GOLDEN HARVEY

Very dry

6.8% alcohol

1,826 bottles and 6 kegs made

Tasting Notes

We use 100 per cent European heritage varieties – including the venerable Golden Harvey – to make this, our most deeply-coloured cider.

This year, the blend includes about half of our harvest of traditional cider varieties. This adds colour and character to the cider.

There’s a lot going on here, with substantial astringency, plenty of acid and a slight hint of funkiness provided by the wild yeast with which we started the fermentation. It’s a flavourful mouthful.

Lovers of substantial ciders will appreciate Golden Harvey for its full body and appreciate it as a cider with character; one that refuses to be ignored.

Cidermaking Notes

Harvest and pressing: We used 100 per cent heritage European apples in our 2018 Golden Harvey, which we crushed and pressed between September 21 and October 3.

Fermentation: We started with a wild yeast fermentation and then stopped it in mid-October and added a European yeast that is particularly good at retaining the unique character of the apple varieties used in the cider. After the primary fermentation, this cider also underwent a malolactic fermentation.

Aging: We transferred the fermented cider base into its aging vessel on November 24 and 25, after which we aged it straight through until late May. 

Blending and carbonating: We moved our European heritage cider base into our bright tank on May 27 and blended in a very small amount of apple juice. We then carbonated and bottled, pasteurized and labelled, allowing us to bring our first Golden Harvey to the world.