A Sheffield cider brand is brewing (well, fermenting) plans for the city’s first ‘urban micro-cidery and micro-ciderhouse’ in Shalesmoor shipping container development and home of Joro restaurant, Krynkl.
If license applications are approved, The Cider Hole will produce Exemption Ciderhouse cider onsite before serving multiple varieties of the Sheffield cider directly from the fermenters, similar to how it’s done as part of the txotch ritual in the sidreria’s of San Sebastian.
Small quantities of freshly poured cider will also be available for takeaway, along with a personally-curated selection of ciders, beers, and wines – most of which will be unique to Sheffield, and some of which will be personally imported by the cidery’s chief fermenter and apple botherer, Mike Pomranz.
Mike, who is a certified cider professional, explains: “You won’t find any Carling here. Expect white wines from England, wild reds from Italy, funky ciders from Spain, and some crazy fermented shit from Scandinavia.
Mike Pomranz, Exemption Ciderhouse owner
“I don’t want to tip my hand on any of these specifically, but they will include products sourced from producers I have met over my many years traveling the world as a food and beverage writer.”
Mike also tells us there will be plenty of events and cider related activity, including vinyl record nights, cider-inspired clothing and ‘Delaney’s Snack Menu’, curated by his 5-year-old.
Although not a Sheffielder by birth, having moved here from the States five years ago, we’re claiming Mike Pomranz, along with his all-new cider brand, as one of our own.
Mike has been fermenting (not brewing) cider for several years now, using locally sourced Sheffield apples, sometimes from under apple trees at the side of the road, to create wild, complex and interesting ciders.
“I realised it isn’t that tricky to make cider; you can just use random apples and try to coax whatever fruit flavours or interesting qualities out of them. “ says Mike.
“That’s kind of been my philosophy all the way through to this current project. When we moved here, I noticed that a lot of people have apple trees, and a friend didn’t want their apples, so I made cider out of them and it was incredible.”
So good in fact, that he saved the yeast and that has now become his house yeast strain, which he used in the four-month fermentation stage of his first bottled batch of Exemption Cider House cider, pleasingly titled Wild Tarts Can’t be Broken, in reference to the drink’s sour notes.
The small run of just 40 bottles went on sale earlier this year, receiving rave reviews from those lucky enough to get their hands on the limited run, and following this test run we can all get our hands on a fresh drop from the fermenter when The Cider Hole opens, hopefully in the autumn.
For more info, head over to the website here.
