Hampshire country taproom: Hydes Cyder opens in cowshed

As previously reported, Lucy and Philip Lundberg established their own cider brand, Hydes Cyder Cº, in 2023 after Philip took up brewing as a hobby.

Now, after receiving a grant, the couple have opened their own taproom.

The taproom officially opened as the sun beamed down in the evening on Friday, September 20, with Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane, Cllr Dan Putty, cutting the ribbon after giving a speech in which he praised the couple's entrepreneurship, stating that the business has "really taken off."

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Lucy and Philip Lundberg (Image: Newsquest)

Describing the journey from passion project to business venture, Lucy, 57, told the Gazette that what started out as a community project became "so popular."

She said: "Three years ago, during lockdown, we started to collect apples and introduced a community pick and asked everybody to bring their apples so that we could press them.

@basingstokegazette See inside Hydes Cyder's new Taproom in Herriard, near Basingstoke #Taproom #cider #Basingstoke #basingstokegazette ♬ Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz - MaSssuguMusic

"A year ago, we actually commercialised it because it was so popular and everybody enjoyed it so much."

The couple's cider, which comes in a variety of styles including 5 per cent Medium Dry and non-alcoholic Lyte is particularly sweet in flavour, described by Philip, 62, as "refreshing."

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The taproom (Image: Newsquest)

He said: "What we specialise in doing is taking cider back to its origin, we take a blend of orchard apples and bring in some West Country bittersweet apples to provide a very clean taste in the mouth with no added chemicals and it's all wild-fermented which means that we just press the juice and allow nature to do it's work."

The couple plans to utilise the taproom to host a number of events including a 'Big Apple Festival', 'Ladies Cider Night', 'Cider Amking Course' 'Spooky Cyder Cocktails and Fire Pit Specials' plus many more.

Each event is pre-sale ticket-only and can be booked on their website.

Lucy said: "We're very excited, it's very nice to finally be opening up the taproom, we have got a whole calendar of events."

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The mayor and happy faces of guests enjoying the cider (Image: Newsquest)

Philip added that the taproom is the next natural progression of their business.

He said: "We see this as an evolution of the cider, to showcase the cider which is very good at selling itself once people have tasted it, so Lucy had the idea of doing the taproom and doing courses on how to pair it with a variety of foods.

"Cider is the English drink of choice throughout the centuries, and we're passionate about bringing that back."

The location of the taproom, which is inside a Grade II listed cowshed, was the idea of Lucy, who Philip described as having a "creative marketing mind."

Happy faces of guests enjoying the cider (Image: Newsquest)

Philip said: "Lucy is a very creative marketer and is always looking at things from a different angle.

"She turned around to me one day and said 'I think we ought to open up a taproom' and at the same time, the Government were doing their 'levelling up' grants and so we were kindly awarded a grant for this.

"This is a 120-year-old cowshed and we have adapted it without changing it one bit - we've just given it a new coat of lipstick - the old lady has had a facelift."

Along with a range of events, the couple explained how the new taproom will also create jobs for those who live nearby.

Philip said: "This will provide employment on and off for local people and bring more people into the local area."

Readers can find out more by visiting https://hydescyder.com/