Season2019

apples stocked before pressing

cidre flows (tasting), CCC Camp 2019

mobile press in action, 2018

feeding the rap

pressing the moût

garçons in action

cidre density measurement

soutirage/racking 10 hl IBC

dream cidre atelier, above and below the ground

dream cidre atelier, outside, front

dream cidre atelier, 2nd underground floor

dream cidre atelier, 2nd underground floor, top

Cèlest bottle (left) which I like a lot and mechanic top right

swing top, ceramic, front

Happy tasting together, cider flows 36c3

Some of the bottles at tasting

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Campaign status

• Total amount desired: € 6 000.00
• Number of donations: 16
• Total amount received/pledged: € 3515.00
• Started 29/2/2020
• Updated 01/5/2020

Results

I would like to thank to everyone who has supported me in this effort. First apologies to the ones who I did not contacted, you are quite numerous, I'm sorry I just got overwhelmed by the project, I promise to do better next time. The good news are that I've managed to do the bottling properly. I'd to borrow money, but it is done. I'll keep in touch through different channels on the progress, by 8/7/2020 I can say that the cider is developing well in the bottles, I've god my micro-entreprise entity set up and I'm waiting for the final go from the local alcohol related tax office, well things look good. Once more many thanks and talk to you soon!

Summary

The target of this crowdfunding or rather "friendfunding" is to help me to complete the first commercial cider season 2019 of my cidrerie Jara, which in other words means another important step on a transition from a hobby passion to profession. As most of you know I've been fermenting for over a decade and now I came to the point when I need to make my living from it. In the real word of numbers I've a bit over 90 hl (9 000 l) of cider fermenting, results of my hard work last autumn, supported by help of my friends, big thanks here! I put in already over €5 000, mostly my own money but I'd to borrow too. I estimate that the costs of finishing up the season properly will be around €6 000. This includes bottles, corks, capsules and muselets for bottling. But also importantly costs of distillation because not all the cider will be good enough for bottling. I also need to have ready a special "deposit" required by French government, worth of 10% of value of my products (got this surprise news just last week). The list could go on and on. It should not surprise you that all the apples were manually harvested, they are organic (no certification yet but no treatments), fermented with natural yeast on the apples, nothing added during the fermentation, later on the cider will be fermented naturally in the bottle being ready by end of August or September. Basically the highest quality and most complicated way how to do it, who would guess right? I highly appreciate any support here, it is the 2019 and upcoming 2020 seasons which I will need help with. After that I can start to sell my products and things will get better. Of course I'm offering some cider perks, please read the info properly before claiming! And if you wonder, yes I'll need to work in another job to keep this activity going for at least few years before I can get my living from it. Many thanks for your support and if you have any further questions or suggestions, please have a look on "details" below and get in touch. Merci!

Donating

You can donate in the following ways:

• Bank transfer (preferred) to Frantisek Apfelbeck's (Algoldor's) bank account:
  • IBAN : FR76 1660 6100 1084 8435 1462 511
  • BIC: AGRIFRPP866
  • Please add the description "cidre2019" plus "perk name" if you claim one
• Bitcoin donation receiving address (Algoldor's bitcoin wallet): 1AxX8BMNs4fnZXyCpZURqtMDiP1yGY3YMS
  • Please add the description "cidre2019" plus "perk name" if you claim one
• PayPal Send money to: algoldor@yahoo.com - please use the "Send money to a friend" function and include your Name, Nickname and "cidre2019" plus "perk name" if you claim one. Thanks!

Contact: algoldor@foodhackingbase.org

Perks

Please be aware the perks are "pick up only" if not stated otherwise. It is possible to send the cider but the price for one carton (6xbottles) delivered around Europe is around €40, plus €10-15 for special bottle friendly carton. You can pick up your cider at the events where I'm regularly coming (check list of activities here). I think I will do two "delivery trips" which will comprise France, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium and Netherlands and possibly other countries if I'm passing by and we talk in advance. You can also pick up your cider either here in Vale de Saire, Cotentin, Normandie, France in my atelier or in Czech Republic in our family house in Kout na Šumavě, when it is ready. One more disclaimer. If things go badly and something happens with the cider (which is highly unlikely), I would ask if you would be OK with either accepting instead cider made by my friends or if I return you back your investments. I really don't expect this to happen but there should be plan B before you decide to support.

