Thanks for your video, web site and your book which I have ordered today. I am a homebrewer of beer and this year am attempting cider production. My friend and I have really been bitten by the bug and we have been going around our village talking to people with apple trees to donate for the production. Strange to say, we have met with some local enthusiasm! Your guidance and knowledge is really inspiring. Thanks ever so much.
I'm in Durley, Hampshire. I am going to Pateley Bridge n Yorkshire the last weekend of the month for a guitar workshop. We have occasionally done orchard tours but the orchard isn't open to the public for various genuine logistic reasons. These videos are my global orchard tours!
Thanks for the video, it's really nice to hear your thoughts on Cider varieties. Is there any chance you'd consider doing a wee video on how (if at all) you treat your cider trees differently to your desert trees from a pruning/training point of view i.e. considering a pyramid for cider over your usual open centre for desert varieties due to their different harvesting methods? As I noted with interest that you were picking your cider fruit direct from the tree rather than off the ground. Cheers
How does Yarlington Mills do in colder climate? I am in the northeast of the United States, where are winters and climate is much harsher than the south of England. I ordered a few to to try. People here speak very highly of Harry Master’s for its productivity and disease resistance/hardiness
PS Rosie Sanders book only deals with dessert and culinary apples, not cider. again, check out Andrew Lea's cider portal cider dot org uk for accurate and detailed information plus links
We identify apple varieties from books, the best of which by far IMO is Rosie Sanders 'The Apple Book' available from Amazon for £25 when I last looked. Her watercolours are better representations of the fruits than photos. Another good book is 'Apples, a Field Guide' by Michael Clark You c an ask the RHS but its expensive.
Thanks, will try to attend to this is due course, not that I am really on top of the issue. Cider (hard cider) fruit is generally picked up off the ground. This is OK as long as it is washed before crushing and the juice sulphited. I'm, a bit more fussy, I can afford to be as most of my cider fruit goes to Jez Howitt of146 cider, I pick the best for myself and store it for a few weeks to ripen and soften before crushing. must dash-picking today for markets tomorrow and Sunday.
Hello, I want to set up an orchard in Poland with Cider varnishes such as Kingston Black, Dabinett, Yarington etc. I have poor soil, so I am thinking about the MM106 or A2 rootstock. What tree spacing should I use?
Stephen, you often mention the question of whether you can make quality cider from any Apple. Whenever you have time, a video addressing this question realistically would be enjoyable. Thanks!
There are other cider makers on line whose opinion may be worth more than mine, also it’s quite subjective and down to individual preference. Cider is basically fermented apple juice, containing water, alcohol, acid, sugar (if not bone dry) and flavor compounds. Some apples, for example early season dessert applies, will yield acceptable alcohol levels but too much acid and the wrong flavor compounds. Bramley apple cider is almost undrinkable unless you add lemonade. And cider made from only bittersweet fruit like Yarlingtpn mill lacks acid, so is quite insipid and not very ‘appley’ This is a big subject and I don’t consider myself an expert. However, I will see if O can get another cider maker along for a tasting and conversation some time. All the best.
Hi Stephen, Thanks for the video, I planted 15 cider apple trees in 2016, I also have a mature russet and a brambly which I use to bulk up. I later checked from Long Ashton Research centre the profiles of the trees and felt I potentially needed slightly more acid, so I added another Brambly. I have one Stoke Red and one Fox whelp both are high in acid and tannin but poor croppers. The Brambly is low in tannin, would you have planted something else instead? As per ajsl below, I too noted you picked the apples from the trees, I pick the windfalls every second day and sort them out, when half the crop is on the ground I pick the rest and store them for 5 days and then mill and juice them. Do you do it much differently?
A cultured general purpose wine yeast. another option is to press a small volume of juice using high levels of cleanliness and allow it to ferment naturally. Sometimes a bad organism will win-you can tell by the smell. Discard. But when you get a nice smelling and tasting one, use that wild yeast strain. but its risky to do this without sulphating- I have lost whole barrels to a spoilage organism and always use sulphite and a cultured wine yeast now. I AM NO EXPERT check out Andrew Lea-he is.
