Llanblethian Orchards

Llanblethian Orchards Low input orchard and cidery based in the Vale of Glamorgan. Traditional still, Single variety, keeved, pétillant naturel and craft keg cider and perries.

Made from apples and pears grown in the shadow of St Quentin's Castle

All set up ready at the barn for our open day. The gaffer has checked out the site and given his chirp of approval. 😄I h...
06/06/2026

All set up ready at the barn for our open day. The gaffer has checked out the site and given his chirp of approval. 😄

I have something a bit special launching on tap today.

3 little wildlings. Made out of 3 seedling apple trees that were growing out of the compost heap 15 odd years ago that I potted up and planted down the orchard.

Its something a bit special in truth. Funky, musky, bluecheesy and with a powerful drying aftertaste. Turned out much better than I could have hoped tbh.

Wonderful to think those seedlings I rescued from the compost heap all those years ago have made such a complex dry cider.



05/06/2026

Although the Welsh summer looks against us tomorrow, the open day is still on, a bit of rain wont stop us! 😃😍

I was planning to site the filly under the trees but to provide some more shelter ive put her outside the barn so the gazebo can be right next door. Ive also cleared out the shipping container and put some seating there as well.

Our site is very open air so not great on a wet day but hopefully there will be some cover from the rain.

On tap tomorrow we will have our core range of still ciders and perries, our sparkling french style keeve and a couple of surprise kegs of something special tomorrow as well. 😁😉

Just please, remember to bring welsh weather clothes with you!



Spent the day clearing up the site today ready for the open day on Saturday.I was remarking how much the trees have grow...
03/06/2026

Spent the day clearing up the site today ready for the open day on Saturday.

I was remarking how much the trees have grown over the years. They have filled up the space nicely and are providing a nice amount of shade on a hot day. 😍

I had a look through my old photos to compare. The second photo is of the site on one of the open days before Covid in 2018. The third photo is listed as spring 2012. From the size of the trees I think they were planted over the winter before.

Its wonderful to see how theyve grown. There is something magical to sitting quietly in an orchard listening to the trees rusting in the wind. Roll on Saturday! 🤩



Thank you to everyone who visited my stall at Hay on Wye cider festival on Saturday it was wonderful meeting so many lik...
01/06/2026

Thank you to everyone who visited my stall at Hay on Wye cider festival on Saturday it was wonderful meeting so many like minded cider enthusiasts and makers.

A massive thankyou to the organisers for inviting me and putting on such a fun event.

From my point of view it was also a thinly veiled excuse to visit Hay On Wye and pick up some ciders from brilliant artisanal makers. Look at the haul I managed to come away with. 😍😄😃

There was also a tongue in cheek competition and my keeved cider did rather well. I think second in the just one but meaning three award is one for the wall. 🤣

Well back to real life. Tried mowing round the barn yesterday and the mower was extra rattley so I guess id better take it to bits and see what broke this time... 🙄

Tomorrow were delighted to be invited to be part of Hay on Wye cider festival.On the bar I will have my core range of Ma...
29/05/2026

Tomorrow were delighted to be invited to be part of Hay on Wye cider festival.

On the bar I will have my core range of May day sweet, sunshine medium and orchard blend medium dry as still.

I will also have Pixies pear sweet and Glamorgan perry medium perries.

I managed to find the parts after much cursing and looking.... and I will have my Single variety kingston black on keg as well that went down a storm at Cowbridge food and drink festival. 😃

For the single variety enthusiasts I have a two year old single variety butt perry as well which is a very sharp and tannic pear variety, it can make a very 'grown up drink'.

Finally I have a lovely two year old single variety Frederick in bottles that is very sharp fruity for single variety enthusiasts.

Can't wait, it's a wonderful range of cider makers on the list :D


Hay Cider Festival

Cleaning kegs today at the cidery and filling them up with the wonderful single variety kingston black keeve I showcased...
28/05/2026

Cleaning kegs today at the cidery and filling them up with the wonderful single variety kingston black keeve I showcased at Cowbridge food and drink on the bank holiday.

While waiting for the wash cycles to complete I thought id have a look around and see if I could spot 10 different wildflowers growing in the long grass (as that is the max number of photos in instagram).

It's great to see how all nature needs is humanity to take its foot off the gas and leave it be for awhile and the wildflowers will move in.

Can you identify them all? They're all fairly common tbh. 😉



While taking a coffee break this little guy drifted past. Most likely a common blue damselfly.Just look at the electric ...
27/05/2026

While taking a coffee break this little guy drifted past. Most likely a common blue damselfly.

Just look at the electric blue colour of him. 🤩

I have not cut the orchard around the barn yet as I leave it uncut for no cut May to encourage the wildlife and allow the wildflowers to bloom. Its been great watching all the different insect species visit the spring wildflowers in the orchard.

Will have to cut it at the start of June for the open day but the main orchard will stay uncut until late August to do my bit to help nature.

Its great having a visitor like this amble past while im working, makes it all worth it. 😃

Thank you to everyone who came to say hi at The Cowbridge Food & Drink Festival over the bank holiday. What a scorcher! ...
27/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who came to say hi at The Cowbridge Food & Drink Festival over the bank holiday. What a scorcher! And thanks to the organisers for a great event in our town again. 😀

I have a bit of a surprise announcement. For anyone who wants to see how the cider is made and have a drink under the apple trees used to make our ciders we're throwing open the doors to the cidery on the 6th June 12-8pm. We're opening the doors as part of the Vale Food Trail there are a great set of other businesses taking part in the trail, do have a look through what is being organised.

The wayward filly will be on site selling our award winning ciders, ice cold. There will be a tutored tasting for those who want to know a bit more about our ethos and how we actually make the cider and I will be on hand to ask any questions for anyone looking to take up cider making themselves.

Ohh, and also for partners we will have beers from a local brewery as well so they wont go without 😉

You also get a sneaky peeky of the building works currently going on at the barn. We are currently converting a shipping container to a shop on site and will be rebuilding the pizza oven this summer. It'll be done when it's done, but cider and pizza nights will be returning to the cidery, I know everyone has been asking for them to return, I do listen, it's just as a sole trader there is never enough time to do everything. 😁




24/05/2026

All set up at Cowbridge food and drink testing the pour on the Single variety keeved kingston black that im launching today. 😍

Have to say ive got it spot on this year.

A nice gentle carbonation leading into a rich sweet keeve with a nicely drying aftertaste. Absolutely lovely. 😃 Also pouring without excess fobbing so quick to pour, vital at a busy event.. 😉

Quality control at 8am on bank holiday Sunday. 😁

Its a hard job, but someone's got to do it! 🤣




23/05/2026

Getting ready for Cowbridge Food and Drink festival tomorrow.

Though id share how I fill the kegs for the wayward filly bar of my award winning keeved cider.

The keeve was started in plastic ibc's and when it was 10 degrees above target (say when id consider bottling) I racked it into the uni tank and performed a pressurised ferment at 12 psi.

It has been fermenting slowly for the last three months in the uni tank and its now ready to showcase at the festival. I was going to ferment it further but it tastes too nice to ignore. Chilled overnight then 'trub dumped' via the bottom port to remove any yeast sediment before filling via the racking port.

Single variety kingston black from my orchard in Llanblethian. Sweet and rich and at 3.1% wont knock your socks off in the heat. 😉

Hopefully its of use to my fellow small scale cidermakers. And I hope everyone at the event enjoys it as much as I have been during 'quality control'. 😆🍺



Address

The Cider Barn, Crossways
Cowbridge
CF717LJ

Telephone

+447989970664

Website

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