The cider will be ready by August or September 2020. It's because it needs time to finish it's fermentation in the bottle at temperatures if possible below 10°C. Afterwards it should be stored if possible below 10°C definitely not above 15°C. Few days are OK but when you get it delivered please do respect the temperature requirements! It could start to referment and explode, no kidding, it is life natural product, please do keep that in mind! So far I did not have any explosions for cider for sale and I would love to keep it like that. If you decide for a perk, which I hope so, please give me your preferred contact email, if possible phone number and address would be great too!

• Symbolic

Price: a bit to a lot Available: un limited Claimed: 1

Well this one is simple. If you would like to support the activity you do, chip in as you please. If it is bit more than fiver than if we meet and I've some extra cider on me, well I owe you a bottle. It would be lovely to claim it before the rest of my hair goes completely white. You have a year or so I guess ...

• Syrup

Price: €10 Available: 10 Claimed: 0

I've made lovely fruit (0 chemicals) based syrups, like lemon, plum, elderflower and fruit mix (cherry, blackberry etc.). They are made by cold way so no cooking, one to one ratio with sugar (bio). The volume of the bottle is 500 ml. Let me know which one you would like to have. Again you need to pick it up as mentioned above. Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution and your contact details.

• Cider Supporter

Price: €30 Available: 50 Claimed: 1

One carton of cider from season 2019 (more info about the product) which equals 6x 750 ml bottles. This means pick up on the place or at the event where I'm present, no delivery promised. Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution, plus contact details.

• 3xSyrups

Price: €30 Available: 5 Claimed: 1

I've made lovely fruit (0 chemicals) based syrups, like lemon, plum, elderflower and fruit mix (cherry, blackberry etc.). They are made by cold way so no cooking, one to one ratio with sugar (bio). This comprises of three 500 ml bottles. Let me know which one you would like to have. Again you need to pick it up as mentioned above. Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution and your contact details.

• Cider Fan

Price: €60 Available: 20 Claimed: 3

Two cartons of cider from season 2019 which equals 12x 750 ml bottles. There may be one or two bottles from either 2017 or 2018 seasons, standard or experimental batches like ginger&curcuma, honey etc. This means pick up on the place or at the event where I'm present, no delivery promised. Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution, plus contact details.

• Cider Lover

Price: €90 Available: 15 Claimed: 7

Three cartons of cider from season 2019 which equals 18x 750 ml bottles. There will be some cider from 2017 or 2018 seasons, either standard or experimental batches, raspberry, elderflower etc. This means pick up on the place or at the event where I'm present, no delivery promised. Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution.

• Cider Tasting EU Donation Based

Price: €250 Available: 3 Claimed: 0

I come to your place (around Western or Central Europe) and I will do professional guided tasting. There will be between ten to fifteen samples of well selected ciders originating in different countries, produced by different styles, plus some related products. Between 10 to 15 participants is best, up to twenty really max! The event is donation based so people are encouraged to donate to cover the expenses for samples and travel, which are going to be over the perk value (around €150 just for samples). I do this event regularly and it is a class by now. Please get in touch with me before confirming this perk, so we agree on time and place checking on the costs! Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution and your contact details.

• Cider Tasting EU Covered

Price: €400 Available: 3 Claimed: 0

I come to your place (around Western or Central Europe) and I will do professional guided tasting. There will be between ten to fifteen samples of well selected ciders originating in different countries, produced by different styles, plus related products. Between 10 to 15 participants is best, up to twenty really max! I do this event regularly and it is a class by now. Please get in touch with me before confirming this perk, so we agree on time and place checking on the costs! Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution and your contact details.