Probably. Sometimes very severe even brutal pruning can reap rewards even if you have to wait a few years for them. These trees were neglected in their early years and are also in poor soil and partial shade.
Hi Stephen, can not seem to find the variety "Labrett". Have I misunderstood or have the spelling incorrect? Thanks for all your videos. I have learned a lot from you.
Hi Stephen, can I ask where in Yorkshire you are and do you do tours of your Orchard? - I really enjoy your videos and would like too learn more about apples! Thanks.
hi i am new to this and have some braeburn apples i am thinking about an mini apple orchard in my garden to start with have about room for four trees including the one i have could you recommend any i like granny smiths apples alot so i might try one of those might go with another breaburn but i am open to suggestions if you would be so kind Steve Best regards Matt
Thanks for the link to the craft cider book, I've just ordered it online. I've a huge crop of apples this year, I've been giving them away there are so many. Is there any reliable way to identify apple varieties? There are a number of very old trees on farms in the area, some of which have very nice apples. I'd love to know what varieties they are.
Is it possible to juice plums using a press, I've got a basket press and I had a surfeit of plums this year so I was wondering If I could treat plums the same as apples although I don't know what the sugar content of the resulting juice would be, I don't like adding sugar before fermentation as it makes the resulting brew taste like homebrew.
Stephen, do you think your severe treatment of that one kingston black, that you cut nearly to the ground, is what somehow motivated it to be more productive? (I have one young dwarf KB)
Thanks for your video, web site and your book which I have ordered today. I am a homebrewer of beer and this year am attempting cider production. My friend and I have really been bitten by the bug and we have been going around our village talking to people with apple trees to donate for the production. Strange to say, we have met with some local enthusiasm! Your guidance and knowledge is really inspiring. Thanks ever so much.
Thank you. There is a lot of information about cider making on line.
Just love every video you do steve at one with mother nature cant beat it plus i love cider ❤👍👍🍺
I'm in Durley, Hampshire. I am going to Pateley Bridge n Yorkshire the last weekend of the month for a guitar workshop.
We have occasionally done orchard tours but the orchard isn't open to the public for various genuine logistic reasons. These videos are my global orchard tours!
Awesome to see some of the apples I'm looking to order, I'm curious as to what type of rootstock you're using?
Thanks for the video, it's really nice to hear your thoughts on Cider varieties. Is there any chance you'd consider doing a wee video on how (if at all) you treat your cider trees differently to your desert trees from a pruning/training point of view i.e. considering a pyramid for cider over your usual open centre for desert varieties due to their different harvesting methods? As I noted with interest that you were picking your cider fruit direct from the tree rather than off the ground. Cheers
Thanks. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and its good to be sorry and move on. Kind regards.
How does Yarlington Mills do in colder climate? I am in the northeast of the United States, where are winters and climate is much harsher than the south of England. I ordered a few to to try. People here speak very highly of Harry Master’s for its productivity and disease resistance/hardiness
PS Rosie Sanders book only deals with dessert and culinary apples, not cider.
again, check out Andrew Lea's cider portal cider dot org uk for accurate and detailed information plus links
We identify apple varieties from books, the best of which by far IMO is Rosie Sanders 'The Apple Book' available from Amazon for £25 when I last looked. Her watercolours are better representations of the fruits than photos.
Another good book is 'Apples, a Field Guide' by Michael Clark
You c an ask the RHS but its expensive.
Thanks, will try to attend to this is due course, not that I am really on top of the issue.
Cider (hard cider) fruit is generally picked up off the ground. This is OK as long as it is washed before crushing and the juice sulphited. I'm, a bit more fussy, I can afford to be as most of my cider fruit goes to Jez Howitt of146 cider, I pick the best for myself and store it for a few weeks to ripen and soften before crushing.
must dash-picking today for markets tomorrow and Sunday.
