Gwatkin Farmhouse Perry

Brewed by Gwatkin Cider
Style: Perry
Hereford, England

Bottle (7% abv). Cloudy yellow colour. Sour and fruity aroma. Taste is fruity pears and nicely sweet and sour. Dry, refreshing, some nice barnyard elements and very drinkable. Excellent.

Barrel, BGGF 2005: Vinegar aroma. Very sour flavour. Vinegar in the finish. Very very brutal perry, that reminds me a little of some of the most sour lambics.

Tart, fruity, maple aroma. Opaque yellow-white body is quite still and viscous. Tart, juicy pear flavour with plenty of residual sweetness. Dry farmy aftertaste. Medium body. Somewhat slick on the teeth. Barrel sampled at GBBF 2005.

Cask conditioned - gravity dispense - Banbury BF. A hazy greeny white coloured perry. The aroma has sweet inviting pear aplenty. The taste is quite sweet with pear pulp but also sugars. A little light and a little basic, but tasty.

From the barrel, Ludlow Xmas medieval market 2007. Looked like creamy pea soup, stank like a bag of wet sugar that had been stood in an old tart tin, literally chunky pears washing around in a sticky slick lipsmacking suspension. People were staring at me as I drank it, some of the more delicate visitors looked as if they would be physically sick if I drank it whilst close to them. A fun, no-holds-barred perry.

Form the barrel at GBBF, August 2005. At first I wondered whether the "Farmhouse Medium" and the "Golden Valley Medium" were the same, despite the ABV difference (I noted this down as 7% by the way) but I guess they can’t be as they had both at GBBF. This is a succulent and juicy perry with a very fruit dominated aroma. Soft and easy drinking, with a fair amount of sweetness. Very pleasant, if not the most "farmhouse" of perries. Cloudy, straw coloured, appearance.

Real cider at Banbury Beer Festival 06. Pale lime green with no head. Juicy, pulpy perry interesting and refreshing.

Cask handpump. A cloudy straw colour with no head. Aroma is pretty much non-existant. Taste is sour pear, absolutely not medium - quite sweet, but thankfully offset by the sourness. Fairly average.