Best apples for sweet cider in Z3a
nichols167
6 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (16)
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
6 years agoThese are good..have both, most all apples for our climate have a tartness to it, except Renown....got rid of this one, a apple with zero tartness is useless in my books!
Also love Trailman Crab and Sept. Ruby mix or on their own, great juicing apples!Trailman
Sept. Ruby
nichols167
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Sweet Apple Cider
Comments (27)Sorry, correction, 200 liters, not 500 liters. 200 liters is just enough for an entire season, that's about it. Here's a picture of the container: You can't see from the image, but there's a floating lid inside the container, it's basically like a flat round piece of steel with the edges lifted up. The paraffin oil floats on top of the juice in between the lid and the container. You can't use vegetable oil since it goes rancid. You heat it with a pasteurizing rod: The beauty of this thing is that you can pasteurize a bunch of juice, and then you can literally just get it by the glass and not worry about it. It's a year-round supply of apple juice. I use mostly gravs for my juice, no other apple even comes close to Grav. based juice. (No, it's not cider, cider has alcohol, non-alcoholic cider is not cider, it's juice. We can all thank the puritans and their campaign to stamp out cidermaking in the US for this nonsense in nomenclature .) You can order this stuff from Germany, that's how I got mine. The main annoyance is paying the wire transfer fee of $20 because US banks are still in the Stone age and don't really deal well with wire transfers which is the rest of the world's way of paying for stuff. Sorry, I am German myself, seems we have some sort of complaining gene built-in. :) The only drawback of this entire setup is that it's not earthquake proof, a real consideration here on the West Coast....See MoreCider Apples
Comments (11)It's true that the American cider heritage is primarily Apple Johnny Seed seedlings, which are mostly crab apples that have no added value besides cider. I don't know much about the British cider industry, but the above is definitely not true for the Continental European cider varieties, including the famous Normandie cider apples, and those of Spain and germany. The cider apples there take on one of all of the following attributes: sweets, sharps, bitters. In the case of sweets and sharps, these are quite good table and cooking apples as well. Bitters are also suitable as cooking apples. (Nothing like a chocolate covered cooked bitter apple.) The trouble with the "popular" cider apples like Kingston Black is that they produce poorly or irregularly. That's where the French and the Germans have a head start - there's a rather big gene base of large, balanced and productive cider varietal selections. Golden Russet is quite popular for cider, and it is an eating apple. Something like Kingston Black, a bittersharp, is added only 5-7% to a base combining sweets and sharps. Of course, by Modern American standards, only the bland and pretty apples seem to be candidates for table apples, as it seems based on the popularity of golden delicious, red delicious, braeburn and gala. Personally, I can't even eat these apples, they're horrible in my view, like sweetened sawdust. When gotten fresh of a tree, it's different, but they are usually picked before they are ready, and unlike good heirloom late Winter apples, they don't improve in storage, especially the commercial nitrogen controlled atmosphere storage. The art of good Winter apples that sweeten up and become their best after mellowing in storage has largely dissapeared except for the few hobbyists that still practice the trade for fun, and the even fewer small commercial operations that are trying to bring heirloom apples back to the table....See MoreVarieties for Sweet Cider
Comments (11)Daemon: Years ago I built a large cider press in woodshop class while in high school. We had a lot of large standard apple trees so we made a lot of cider. A friend let us pick up their windfall red delicious and we made cider with them. Same results you got. Horrible! The cider had a muddy/earthy flavor. Worst cider we ever made. Years later, I worked at a commercial orchard and helped make cider every saturday in fall. 250 gallons each time. The BEST cider comes from a mix of apple varieties. You want to blend both sweet and tart apples together when pressing. That being said, I do find that using just McIntosh made a decent cider. Of course I am partial to McINtosh. I too have tried cider advertised as from "Honeycrisp". Sorry but I did not care for it nor the higher price it commanded. Just my opinion on it. Others must like it or nobody would be buying it. One tip I will give you is to use warm apples when pressing. The juice flows better when warm than cold. My home made press yielded about 2 gallons/bushel. A good commercial press can usually yield 3-3.5 gallons per bushel. The difference depends on the grinding of the fruit. A commercial press will grind the fruit to a fine pulp, almost the consistency of applesauce. MY homemade press had a grinder that just chunked up the apples into coarse pieces....See MoreCider Apples
