5: Apples and Bere

July 10, 2019

I'm heading to Manchester Cider Club today, a monthly event organised by the ever-active, always cider-passionate Dick and Cath.If you live in the North West, or if you visit every now and again, you'll have heard of Dick and Cath. Two wonderful people, on a self-started mission to make Manchester the cider capital of the world. Or at least, to get Mancunians to drink real cider -- no mean feat, given it's also one of the most staunchly "craft beer" cities in the North. I'm really excited to visit them again, not just because I love them to bits, but because we'll be tasting some of the most hyped ciders around at the Crown and Kettle, and I'll get to ask a whole heap of questions. Imagine. Cider is hyped now.Cider was my first favourite type of alcohol, and I used to be the only person I knew that actually enjoyed it. I once went on a road trip around Herefordshire with my then-boyfriend to visit cideries and get absolutely blitzed in pub garden cider festivals. "What are you doing around here?" the locals asked us in every pub we went to."We just like cider." A bit of an underwhelming reply, but it was the truth.The cider trip (probably in about 2007) was also the first time I learned about brewing, or at least fermenting, and going on the Weston's tour was the first time I ever stepped inside a large-scale facility. I was fascinated by the whole process of turning juice into cider, and when I got home, I made batches of "turbo cider" out of apple juice and champagne yeast. I bet that tiny flat by Headingley Stadium still has a hole in the ceiling.Other Stuff

  • Manly wedding rings -- this article could have been a complete tear-down but instead it's full of deep questions about masculinity, identity-based marketing and marriage. "Is getting married a not-badass thing to do?"

  • Special Request, an immense and toweringly talented producer of my favourite type of techno-house-bass-existential-crisis-based music, is interviewed here and his thoughts on a "thing you do" becoming a "career" are genuinely comforting and inspirational for a 5 year planless person like me.

  • Barony Mill up in Orkney shared a supremely soothing video of their heritage Bere barley swaying in the wind.

  • This, by David Nilsen for Pellicle, is an absolute joy to read, includes some terroir real-talk and has a genuine lol moment involving a nu-metal dirtbag.

  • The Sleater-Kinney lyric video for Come On Home is a brilliant use of instant messenger (and it's a really fucking excellent song).

  • This on obesity health-scare campaigns, by author Sam Pollen, gave me a lot to think about this week.

  • I loved this, on Lambic's timeline from ignored to revered, by Eoghan Walsh so much. Some really insightful interviews in it from Big Lambic Guys, but also his own thoughts and research, which are just as valuable. (Don't blush Eoghan, it's true).

My Stuff