First perry making of the year

First perry making trip of the season and the Blakeney Red tree looked good as usual. An old farm in Monmouthshire where the owners allow us to collect the fruit. Not saying the exact location but it is in the Devonian Old Red Sandstone series, an excellent strata for perry and cider trees which stretches from Newport to Herefordshire. The thick, heavy iron-rich soil is excellent for growing cider apples and perry trees and even stretches as far as Denis Gwatkin's farm in Abbey Dore.

 

The red blush on the Blakeney Red's can clearly be seen in the photo above. 

Second tree of the day was the Tainton Squash, a tree well over 100ft tall - the panking poles were called for this one.
Last year we at Llanblethian Orchards fermented the fruit of the Hendre Huffcap pear together with that from the Potato Pear - pictured below - and won a Gold Medal for the best dry perry at the Welsh Perry and Cider Competition at the Clytha Arms.

Above: the Potato Pear

Last pear to be picked was the Hendre Huffcap - a good bounty of fruit on the tree again this year.

Below the Hendre Huffcap tree:

A quick visit to orchard in Llanblethian was made to see the orchard planted a few years ago before off to mill and press the fruit.

A couple of shots of Alex with his home made press tipping the last of the pressings out:

Above: The juice from the pears

Above: Checking the specific gravity

All in all a good start to the season.