• Cider Tasting International

Price: €600 and plus Available: 3 Claimed: 0

Now, in order to come to your place and do this professional guided tasting, I need to cover the cost of the samples (around €150) and my travel. There will be between ten to fifteen samples of well selected ciders originating in different countries, produced by different styles, plus related products. Between 10 to 15 participants is best, up to twenty really max! I do this event regularly and it is a class by now. Please get in touch with me before confirming this perk because with this one we really need to figure out the travelling costs, my availability, donation based or covered etc. At the moment, I'm not really after making money on this one, it is more about not ending in red numbers, that's all. And of course it is a chance to visit different places, something I love to do. If well done, the donations can bring quite some funds in, covering part of the budget. Do not forget to write the perk's name when making the contribution and your contact details.

Details

I've been fermenting wide variety of products since 2007. I started with cider since I came back to Europe in 2016. This is my fourth season and first commercial one. My aim is to do a top product and here I will simply describe how I've accomplished that so far. After that we will talk about business model which I opted for, prices and costs. Last but not least I will go through a long term vision which means the "big investments" in the years to come.

Production

• manual harvest
• "nothing" used to treat the trees or cider, no chemicals added
• all fermented by natural yeast
• défécation, soutirage, some cider filtrated if really necessary
• prise de mousse naturelle - fermentation in the bottle by native yeast

I do manual harvest only. That allows me to select just the best apples, plus they are much cleaner than when harvested by machine so I can minimize washing and therefore waste of water. I can do between 500 to 900 kg per day by myself depending on the orchard, weather, my condition and also if I harvest directly to a trailer or into the bags. I transport my apples next to my workshop and in general I allow them to sit for few weeks so they can mature a bit more. After that I crash and press the apples with help of local prestataire de service M. Benoit, who comes with his mobile press. Here a big thanks to my friends who help me with this! If we do well, we can transform around three to four tonnes per four hours. With around 70% efficiency it gives 700 l of fresh apple juice from 1000 kg of apples give or take. I try to select which apples are pressed when during the pressing which results in a juice/moût with flavour profile corresponding as much as possible with the final cider flavour which I'm after. It is called assemblage. I transfer the resulting juice into the fermentation vessels taking the samples. If all goes well, there is a process called défécation "high clearing" where the pectins clarify the juice. I let the young cider ferment at ambient temperature over the winter. During this period I'm transferring the cider (racking/soutirage) from vessel to vessel to slow down the fermentation, disposing the sediment therefore getting rid of impurities. I check how is the specific density going slowly down, smelling and tasting if the cider doesn't have any off fragrances or off flavours. If it does I try to work with it or destine it for distillation. I also try to check the pH. Around February I do the final fragrance and flavour tests and check by microscope what is the yeast cell count. Based on that I may do a filtration through cardboard filters but I'm trying to avoid that to keep it as natural as possible. When I decide that the cider is ready for bottling I buy bottles, corks, muselets and capsules, get the bottling equipment ready (which I'm borrowing currently) and with help of my friends I start to bottle. Well synchronized group of four people can bottle between 3 000 to 5 000x of 750 ml bottles depending if they are capsuling (faster) or corking. The cider continues to ferment in the bottle (just natural yeast which were already present), so called prise de mousse naturelle, which takes between two to five months. This process should occur at temperatures below 10°C resulting in pressure of 2-3 bars. If all goes well by the end of the summer or beginning of the autumn the cider is ready to be drunk. However any shipment on long distance and especially at higher temperature just after end of the season is risky. If I do the delivery it's OK on shorter distances because I do it properly. If transported by agency it is better to wait for some months more or for intercontinental shipping sending after another summer season is best. Of course keeping the delivery at cold is the best but that is generally too expensive.

