The Cider Hole opened in Kelham Island last September and on March 5 and 6 will fulfill its promise of becoming Sheffield’s only urban micro-cidery by releasing three ciders produced on-site.
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Staff at the venue will begin pouring for customers three 200-liter batches of cider – all of which contain local Sheffield apples and two of which were produced with 100 per cent local apples collected from 31 gardens around the city.
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Mike dispensing the cider.
Mike Pomranz, The Cider Hole’s owner and cidermaker, who has also spent the last several years covering the cider industry as a journalist, said: “As far as I am aware, no one has been producing cider using locally-sourced Sheffield apples for at at least a couple of years.
“I’m excited to be salvaging fruit from people’s gardens and turning it into Sheffield’s best cider – not that I have any competition!”
This past autumn, Mike put out calls on Facebook and Reddit asking if anyone with extra apples would donate them in exchange for free cider.
He received over 70 leads and eventually collected apples – and some pears – from 31 different houses around Sheffield – including plenty of unexpectedly interesting finds in neighborhoods like Crookes and Pitsmoor.
Mike Pomranz.
Mike Pomranz.He then crushed, pressed, and fermented all of the fruit in his tiny shipping container bar at Krynkl on Shalesmoor.
The results are two batches of wild yeast fermented cider made entirely from Sheffield apples: Cool Neighbors – a tart, funky, and dry cider named after all the cool people Mike met collecting fruit – and Too Many Apples – a tangy, drinkable cider which earned his name after Mike found more fruit than he bargained for.
The third cider – Ask Albert – is a naturally-fermented mix of Sheffield garden apples and proper cider apple juice provided by Ross-on-Wye Cider in Herefordshire, resulting in a more traditional tasting English cider with a touch of tannin.
Tannins are common in cider apple varieties, but are few and far between in the mostly cooking apples collected from gardens, which is why Mike put in a call to Ross-on-Wye cidermaker Albert Johnson for Harry Masters Jersey and Browns juice.
The new ciders.
The new ciders.
All three ciders will be served in thirds and halves directly from the fermenters until either all of the cider has been consumed or bottling becomes required. Refillable milk bottles will also be available for takeaway.
Mike himself will be on-site for both days of the release event, pouring cider and answering questions.
The Saturday, March 5, session will run from 1pm to 10pm, while the Sunday, March 6, session is from 1pm to 6pm. Both are free to attend.