National Cider and Perry Month begins

8.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 1st Oct 2005

Today makes the start of the National Cider and Perry Month. The month celebrates Cider and Perry in all its guises. October is an especially important month for Cider and Perry production as real Cider and Perry can only be made when the fruit is ripe with harvest time lasting from September to November and October being the peak month.

Cider is made of a mixture of bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples or sweet dessert apples, or a mixture of the two to make cider; but perry can only be made from specialized perry pears, which are high in natural tannin.

As Cider is my preferred tipple I will be celebrating Cider and Perry month and was exciting to learn that of the two events in the West Midlands to celebrate one is in Leominster and the other at my local. The Wolverhampton CAMRA branch will be making a Cider and Perry presentation at the Newhampton Inn on 18 October which I will obviously be attending!