Kertelreiter in the village of Schefflenz in North Baden, Germany.
The Kertelreiter Cidery came about when Irishman Barry Masterson fell in love with a German lass and moved to her homeland to raise a family. Though Barry’s first love was beer, this full time land surveyor found himself eyeing and then eventually fermenting the ample supply of culinary apples in his area.
Kertelreiter is as Barry puts it is “tiny”. Considering that in 2017 Kertelreiter produced close to 1000 liters (L) , about 220 gallons “tiny’ is likely a good description, but it also lends the maker time to hone one’s skills.
Says Barrys, “We’d doubled the orchard size in early 2019, and had been thinking about selling our cider. I had planned to step up to 2000 liters as a start. However, the harvest was really poor as a result of a combination of stress from drought the previous year and if I remember correctly a disagreeable frost. Because we had excess capacity due to the lack of apple, I went begging for Perry Pear trees to harvest from. In the end we managed just short of 1000L again allowing up to produce enough to make a start with selling.”
To supplement the apple harvest, Perry Pears are used for both making Perry and to add structure such as tannins to the cider.
Barry estimates that, “If the orchard at Kertelreiter carried a full load, we could easily make 5000L (1320 gallons) or more. But for the moment, I’m happy to stay small…”
Kertelreiter has a full line up of Ciders, Perry and Fruit Ciders, such as Out of the Sun, a cider with quince!
Harvest rights for orchards in Germany for Kertelreiter
Barry and his wife were concerned about the amount of fruit going to waste, especially as the local town hall stopped auctioning off harvest rights, so they have tried to fill this gap by creating a local fruit tree exchange. This means they try to connect people with trees that are not being used and people who would like fruit for making their own juice or cider. It’s early days, but Barry is confident they can build a good catalog, and maybe combine it with teaching people to make their own cider to encourage use of fruit that would otherwise go to waste.”
Providing structure in Kertelreiter ciders
Barry add Perry Pears to his cider to bring in some tannins and he also uses wood aging to add structure to some of his ciders. For instance using an ex Cabernet Sauvignon Barrique, and a really old German cider barrel that he says helps mature and soften the acids in his ciders. And he’s been using oak chips and other kinds of wood to add other dimensions, while trying to keep the fruit to the fore”.
Contact Kertelreiter Cider
- Website: https://kertelreiter.de/en/home/
- Address: Kertelweg 4, 74850 Schefflen
