Merridale Ciderworks

Here at Merridale, we use cider apple varieties that have been proven for centuries in England, France, and Germany to make the best cider. All of our ciders are made from 100% pure juice, and only the first pressing is used. We do not add water or re-press the apples to increase the yield because we believe this compromises the flavour. Being purists, we do not use concentrates, chemicals at bottling, pasteurization, or fine filtration of juice. We ferment our juice slowly and naturally, to delicately bring out all of the flavour the fruit has to offer.

The Cowichan Valley mirrors the optimum growing and climate conditions of the renowned cider regions in the UK and Europe. Merridale’s location was chosen, after years of research, as the perfect combination of climate, aspect and soil conditions to grow world-class fruit (our terroire). As with fine wines, you need world-class fruit to make a world-class beverage! We have two rows of Jonnagold apples, the only dessert apples in the orchard. The rest are cider-specific varieties like Tremlett’s Bitter, Michelin, Yarlington Mill, Dabinett, Chisel Jersey, Kermerien, Julienne, Judaine, Frequin Rouge, and Hauxapfel.

At Merridale we take no shortcuts with our cider. We are passionate about following practices and procedures that do not ever compromise the quality. Greater care requires more labour and time, but the result is worth it. The way we handle our fruit, our fermentations, our packaging and our customers is consistent with this philosophy. We believe that consumers appreciate our passion. Some of our practices are important to know so that you can understand what is unique about Merridale.

When the cider is fully matured and perfectly ready is it put into bottles. We do not use fining agents or other chemicals to clarify the cider because we believe you can taste them. Instead, we wait until the cider falls clear and then use a wine-style pad filter to polish the cider. Many wines are filtered down below 1/2 micron to ensure that no residual yeast remains. This ensures that the wine will not begin to referment in the bottle. However, apple solids are not as fine as grape solids, and we believe that filtering that finely filters out some of the colour and flavour that makes our ciders so enjoyable. Therefore, we filter only to about 1 micron, and take the risk that some dormant yeast cells may remain. We do not pasteurize to kill the yeast because it changes the flavour. We do not add chemicals to kill the yeast. We do not filter out flavour. Therefore, our cider is still “living” and must be refrigerated at all times.

When we are ready to bottle, the filtered cider is pumped into 500-gallon stainless steel bright tanks in the cold room. Over the next 48 hours, it is brought down to a bottling temperature of about 32°F. This cooling of the cider accomplishes three things. First, it stops any further fermentation. Second, it keeps the cider fresh. Third, it maintains the consistency of the carbonation in the cider. All of our ciders are “frost packaged”. This means that they are packaged at temperatures below the frost temperature.

From this point on, our cider is kept refrigerated, to maintain freshness and also to be certain that it does not begin to referment. You will note that some of our ciders are packaged in plastic bottles. This is to ensure with 100% certainty that no one will ever be hurt by a glass bottle exploding. Only ciders that have no risk to you are bottled in glass. Therefore, our packaging is carefully chosen to balance the key interests of our consumers: flavour; freshness; safety; and, the environment.