It depends what kind of apple butter you're going to make. The real stuff is essentially a highly concentrated form of apple sauce, i.e. apple sauce cooked longer to reduce the liquid content and concentrating the sugars. So any good apple sauce apple will do well for apple butter.

Gravensteins are some of the best apples for apple sauce, but your climate is not suited for gravensteins. belle De Boscoop may be a better choice. Pink lady is nice because it doesn't oxidize, but you will need to add cider to the mix because they are on the dry side. York is a really good choice, and so is allington pippin.

Thanks Axel. I have a Gravenstein and knew I was taking a chance when I planted it. After seven seasons it has yet to produce, though it has had a few on the tree in years past that I failed to net before the birds and squirrels got them. Allington Pippin has produced a few apples the past two seasons and is in it's fourth season on G16 rootstock (Grav in on M111). It will probably be at least another two or three seasons before I get enough of them that I will be willing to sacrifice a portion for apple butter rather than out of hand eating.

I'm pretty sure Pink Lady's season is a bit too long for me, at least according to my memory of looking at that variety a few years ago when I put most of my trees in. Same for Belle De Boscoop. Perhaps I need to redo the research. York I didn't consider initially because I never thought they were that great from the store, descriptions of their taste from nurseries didn't make my heart flutter and I hadn't given serious thought to making apple butter until recently. Thanks.

Many apples make great apple butter, and with 30 varieties, you should have some that would work really well.

I use Yellow Transparent for both apple sauce and apple butter. They are especially good for apple butter. You should have no problem with them as they are extremely hardy. I'm sure they would love your Reno climate. My tree is fairly susceptible to fire blight, but with a dry climate it is much easier to control. Yellow Transparents are not good keepers, so when they are ripe they need to be used within a week or two, another good reason to process them.

IMO since apple butter is condensed and spiced it probably doesn't matter.
I'm not a big fan of apple butter but with sauce just like most everything else I get my best results by mixing varieties.

It sounds like your climate is screaming for Rome Beauty, a wonderful apple sauce and apple butter apple that blossoms late, ripens by mid-October, bears reliably and heavily, and keeps decently. I'm talking about the original 1860's strain that's green with red stripes, not the tasteless, inferior but infinately more marketable Red Rome sport you see in the supermarkets.

Applenut

I'm a bit late with my response, but thanks for the recommendation, applenut. I've added Rome Beauty to my scionwood order from Geneva and am excited to get it in the ground. You're right, it does sound like a great apple for my conditions.

You already mentioned our favorite for apple butter, McIntosh. Don't know how it would do in your area. I think that a good mix would be my next choice. Also, start with a good receipe.