DRINKERS took a step back in time to enjoy cider made by old fashioned methods.

Ponthir friends, Chris Mellen, Royston Etheridge and Lionel Phillips held a demonstration of their cider making techniques to generate cash for St David's Foundation Hospice Care.

The trio use a 200-year-old apple press and an apple scratter to grind the fruit into a juice. The liquid is then barrelled where it is allowed to ferment. The final product is a glass of Candwr Cider.

Once bottled the brew is exhibited at farm shows throughout Gwent where punters can taste the fruits of the teams' labour.

On Saturday the team held a barbecue and demonstration at their base in Ponthir. Money from the event is still being counted.

Mr Mellen, 48, was taught to make cider 30 years ago with a friend, Amos Jones.

Mr Jones and Mr Mellen made the drink together up until Mr Jones' death about 20 years ago.

A builder by trade, Mr Mellen was working on a roof in Monmouthshire five years ago when he saw an apple scratter sitting in his client's orchid and enquired about the machinery.

"He said if you want it then you can have it. So I repaired it and restored it," Mr Mellen said.

Mr Mellen bought an apple press and started his home-brewed hobby. The scratter dates from around 1890 and the press from the early 1800s.

"We've got a licence to sell it but really we just exhibit it at trade shows."

600 gallons of Candwr Cider has already been brewed this year making a total of 4,800 pints. But according to Mr Mellen 2008 has proved a poor apple harvest.

"Last year we made about 1,200 gallons," he said.

"The apples we've had have been small. Because of the rain and the wind the apples have dropped sooner and haven't contained as much natural sugar."

The sweetness of the apples is vital to the sugar making process as on fermentation sugar turns into alcohol.

MAKING CIDER

  • Apples are gathered, sorted and washed.
  • They are then run through a scratter - where the fruit is diced.
  • Next the mushed segments are put into a press where they are liquidized.
  • The juice is barrelled where it is left to ferment and mature.
  • It is then bottled and served