By Debbie James

A LIVELY new cider that packs the punch of six thousand men storming a castle has been launched by a Pembroke brewery.

Cromwell 1648, fermented in part with Pembrokeshire-grown apples, marks one of the livelier periods in Pembroke’s history, when Oliver Cromwell arrived with his army.

Nearly four centuries after the Siege of Pembroke and the Pembrokeshire Cider Co has reflected that moment in history in the branding of the fourth cider in its range.

“Storming a castle must have been thirsty work so I am sure Cromwell would have appreciated a few glasses of our cider,’’ laughs David Halsted, a DIY shop owner, who launched the cider company along with Jon Ryan, of Wisebuys, and Chris Scourfield of The Castle Inn, Pembroke.

They have recently brewed 33,000 litres of cider from 40 tonnes of apples, some grown in local orchards and mixed with British-grown cider apples and supermarket seconds.

Around 2,000 trees have been planted in Pembrokeshire to support the project.

“We are grateful to everyone who has been part of this, to the people who turned up with bags of apples from their gardens, to Les Johnson who allowed us to create a massive storage box for the apples and to Lloyd Jenkins who used his telescopic handler to move the apples around Pembroke for us,’’ says David.

Nothing has gone to waste in the brewing process as the apple pomace have provided feed for a local pig herd.

Cromwell 1648, a sparkling drink, is the dry cider in the Pembrokeshire Cider Co’s range. As well as the other sparking ciders, there is also a still cider and apple juice and the business has collaborated with the Pembrokeshire Chilli Farm to produce a chilli sauce.