JEREMY Clarkson and his Clarkson's Farm co-star Kaleb Cooper have revealed how their brand of cider is made at a Herefordshire mill.
While Clarkson is the face of Hawkstone lager, his co-star Cooper's pride and joy is the Hawkstone Cider, described as a medium dry lightly sparkling well-balanced cider, rich with sweet and bitter apple flavours.
Hawkstone Cider is produced by Weston's Cider's Guy Lawrence, a fifth-generation cider-maker from Herefordshire, using apples from Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
In a video on the Hawkstone's website, Cooper explained: "Every cider mill is on a hill and apples are tipped into the two pits, and then gravity takes them down to the bottom using their own water supply. They're all tumbling down the hill to the bottom."
At the bottom of the hill, the apples are washed and crushed.
He added: "So after the apples have been pressed, the juice comes into these oak barrels where they ferment for six months or more.
"That's months and months of waiting for them, for my cider, coming off the line. It's genius."
When the cider was launched last year, Cooper said: "I've always been a cider man myself and I'm partnering with farmers who share my love for cider.
"Hawkstone Cider is pretty special. It won't be super-sweet, I'm starting with the best heritage apple varieties.
"And the way it's made is pretty special too. It's quite hard to produce with a complex fermenting and cold filtering process."
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Cooper has been a farmer since he was at school and now has over two million followers on Instagram.
He stars in Clarkson's Farm alongside former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, as the series follows the pair as they work at Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
Guy Lawrence of Weston's Cider, a mill near Ledbury in Herefordshire, is known for his marrying of traditional cider-making techniques with cutting edge modern technology.
Expert tours and tasting sessions at Hawkstone are popular, with the brewery partnering with Stay Cotswold holiday lettings.
Guests staying in Stay Cotswold holiday homes can take advantage of VIP offers on local food and drink, including a Hawkstone Brewery tour with half a beer at the end.
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