STORY BY MICHAEL HARDEN, PHOTOS BY CHRIS TURNER AND CHIPPY RIVERA

Had Covid-19 not spoiled things for everybody, Learmonth would have just hosted its Inaugural Cider Festival. The pretty town outside of Ballarat, home to Learmonth Cider (formerly known as 321 Cider), will now hold the festival at the same time next year. It’s a good idea to put that one in the diary because Learmonth is becoming something of a cider hub, particularly now that a new cidery and brewing education facility has opened in the town.

Learmonth’s cider focus started with Philip and Marilyn Cormie who bought land in the area nearly 20 years ago. They planted an apple orchard with the express purpose of making British and French styles of apple cider. The orchard has about 1000 trees and 15 heritage varieties including Kingston Black, Somerset Red Streak and Yarlington Mill. Up until recently, the apples have been used to make two types of cider – an elegant cuvee made like champagne and a still, medium-dry wine-style cider, both under the 321 Cider label. But that was only step one of a bigger plan.

Enter Belinda Brooksby and Anthony Penhall who moved into a house on the orchard a couple of years ago and took on the old 321 Cider cellar door in the centre of Learmonth, transforming it into the popular Café Sidra where punters can sample Learmonth Cider alongside local produce cooked by Belinda. The couple persuaded the Cormies to add a New World-style cider to their range, the result being 321 Heritage that’s served in a smartly designed can.

“The two original ciders are outstanding,” says Anthony. “They’re fantastic with pork and cheese and go really well with Asian flavours too. But they are quite niche and so we went to Philip and Marilyn with the idea of doing a heritage-style cider in a can that would be an easy swill, something that would appeal to a broader palate and it’s been really well received.”

It won’t be the only addition to the Learmonth Cider range. With the old Learmonth school buildings, just across the road from Café Sidra, recently transformed into a state-of-the-art cidery and a brewing education and training facility by the Cormies. There have already been some experimental batches of cider made using single varieties of apples and blends using traditional cider apples with sweeter eating apples. The cidery also means that visitors to Learmonth can get a fully-rounded view of the cider-making process.

“With the cidery opening right across the road it connects everything together,” says Belinda. “People will be able to have a tour of the orchard, then go to the cidery to see cider being made and then they can come to Café Sidra and have some lunch – perhaps some cider-glazed Vietnamese pork ribs – and sample some cider at the same time.”

There are more plans afoot too. During the pandemic, Belinda and Anthony decided to take on the Learmonth post office and general store which was in danger of closing for good and were able to transform them into a place to buy groceries, take-home meals and cider. With the extra space, they are also planning on creating a purpose-built tasting room for both Learmonth Cider and local wines.

With any luck, it will all be up and running by the time the Cider Festival kicks off in June next year.

Learmonth Cider & Café Sidra    

321 High Street, Learmonth                                       

5343 2272                                                              

cafesidra.com