English Sparkling Cider. Pilton are artisan producers at the heart of Somerset’s cider-land making whole juice sparkling cider by the old English method of keeving. Apples are collected from traditional cider orchards in and around the parish of Pilton and slowly fermented for six months in our cool Victorian cellar before bottling.
Keeving is an artisan method for making naturally sweetened cider. Only cider apples are used; no sugar, no water, nothing else. The keeving process involves the formation of a pectin gel, which floats to the top of fresh pressed apple juice in translucent tanks. The gel traps nitrogen and is removed. Starved of its essential nutrients,
the wild yeast fermentation stops early, leaving natural sugars from the apples themselves to sweeten the cider.
We bottle our keeved cider when it is still slowly fermenting, and allow it to develop its own natural tiny-bubble sparkle.