Comments (1)First, can you tell us what region of the country you are in? Cider apples tend to be a regional crop and produce best in their native region. Down here in Central VA zone 7, my recommendations would be an Albemarle Pippin (Newton Pippin) and an Ashmead's Kernel. Both are great all around apples for eating and cider. The Ashmead's Kernel has a strong following and is a bit more of a general purpose apple than the Albemarle Pippin. The Albemarle Pippin can be used to make a single variety cider, though as you said, blended ciders tend to be more common than single variety ciders. An excellent expert on Cider apples is Tom Burford, who really helped get the cider industry established in Virginia. You can buy his book(s) online and see articles he has been interviewed for about the cider industry. Michael Phillips' book "The Apple Grower" is a great source about organic apple growing and cider production with an emphasis on Northern cider apples. Best of luck....See Morenichols167
6 years agoI am not familiar with Trailman but if it is sweet and tart, then it would be just the ticket. I have picked a lot of Trail crabapple the last few years. They are very sweet and juicy with a bit more astringency than I like for sweet cider. But no tartness. Their main virtue is that they are hardy in Winnipeg, and produce large crops almost every year. So people are always asking me to come and pick.
Here is an evenings picking heading off for the cider press.
I picked this apple at a friend's place. He didn't know the name. It looks to me like Goodland. What do you think?
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoGlobell - zone 8
6 years agonichols167
6 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoTrailman is about 2 weeks later then the early Noland..about end of Aug. early Sept. Carrol about the same time. Sept. Ruby is about 18 years old from seed.
These mix I juiced up for friends..Norland in front but also the not ripe Trailman to the right in the back.
User
6 years agoGlobell - zone 8
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
6 years agoGlobell - zone 8
6 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
6 years agoSept. Ruby should be thinned out which I did in the above picture, if not then they're smaller and clump up like this...picture from Sept. 22.
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoNorland is best early sweet cider apple I find, starting mid Aug. ..got rid of Parkland and Rescue since these are smaller less tasty and ripen the same time...can handle only so many.
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Related Stories
EDIBLE GARDENSHow to Add an Apple Tree to Your Edible Garden
Readily available, beautiful and fragrant, apple trees offer four-season interest along with crisp, juicy fruit
Full Story
APARTMENT LIFEWarm Up Fall With an Apple Pie Party at Home
A pie enthusiast shares a recipe, ideas for pretty crusts, and tips on how she makes the most of her rental kitchen
Full Story
GARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGWorld of Design: 10 Home Gardeners Show Us Their Sweet Summer Harvests
From New York to Tokyo, these gardeners have turned their yards, terraces and rooftops into places of bounty
Full Story
KITCHEN STORAGEPantry Placement: How to Find the Sweet Spot for Food Storage
Maybe it's a walk-in. Maybe it's cabinets flanking the fridge. We help you figure out the best kitchen pantry type and location for you
Full Story
LANDSCAPE DESIGNSee How 3 Landscape Designs Elegantly Tackle Backyard Slopes
These designers’ creative solutions may have you wishing for more topography in your yard
Full Story
LIFEThis Weekend: Spruce Up Your Reading Spot, Pick Apples and More
Visit an orchard and make a pie with your bounty, cozy up your book nook or plan your next home project
Full Story
KITCHEN DESIGNNew This Week: 3 Kitchen Detail Combinations That Make the Space
These great pairings are a surefire way to add character to your kitchen
Full Story
KITCHEN DESIGN3 Dark Kitchens, 6 Affordable Updates
Color advice: Three Houzzers get budget-friendly ideas to spruce up their kitchens with new paint, backsplashes and countertops
Full Story
PRODUCT PICKSGuest Picks: An Early Autumn Picnic
Apple cider and s'mores, anyone? 20 finds to keep you entertaining outdoors into the fall
Full Story
KITCHEN DESIGN16 Scrumptious Eat-In Kitchens and What They Want You to Serve
Whether apple-pie cheerful or champagne sophisticated, these eat-in kitchens offer ideas to salivate over
Full StorySponsored
Industry Leading Interior Designers & Decorators in Franklin County
nichols167Original Author