Daylesford Cider – ‘Alf n ‘Alf

Daylesford Cider is one of those companies that have taken forever to become an overnight success story. Their story begins with planting trees in 2003. Now they are winning awards for their ciders. The ‘Alf n ‘Alf Is a bit of a rarity in the Aussie scene.

Clare had grown up in scrumpy country in the UK when she moved out over here, she was disappointed by the lack of “proper ciders”. At the time the market was dominated by a handful of the big brand, sweet fizzy ciders. After moving down from the Northern Territory to Victoria they decided to try their hand at being orchardists.

A trip back to Somerset, England was the inspiration for the ‘Alf n ‘Alf. They visited Burrow Hill Cider. They couldn’t decide between two of Burrow Hill’s ciders when filling their growler. So Julian the owner, said, in his thick Somerset accent: “well ow about ‘Alf and ‘Alf’”. So that became the target for the new Daylesford’s medium cider

Being inspired by a British cider the choice of apples was obvious. The ‘Alf n ‘Alf uses 17 different heritage varieties, including Somerset Red Streak, Yarlington Mill, Kingston Black, Brown Snout, Dabinett and some table fruit. Daylesford grows their own apples organically but needs to buy some apples to make up the volume. The plan is to expand their home orchards over the coming years.

The Nose

Hello, Christmas cake. So much dark dried fruit and overripe apples. The Alf n Alf is so intense, you may not need to open the bottle to smell it. It’s warm and inviting like a local pub with an open fireplace.

The Taste

The first thing you’re going to notice is this cider is dead still. This lets you soak everything in, and there is a lot to soak in. More tannin than I was expecting for the average Aussie cider. The tannins almost have a slight mouth drying effect but are almost spicy. Big overripe, almost toffee apple into marmalade flavours dominate the landscape later on. Medium sweetness with a surprisingly clean finish for such big upfront flavours.

Final Thoughts on the ‘Alf n ‘Alf

I’m drinking this at the wrong time of year. It’s been above 32ºC (90ºF) all week. I’ve been looking for a good winter cider for a while now. Something that I can slowly sip away on, on a cold wintery afternoon. A pint of ‘Alf n ‘Alf, rain on the roof and an open fire sounds pretty good. Bring on winter.

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