The Reading Beer & Cider Festival once again played host to the South of England Regional rounds and National final of the National Cider & Perry Championship. Local cider and perry producers came out extremely well.

For our region the cider winner was Dorset Star’s Sunset, from Dorchester. The runner up was Salt Hill’s Autumn Gold from Slough in Berkshire, with third place going to Cranborne Chase’s Farmhouse Medium. The champion perry is quite near at hand – Mr Whitehead’s Midnight Special Perry down the road in Hampshire.

The regional finals were held on the Friday of the festival and a day later they went forward to the National finals. Here the National Gold award went to Countryman’s Medium from Tavistock in Devon with our own Salt Hill Autumn Gold taking the Silver award. Bronze went to Gwatkin’s, Captain Gwatkin’s Rum Cask from Abbeydore in Herefordshire. The Nemphett Cider Company from Oxleaze Farm, Nempnett Thrubwell, Nr Blagdon, Somerset produced the Gold award for Perry with Piglet’s Perry. Silver went to the Dumfriesshire Waulkmill Cider’s Mooseheid Perry and Bronze to the Gloucestershire based, Hartland Perry.

This is brilliant news for one of our branch cider producers.