[Ansteorra] question for brewers
Eadric Anstapa
eadric at scabrewer.com
Tue Dec 11 20:47:37 PST 2007
Dave Wise wrote:
> Any recommendations for particular apples to grow for eventually turning
> into a hard cider? Have some land near Brenham and wanted to plant a
> few trees, so figured I might as well produce something useful.
>
> Alexis
Since you asked for help from brewers I am going t assume that you are
looking at a making a European style hard cider. I did some research on
this a few years ago. I have spent less time researching apple
varieties than I did vineyard grape varieties but I did find some good
information. You have to get low chill varieties to grow decent apple
crops here.
The best hard cider apples are more tannic and not really good for
eating and have characteristics and flavors that only develop after
fermentation or that help produce a good ferment. This is very similar
to the way that the best wine grapes are usually not good table grapes.
I have personally made some of the most insipid, bland, featureless
cider with apples that were great eating apples. The best ciders are
usually made of a blend of various apple varieties. Ideally for a good
cider you want a mix of sweet apples, bittersweet apples, and sharp apples.
Most apples require another variety to pollinate with, some pollinate
better with some varieties than they do with others. Some varieties
don't produce viable pollen, others are triploid varieties that are
limited to what they can cross pollinate with. Obviously for your trees
to be pollinated by another variety both have to be blooming at the same
time so an early blooming and late blooming variety aren't a good match
as cross pollinators. Make sure you check to see what other varieties
the trees you plant will pollinate with.
You should consider planting a crabapple as a pollinator as crab apples
are always good pollinators and their fruit can lend nice character to a
cider. There are some crabapples that just bloom and bloom and bloom so
they are good pollinators for early and late blooming varieties. There
are also some sweet crabapples that aren't bad to eat and in addition to
being good for cider they are good for pies and salads and jellies. The
thing about crabs is that they never get very big.
You should also consider varieties that ripen about the same time so
your picking and pressing isn't spread out over three months (unless
thats what ya want).
Since this is an SCA list the first variety I'll mention will be a
period apple variety.
"White Winter Pearmain" is a classic old English variety from Norman
times that dates back at least to the 13th century. It is the oldest
known English apple variety. Despite being from England is is
classified as a low chill variety that will bear here and produces a
good cider. A lot like the modern Granny Smith. I want to plant a
couple of these trees myself.
"Foxwhelp" is another classic English Variety that will grow here. It's
really a classic great variety almost entirely dedicated for cider and
may also be a period variety. It dates back to at least the early
1600's. Another variety I want to plant myself.
"Lady' is a classic French cider variety that can also be traced back
to SCA period times and should grow here. A third Variety I want to plant.
"Dorset Golden" originated in the Bahamas and will grow here and makes
good cider. You can actually find it in commercial nurseries and home
centers around here. The dedicated local nurseries around here could
probably order it for ya. It is supposedly a terrific producer. The
final variety I want to plant.
"Freyburg" grows here and makes a good cider.
"Horse" makes a good cider and is the apple variety that you might
likely find at old homesteads across the south.
The "Golden Russet" is the classic American cider variety and will grow
here.
"Red Boskoop" can be used for Cider and will grow here.
I wouldn't overlook the Granny Smith Apple which can make decent cider,
is self fertile, and a good producer. Of course you can get these trees
at a local nursery or home center.
I have heard that the "Prairie Spy" variety grows well here and can make
decent cider.
I would suggest you email to Kuffelcreek Nursery in southern CA as they
specialize in benchgrafted warm climate heirloom varieties and are
very helpful folks. http://www.kuffelcreek.com/applenursery.htm
Also talk to the folks at Big Horse Creek Farm.
http://www.bighorsecreekfarm.com/
And talk to the folks at Trees of Antiquity. They have a great website
and sell some larger trees rather than just just benchgrafts or whips.
Search their site for "cider" and then read the varieties they suggest.
Then contact them and ask which they think will grow best in our climate
and soil.
http://www.treesofantiquity.com/
In general a bushel of apples will net ya 2 to 3 gallons of juice. A
dwarf tree will give ya about a bushel of apples at full production, a
semi-dwarf tree 4-5 bushels, standard trees 5+ bushels depending on how
big they get.
Dont overlook planting some pears. Pears live to a long age as well,
can grow as stately as oak trees, they require less chill time than
apples, and you can make "perry" or pear cider. Pears are however
almost never self fertile. I love pears and perry.
-Eadric
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