Award-winning cidermaker opens micropub in Hereford

Herefordshire cidermaker Denis Gwatkin of Gwatkin's Cider in Abbeydore, has opened a micropub in Hereford's historic Buttermarket, serving a range of his award-winning ciders and perries as well as beers and lager from Wye Valley Brewery, either to drink in or takeaway. Denis, who has been making cider now for almost 30 years decided to open “Gwatkin'sHouse of Cider” in the Buttermarket as the building is undergoing refurbishment and regeneration with artisan food and drink producers moving in alongside the more traditional market businesses such as butchers and cheesemongers.

Above: Michael Sammars (Bar Manager), Theresa Roberts (Director of Gwatkin Cider) and Denis Gwatkin (Director of Gwatkin Cider)

According to Denis Gwatkin, “This is a great opportunity for us to be able to sell our ciders and perries in the heart of Hereford. We have a successful farm shop at our farm in Abbeydore but not everyone can get out to it, so this is our way of bringing our shop to the centre of the city of Hereford. We're stocking our full range of award-winning ciders and perries alongside other drinks and we are aiming our ciders to complement the range of food available in the Buttermarket. Customers are welcome to try our ciders and we have upcycled cable reels to serve as tables around our bar. We're very excited at this prospect and for the future developments in the Buttermarket.”

Hereford Buttermarket is undergoing a resurgence, along with new businesses such as Gwatkin Cider moving into the building there are plans to open up the upper floors to encourage more traders into the historic structure.

Gwatkin's House ofCider is open from 0900-1645 Monday to Saturday, in Hereford Buttermarket, High Town, Hereford, HR1 2AA

Beer on the Wye IV

It was a wet but enjoyable excursion for Brew Wales as we headed for Beer on the Wye IV the other day - the Hereford Beer Festival run by the local branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. Along with 3200 others a very wet day in more ways than one was spent sampling the real ales on offer as well as one cider - the excellent Black Pig Cider made just outside of Hereford by the caterer for the event.

One of the first beers to sell out was Purple Moose Cwrw Snowdonia but there were plenty of other Welsh Breweries there - Otley and Breconshire to name but two, all washed down with an excellent hog roast.



Could not resist putting this photo up of West Wales CAMRA stalwart Eric Evans doing his best NOT to do a Mary Poppins impression.