Welcome back to the Worley’s Cider blog. It’s been a while since the last post, but we’re going to be posting more regularly from now on (we promise!) to let everyone know what’s going on at the farm and the latest cider news from the Mendips.

Brand-new quality ciders

First off, we launched some great new draught varieties in 2015 that have gone down a storm. You might have come across them at your local, but if you haven’t here’s a run down. Our Red Hen has been hugely popular – fruity, spicy but incredibly mellow – we won a Silver at the British Cider Championships with this little chicken and it’s been flying ever since.

Next up is Rocky Road, light, balanced and easy-drinking – medium tannins give it a more delicate flavour, but it still packs a whopping apple punch. We also introduced our first ever Sweet cider to the world in spring 2015. Beatnik Billy has the qualities of a light, sharp Eastern-style cider, and its powerful fruitiness is more than capable of standing up to a sweeter treatment and still retain the characteristics of real cider.

Last of the new draughts is big brother Harvest Moon. This heavyweight only just finished maturing in August 2015, so it’s relatively new to the range. Made from slower-fermenting late season’s apples, we’ve taken a punchy bittersweet apple and blended it with a relatively rare bittersharp variety to make a strong but delicate cider with bags of character and a sherbety-citrus note.  At ABV 6.8%, the brave will be rewarded with a cider that truly makes the taste buds tingle. All real cider, of course, made with 100% fresh-pressed apples and no concentrate.

Sparkling new bottles

Our bottled ciders have undergone a bit of a revamp this year, with all-new label designs, a new name for Premium Vintage – which is now called Red Hen – and the unveiling of our special cider for 2015.

You might have noticed our new Worley’s branding in 2015. While we’re happy to let the cider do the talking, we also wanted to create a more solid identity for our growing on-trade custom. Working closely with our great friends at Inkcap Design, we came up with a whole new look. And we had fun coming up with some new names – which was much harder than we thought! We said goodbye to the Worley’s apple, and hello to some new icons, such as the Mendip Hills sheep (based on the Rock Flock sculptures of local sculptor Jeff Boddy in Shepton Mallet), and our daft-but-lovely Red Hen farmyard chickens. Both Red Hen and Mendip Hills have been awarded several gongs this year, but more on that next time.

Still going strong is the Worley’s Cider Special Reserve, our keeved and bottle-conditioned cider that continues to gather converts wherever it makes an appearance. This is truly a special cider and gathered a Gold Medal at the Taste Of The West awards and a Silver Medal at the Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition in the US.

Our ‘Special’ for 2015 is a bottled version of Harvest, and with its sherbet characteristics it makes a wonderful sparkling version of its draught namesake. It’s all a bit new at the moment, but early feedback has been tremendously encouraging.

Don’t forget that all these ciders are available from our online cider shop at www.worleyscider.co.uk/shop/ciders

Next up, we’ll tell you about the smashing awards won in 2015, and there’ll be an update on the 2015 apple harvest and plans for pressing season.