Last year, CAMRA designated October as its Cider and Perry Month, and you may well ask, "Why October?" After all, there's 11 perfectly good other months, aren't there?
How about sometime in the summer, when the weather's better, for example? Well, October has several things going for it relating to both the fruit and the cider.
Some years back, an organisation called Common Ground came up with the idea of having an Apple Day each October. Now Common Ground does little in the way of events themselves, they have always encouraged other groups to do things, whilst supporting and publicising them.
However Common Ground organised the first Apple Day event themselves, which took place in London's Covent Garden. And it was a startling success. CAMRA ran a cider bar and there was a big market selling fruit produce. My lasting memory is that it was so windy we had to blue-tack the beer mats to the tables!
Since then local Apple Day events take place all over the country. Common Ground's website lists them all, county by county, from August onwards. Some have cider, some don't, but for some strange reason, they all seem to have a longest apple peel competition.
So one way for CAMRA to get involved in something cidery, is to link up with these local events, which are already taking place. Last year, for example, there were over 100 of these.
And now for the cider itself. Cidermaking usually takes place from late summer to Christmas, so October is definitely a cidermaking month. If you've never visited a cidermaker before, it's far better to go at this time of the year, as you can actually see the cider being made. In fact, CAMRA's annual cider trip is normally in October for this very reason. Also, a number of cidermakers have their own Apple Day event, so it's possible to kill several rats with one hammer (so to speak!).
So yes, October is an ideal time to have a Cider and Perry month. It's just a pity that it can't be every month!
See also; CAMRA and the Cider Drinker; APPLE
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