling some fruit for eating, all from only five acres of trees. He also grows Christmas trees which we sell at our shop. His fruit juice production all goes to pubs, restaurants, cafes and small shops within a few miles of Bearwood. PJ apple juice is a quality product. In every bottle of PJ you will find nothing but pure undiluted juice, no added sugar, no colouring and no flavourings.

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Rathays Cider
Rathays Cider has been made since 1998 on a five acre holding by Jenny and Graham Blackmore (who are retired research scientists) from a 2 acre orchard of nine English cider apple varieties but which has one perry pear tree (variety Moorcroft). The apple varieties are Ball's Seedling, Brown's Apple, Brown Thorn, Bulmers Norman, Michelin, Tremletts Bitter, Vilberie and Yarlington Mill. Most were planted in the 1960s, one or two (including the Moorcroft) are older and some are replacements making a total of 80 trees which produce about 15 tons of fruit every year. Most of the crop goes to a large commercial producer but a small volume is made into only 3,000 litres of Rathays award-winning Herefordshire cider. This drink is produced from a blend of the apples, some are biennial croppers so the quantity of each variety made is different every year.
Their cider it is made without additives, the trees are unsprayed and no artificial fertiliser is used and so it is produced to organic standards.
The cider is named for the first of Jenny's Angora goats, her herd grazes beneath the trees in the Spring and after apple-picking.

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Spinning Dog Brewery
The Spinning Dog Brewery, Herefordshire is named after a favourite dog of Jim Kenyon's called Cassie who used to chase her tail - a spinning dog. Jim's traditional beer is produced in a true brew-pub, most of the beers are cask ales but a chosen few make it into hand bottling.
Jim opened his pub with an empty bank account - his only cash was the till float.
After fourteen years spent as a soldier and drinking beer in many different parts of the world, Jim knows what a good beer tastes like so now he brews some. His beers are available from his pub, The Victory in St Owen Street, Hereford where you can drink Jim's cask ales in a traditional home-from-home local or alternatively you can buy them from our website for that real brew-pub taste. www.spinningdogbrewery.co.uk

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Teme Valley Fruit
Our English fruit juices from Teme Valley Fruit, Worcestershire, (seven apple, one pear) are Guild of Fine Food Retailers' Great Taste Award multiple winners. Sutton House Farm, Tenbury Wells, is an 100 acre family farm with 20 acres of 22 year old fruit trees. The farm is at the extreme limit for commercial Cox growing being so far west and over 400 feet above sea level. The fruit is picked tree-ripe, two weeks later than for dessert apples for storage, which ensures the maximum flavour of the fruit is expressed in the juice. Some fruit comes from neighbours and relatives. Two of the apple juices are organic drinks.

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The Amazing Cider Company
William and Frances May produce traditionally made English cider using 100% pure apple juice from established apple varieties at Hall Court, Kynaston, Herefordshire. The apple juice is fermented slowly in tanks in the time-honoured fashion.

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The Orgasmic Cider Co.
A local cider and perry producer from Eardisley in rural Herefordshire, producing English cider from single varieties of apples using traditional fruit like Brown Snout, White Jersey, Foxwhelp and Yarlington Mill. The company uses apples from their organic orchards at Great Parton Farm. Once pressed, the pure English apple juice is fermented in oak barrels and bottles when ready with no preservatives or atificial additives. A truly refreshing taste.

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The Wood Brewery
Established in 1980, this family run brewer of ales has expanded steadily to become a leading name across Shropshire, adjoining counties and further afield. They are renowned for Shropshire Lad, Parish and many other traditional and seasonal beers. They are proud to consider themselves the oldest of the new wave of breweries in the region, producing traditional drinks in England.

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Williams Chase Distillery
Chase Distillery, Herefordshire is the first and only company to produce an English Potato Vodka. Will Chase has been growing the potatoes that make his vodka on the same land in Herefordshire his family have owned for three generations. The first bottle of Chase Vodka was produced in May 2008 and took two years in the making.


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Graham gathering apples