Tall drinks ... Seven Sheds Brewery.
Sam Vincent finds artisan apple ciders are coming out of sheds and into cellar doors in response to demand from drinkers.
WHEN it comes to drinking habits in this country, brown is the new black. Traditional farmhouse cider, with its distinct caramel colour, organic image and dry flavour is a fast-growing tipple, with Australian sales increasing by about 13 per cent a year. Cider has joined skinny jeans, fixed-gear bikes and indie music as a must-have hipster accessory.
There is one part of Australia, however, where cider isn't fashionable, simply because it never went out of fashion: Tasmania.
Ever since the first orchards were established in the early 19th century, cider has been pressed for private consumption across the state. Now, drawing on this rich history - and capitalising on the whims of fashion - a group of artisan brewers has started bringing Tassie's ciders out of sheds and into pubs and cellar doors.
On the banks of the Derwent, a 50-minute drive north of Hobart, is one of Australia's most exciting craft breweries. "This job is about getting some passion up ya!" bellows Ashley Huntington soon after I arrive at his Two Metre Tall operation (so named because he is). "It's sticky and dirty and that's why I love it."
Formerly head winemaker at La Baume in the south of France, Huntington opened Two Metre Tall with the aim of becoming Australia's first "real ale farm". Along with his wife, Jane, this mega-microbrewer grows barley and hops before turning it into a selection of seriously tasty ales. But it isn't his beer that has been commanding most attention.
When the Huntingtons discovered the rare cider apple variety Sturmer Pippin growing in a Huon Valley orchard last year, they bought the crop and made it into an unfiltered, bottle-fermented cider containing only apples and yeast.
The English-style cider, which Ashley describes as "crackingly dry", has been the most popular product at Two Metre Tall's openings, held every second Friday night between November and May.
By using Sturmers, the Huntingtons hope to show Australians just how good traditional cider can be. "It isn't supposed to be a sweet version of sparkling apple juice," Ashley says. "We're talking about a complex beverage that should be on the Australian table with the same gravitas as beer and wine."
If Ashley is adhering to the rules of traditional cider making, the next venture in Tasmania I visit has thrown them out the window. "We don't want to tell Australians what to drink," says Corey Baker, from the cheekily-named Dickens Cider, based outside Launceston. "We realise the Australian palate thinks of cider as being something sweeter than what it is in France and the UK and we're catering to that."
As well as making a traditional dry version from Kingston Black cider apples, Baker, along with business partners John Dickens and Aishia Haubrich, uses Granny Smiths, pink ladies and Jonathans to make a selection of sweet, uniquely Tasmanian-style ciders. The results are impressive.
As a chilly wind whips off the Tamar River, we sip scrumpy (still) cider made from Granny Smiths, and the world's first sparkling rosé cider, containing Pink Lady apples and blushed with pinot noir from nearby Moores Hill estate. This is Dickens' most popular variety but my favourite is the smooth and subtle Perry (pear cider), to be officially launched this winter.
Already a cult label in the pubs of Tasmania, Dickens is now available at the cellar doors of several leading Tamar wineries, including Moores Hill, Three Wishes and Providence.
The Dickens team is building its own cellar door, to be opened in September in what was once a cool store. "This valley has a rich apple history," Baker says, "so it's nice to continue the tradition through making cider."
The next morning I drive west under an ashen sky. While the wind blows my little car about, the Great Western Tiers loom to my left. At Railton, 10 minutes from Sheffield, I stop for a chat with Willie Simpson, one of Australia's foremost beer writers and proprietor of the town's Seven Sheds brewery. Famous for his flagship Kentish ale, Simpson has recently been experimenting with a strong (8 per cent to 10 per cent) cider made from secret apple varieties; the tipple (called Cradle Mountain Dry) enjoying success on tap at Hobart's New Sydney Hotel.
"Cider has been privately pressed in this state for 150 years," he says, "but it's only now that people want to drink it in pubs." Simpson loves what he calls "farmhouse variation"; the fact that no two pressings are the same, resulting in some ciders ending up with a lactic twang, others a strength that has been described as "volcanic".
Wilmot Hills Vineyard, in the shadow of Cradle Mountain, is where winemakers John and Ruth Cole decided to make cider ."It came to me in a dream," John says. "I'd been offered grafts from several cider varieties but wasn't sure; then one night I dreamt I was making cider and that it was delicious." It is.
The Coles grow rare cider apple varieties with names like Somerset Red Streak and Improved Fox Whelp to make a tan-coloured cider that's so dry it's hard to believe it's wet. Also fantastic is their German-style sweet cider, a 10-day-old product with a low alcohol content.
I ask John why he thinks cider has become the flavour of the month. "It's natural, refreshing and delicious, plus many people tell us that, unlike another amber ale, cider doesn't leave them feeling bloated." Beer, it seems, is giving some people the pip.
The writer was a guest of Tourism Tasmania.
Trip notes
Getting there
Virgin Blue flies from Sydney to Hobart and Launceston, priced from $89 and $99 respectively. 13 67 89, virginblue.com.au.
Drinking there
Two Metre Tall, open every second Friday from 4pm between November and May, 2862 Lyell Highway, Hayes. (03) 6261 1930, 2mt.com.au.
Dickens Cider, 175 Leam Road, Hillwood. (03) 6394 8442, thecoolstore.com.au. On-site cellar door open from September.
Seven Sheds, open Wed-Sun, 11am-5pm, 22 Crockers Street, Railton. (03) 6496 1139, sevensheds.com.
The New Sydney Hotel, 87 Bathurst Street, Hobart. (03) 6234 4516, newsydneyhotel.com.au.
Wilmot Hills Vineyard, open Thurs-Tues, 10am-6pm, 407 Back Road, Wilmot. (03) 6492 1193, wilmothills.com.
Further information
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