Business model

• smaller artisanal production, high quality product, aim on export and higher quality restaurants and wine shops
• current size: 15 tonnes transformed into 9 000 l of cider, bottled around 6 000 l therefore 8 000x of 750 ml bottles.
• future 2-4 years: +- 30 tonnes of apples transformed, double amount of products
• long term: max 100 tonnes, rather smaller
• prices per 750 ml bottle: usual batch €6-7 for 750 ml bottle before tax (tax +-20%)
• prices per 750 ml bottle: premium batch, €8-9 for 750 ml bottle before tax (tax +-20%)
• prices per 750 ml bottle: helpers, perks and pre-buy €5 for 750 ml bottle including tax (for 2019 season, probably €6 for 2020)

My aim is to keep making a high quality product in a manner described above at smaller quantities because I believe there is a limit how big you can go and do it well. Based on my experience I can imagine something up to 100 tonnes but that would be max and "long term future" maybe, which will be discussed later. This season I've transformed bit below 15 tonnes of apples resulting in over 90 hl (9 000 l) of juice. In the next few years, so 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons lets say I plan to gradualy increase it to thirty tonnes if I manage to get money for it. For most of the batches (lots) I plan to ask for around €6-7 for 750 ml bottle before tax (tax is 20% in general) and for €7-9 for 750 ml for special small batches (micro-cuve), again 750 ml bottles and tax 20%. I would like to make one batch for lower price for people who help me during the season financially or by their activity, plus people who would pre-buy. In this particular case I would like stay stay around 5€ per bottle, not sure still if before or after tax. These prices seems to me reasonable concerning the type and size of production which I do. Also compared to other professional producers who do cider in a similar manner and quality, the price corresponds, or in cases is actually lower. For me the prices are simply reflecting economic reality, they give me a chance to compete, get into and stay on the market. My main aim for sale is export, especially countries where I've been living before like USA, Japan, Korea and other. When I move back to Czech Republic I hope to build clientele in this and neighbouring countries. I also plan to sell in restaurants and caves/wine shops. I do not plan in foreseeable future to sell on local markets.

Numbers

Here I'm adding some numbers so you get better idea what costs what.

• standard bottles (750 ml): 1000x = €470
• bottle champenoise crémant (750 ml): 1000x = €526
• corks (Amorim, 40*27): 1000x = €67
• muselet (pt galva): 1000x = €43
• muselet (other colours): €45
• capsules (couronne D29): €25
• distillation (4 000 l): €560
• deliveries: €200 and up
• oak barrel, used (200 l): €150 and up (plus delivery)

Long Term Vision

OK, so the ones who know me for longer have heard the story time after time, if you did not well enjoy! My long term goal is to set up a fermentation community in the countryside, I would like to do that in Czech Republic where I'm from. The community should be quite financially independent, providing for itself. I strongly believe in some commercial activities, read income if you like, to pay for it's independence and to keep it running, plus covering people's needs long term. So there is no vacuum we interact with the world. For me having strong focus on educational and experimental is very important and honestly I would like to direct it there long term. I would like to be the main owner and have the right of veto. The idea is to buy land with either old farm or build up a place. I've decided that the central commercial activity to realize this project and to keep it going in the first decade or two is production of cider and related products. I've spend quite some time thinking about it, trust me, it was not just the "dream castle" leisure. I actually had to defend it in front of the professional comity as my personal cidre installation project in order to became certified cidrie. Over twenty five pages in French. Long story short the total estimate of costs was around €375 000. There should be at least seven hectares of land for orchards, mix of dwarf trees (basse-tige) and standard threes (haute-tige). One hectare of agricultural land in Czech Republic starts around €10 000, planting an orchard properly is around €6 000 to €7 000 per hectare, so around €115 000 total just for land and planting. I've estimated that building up a decent cider making facility will be around €120 000. Three floors (two mostly sub-terrain), mix of bricks and concrete (see pictures). The machines and tools needed for taking care about the orchard, harvesting (manual harvest), transformation, fermentation, bottling and commercialization can be easily around €140 000. In total as mentioned, we can talk about €375 000 give or take. I believe that it can be done for less but on the other hand lets be honest, the project was not megalomanic, it was actually quite pretty minimalistic. I can hardly imagine doing this properly with funds under €250 000. Of course the question is if to really go by this size in the future, which is by the way still a very very small production concerning the standard in France or stick to much smaller scale but bit bigger than now. Well future will show. I think to be real and get funds which are needed for the community project the bigger numbers are much full fill that requirements more likely.