ABULS

"Abuls" is a small cider brewery from the vicinity of Smiltene. Legally, "Abuls sidrs" is completely fresh, but cider making has already started in 2000, passionately experimenting at home with local apples every year. Later inspiration came from visiting cider lands in Normandy, Asturias, Somerset and the Basque Country. Since 2018, Abula cider has been made in the cider maker's own farmstead on the outskirts of Smiltene, near the apple orchard, in the newly built cider garden in the upper reaches of the Abula river. There are no old cider-making traditions in Latvia and the surrounding region, therefore "Abuls" is considered as the New Cider World. The cider maker of "Abula" believes that Latvian cider is the most logical local drink. Like wine elsewhere, it reflects the climatic, soil, biological and geographical conditions of the region. With cider you can taste the summer of each region. One of the ways of making "Abula" cider is to find and use very local cider varieties, but it takes time to develop. "Abula sidrs" is open to a New World approach to cider making, using white wine making methods that allow the freshness of cider and the aroma of local apples to be preserved as much as possible. "Abula" cider house has also tried to hop cider and supplement it with local wild berries, allowing for natural fermentation, but remembering that everything is based on apple.

The basement was built in 2018 by own efforts. Here the cider will be pressed, fermented, blended, seasoned and bottled and barreled. All cider fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks. Cider making is seasonal, juice is pressed in autumn, fermented in winter and spring, bottled in early summer and drunk in summer. The process of making apple cider is subject to natural temperature fluctuations, and a cellar is the perfect place to do it. About 400 apple trees grow in the cider garden - some English special cider apples, native wild apple, paradise apple and local varieties of late autumn apples. The cider garden was started to be planted in 2012 and new varieties of apples are gradually being planted, as well as the varieties unsuitable for cider are being replaced with suitable ones. Real cider is still at the very beginning of its development in Latvia, and it takes time - years - to learn and understand which varieties grow here, or which of the local varieties are the most suitable for cider. "Abuls" follows this path, searching for the right varieties of apples in the nature of Latvia - forest edges, ditches, abandoned gardens.