Steilhead Cider

Call Directions Website Contact the business

Welcome to the FB page for Steilhead C***r, makers of Scottish craft c***r since 2010

Welcome to the Steilhead C***r Page, where we hope to keep the world abreast of everything happening with Scotland's newest craft c***r-maker. We make naturally-fermented dry c***r, in the west-country style: a full-flavoured, dry, tannin-rich c***r, in the "artisan" or "craft" manner - the same way that generations of our family has done; which is to say, on a small scale and with a reliance on natural processes to produce a drink of high quality. We don't use any added ingredients in our c***r, and we allow the wild yeasts found in our apples to ferment the juice at their own pace. All we do is to provide the finest juice we can, in the best, cleanest environment, and keep a close eye on how our little ye**ty friends are doing over the course of fermentation (which can take up to a year) before blending the different barrels to get a satisfying, balanced, deliciously flavoured c***r. We use locally-sourced culinary apples for our c***r, mixed with true c***r varieties, many of which come from our own orchard of 60 trees here at Steilhead. We currently supplement these with c***r-apples from Herefordshire, since our trees are still quite young, but every year the balance will shift towards home produced fruit. Once it is ripe, we mill the fruit and press it using a traditional pack-press, then ferment the juice in sterilised barrels, racking it occasionally as required. Sometimes we blend the juice before we ferment it, sometimes after, and sometimes we keep a particularly good batch as a "single-variety" c***r. When the c***r is clear and matured we either bottle it or syphon it into bag-in-boxes, and after that....well, that's up to you!

15/10/2026

This is what a hard day's apple-pickin' does to ya.

09/10/2026

Bad news, due to an administrative error we have no licence to sell alcohol tomorrow at Station Road Food Market so we won't be there. You'll still be able to grab some of our apple-juice, though, at the veg stall.
Thanks to an administrative tour de force, however, we WILL BE AT Moffat Farmers' Market on Sunday, with c***r and everything.
I shall spend tomorrow either in bed or washing barrels, instead of manning our stall. My money is on washing barrels.

07/10/2026

Some of yesterday's pomace and the Pomace Disposal Units recycling it.
It's been another hard week's work at C***r Towers, and there's a good workout planned for tomorrow - picking apples down near Stranraer - followed by another day milling, pressing and wrestling with the new pasteuriser on Friday before a restful weekend at Station Road Food Market in Thornhill on Saturday, where there will be some exciting new traders, and at Moffat Farmers' Market on Sunday.
One of the new Thornhill traders is Hallsford Farm Produce who produce sustainably farmed meat of simply excellent quality including THE BEST PORK SAUSAGES IN THE WORLD IN SPACE in my opinion. The other newbie is called Disco Pig, which is presumably, er, a dancing pig...? Probably not.

03/10/2026

I realise it's totally last-minute, but we've just realised that tomorrow marks our 10-year anniversary at Dumfries Farmers' Market, so as a gesture of celebration we'll be doing a promo - buy one apple juice, get another for half price. While stocks last. Which won't be long, I'm only going to bring two bottles, we're not a charity, you know.

02/10/2026

What variety these apples are, I haven't a clue, and I'm too knackered to find out, but they're lovely and they're some of the last ones from a wee project we've been taking part in beside www.dgwoodlands.org.uk compered by the inimitable McNabb Laurie. Anyone who knows this chap will tell you that he's the human version of a frightfully well-spoken, friendly and enthusiastic springer spaniel and that within minutes of meeting him you'll find yourself throwing him sticks or tennis balls or in our case - apples.
He's been organising apple collections across the Region and delivering the resulting piles of sacks to our barn to be turned into pasteurised juice and returned to the growers as a waste-reduction type thing. He's collected a lot of apples. Mrs C***r and I are very tired.
Nevertheless, though exhausted, I shall be found adorning Dumfries Farmers' Market as per usual on Sunday. Come and admire my eye-bags.

26/09/2026

Grandson Magnus attempting to graft an apple from a truly laden Stoke Red onto a James Grieve. He hasn’t a clue.

Now then, tomorrow’s forecast for Kirkcudbright Farmers' Market is “interesting”, not to say “challenging.” But along with a few other hardy souls I shall tough it out manfully. Please come and admire our collective fortitude. Wear your wellies.

25/09/2026

One of the nicest things about spending time in orchards at this time of year is seeing all the butterflies that benefit from the abundance of sugary fruit. Usually it’s red admirals that we see most but here’s a beautiful comma spotted in our own orchard yesterday, munching on a fallen James Grieve apple.
On Sunday I’m having a wee break from the seasonal grind and you’ll find me, possibly asleep, possibly a bit crabbit, at Kirkcudbright Farmers' Market. Come to my stall and be nice to me. I need niceness.

15/09/2026

Oooooo!! A great big parcel!! What can it be??
Well, I know exactly what it is, it’s a swanky new pasteuriser. Our old one is pretty decrepit, like most of us here, as a matter of fact, and this new one should make apple juice processing much faster, easier and more effective. Efficiency being a top consideration at Steilhead C***r, of course. We operate like a well-oiled classic gold Rolex, so we do.
The old pasteuriser was acting up recently and when I was digging about in its innerds I found a manufacturing date of 1975 so it hasn’t done badly, really.
No markets this weekend, unsettlingly, so the apple-gathering can continue unchecked.

11/09/2026

There will be plenty more of this before the season is over! This is mostly Discovery apples, milled and almost ready for pressing into this year’s Steilhead Apple Juice.
Tomorrow - stationroadfood.
Sunday - Moffat Farmers' Market.
Monday - pressing
Tuesday - pressing
Wednesday- pressing
Thursday- pressing
Etc
Etc
Etc
Christmas
This is our foreseeable.

08/09/2026

Day One, bag one, and what it might become. The speed with which the year goes by is alarming. A hard day’s apple picking in the rain is just the thing after a hard weekend’s marketing.
Next weekend we’ll be at on Saturday and Moffat Farmers' Market on Sunday, both excellent events.

Address

1, Steilhead Cottages, Auldgirth
Dumfries
DG20TN

Telephone

+447879999029

Website

http://steilheadcider.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Steilhead Cider posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Steilhead Cider:

Want your business to be the top-listed food & beverage service in Dumfries?