Hello, I want to set up an orchard in Poland with Cider varnishes such as Kingston Black, Dabinett, Yarington etc. I have poor soil, so I am thinking about the MM106 or A2 rootstock. What tree spacing should I use?
Stephen, you often mention the question of whether you can make quality cider from any Apple. Whenever you have time, a video addressing this question realistically would be enjoyable. Thanks!
There are other cider makers on line whose opinion may be worth more than mine, also it’s quite subjective and down to individual preference.
Cider is basically fermented apple juice, containing water, alcohol, acid, sugar (if not bone dry) and flavor compounds. Some apples, for example early season dessert applies, will yield acceptable alcohol levels but too much acid and the wrong flavor compounds. Bramley apple cider is almost undrinkable unless you add lemonade. And cider made from only bittersweet fruit like Yarlingtpn mill lacks acid, so is quite insipid and not very ‘appley’
This is a big subject and I don’t consider myself an expert. However, I will see if O can get another cider maker along for a tasting and conversation some time. All the best.
Of course, thank you sir!
Hi Stephen, Thanks for the video, I planted 15 cider apple trees in 2016, I also have a mature russet and a brambly which I use to bulk up. I later checked from Long Ashton Research centre the profiles of the trees and felt I potentially needed slightly more acid, so I added another Brambly. I have one Stoke Red and one Fox whelp both are high in acid and tannin but poor croppers. The Brambly is low in tannin, would you have planted something else instead?
As per ajsl below, I too noted you picked the apples from the trees, I pick the windfalls every second day and sort them out, when half the crop is on the ground I pick the rest and store them for 5 days and then mill and juice them. Do you do it much differently?
A cultured general purpose wine yeast.
another option is to press a small volume of juice using high levels of cleanliness and allow it to ferment naturally. Sometimes a bad organism will win-you can tell by the smell. Discard. But when you get a nice smelling and tasting one, use that wild yeast strain. but its risky to do this without sulphating- I have lost whole barrels to a spoilage organism and always use sulphite and a cultured wine yeast now.
I AM NO EXPERT check out Andrew Lea-he is.
Probably. Sometimes very severe even brutal pruning can reap rewards even if you have to wait a few years for them. These trees were neglected in their early years and are also in poor soil and partial shade.
Hi Stephen, can not seem to find the variety "Labrett". Have I misunderstood or have the spelling incorrect? Thanks for all your videos. I have learned a lot from you.
Thank you. we appreciate them.
sorry about the comment. Nice apple trees! They look nice
Sorry its Le Bret. written up very fully in Liz Copas' excellent book 'A Somerset Pomona'
Hi Stephen, can I ask where in Yorkshire you are and do you do tours of your Orchard? - I really enjoy your videos and would like too learn more about apples! Thanks.
hi i am new to this and have some braeburn apples i am thinking about an mini apple orchard in my garden to start with have about room for four trees including the one i have could you recommend any i like granny smiths apples alot so i might try one of those might go with another breaburn but i am open to suggestions if you would be so kind Steve
Best regards
Matt
Thanks for the link to the craft cider book, I've just ordered it online. I've a huge crop of apples this year, I've been giving them away there are so many. Is there any reliable way to identify apple varieties? There are a number of very old trees on farms in the area, some of which have very nice apples. I'd love to know what varieties they are.
Interesting video, what variety of yeast do you use for your cider?
correction, at 6.40 mistake wasn't DISCOVERED until.....
Is it possible to juice plums using a press, I've got a basket press and I had a surfeit of plums this year so I was wondering If I could treat plums the same as apples although I don't know what the sugar content of the resulting juice would be, I don't like adding sugar before fermentation as it makes the resulting brew taste like homebrew.
Stephen, do you think your severe treatment of that one kingston black, that you cut nearly to the ground, is what somehow motivated it to be more productive? (I have one young dwarf KB)
nice apples
dont tanins restrict the yeast attenuation?
thank you for the info
Does your mother know you are on line?
Make more vids plz