Nally's Cider
Characteristics: An effervescent cider made from selected Central Otago apple varieties to give the right balance of flavour and bite. The juice is extracted using the traditional rack and cloth method, then fermented and conditioned for at least six months to mellow. Serve chilled.
Color: Pale straw
Alcohol: 5% by volume
Apples: Blend of Braeburn and Granny Smith
Apple Juice: 70% by volume
Availability: Year round in kegs or 330ml bottles
Tasting Notes: Nally’s Cider pours an attractive pale golden hue with a lively bead of carbonation. Served chilled, the aroma is sweetish with green apple skin and a subtle waxy note adding complexity. Medium bodied, soft and spritzy, the palate is drier than the aroma suggests and the cider finishes with an elegant, deftly balanced crispness.
We’ve been making cider the traditional way since 1999 when Nally’s Cider was first made from wind-fallen roadside apples, juiced, fermented then served at an uncut 7 percent alcohol by volume.
The high drinkability factor of that original cider made it too potent a brew, so we dialed the alcohol back to 5 per cent after a couple of years.
To keep up with demand, the bulk of Nally’s Cider is now made from apples juiced at Darling’s Orchard in Ettrick.
But one weekend every year we still clear the brewery and enlist the help of our strongest mates to hand-press over 600kg of locally-sourced apples to keep tradition alive.