HillbillyBee

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I've made 5 batches of cyser with the same yeast and honey but switched juices. The results were quite drastic. Only problem is I don't know what type of apples i used.

I'd like to buy some apple trees and in a few years grow my own but am not sure what kind to get.

I want to continue the cyser and do some cider too.

Anyone out there have a particular kind of apple they prefer for cider or cyser?

CvilleKevin

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For cold climes Cortlands and Northern Spys are good for body, MacIntosh for aroma and Jonathons for tartness. I'm sure there are others as well. Probably the best thing to do is talk to someone at your local ag extension (or whatever is equivalent in CA) for recommendations on what works best in your zone.

gratus fermentatio

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You might find this useful: http://www.greenmantlenursery.com/2008revision/fruit2008/apple-cider2008.htm
Scroll down for the list. Regards, GF.

CidahMastah

Recipes 

For american dessert apples:
+Northern Spy
+Jonathans
Jonagolds
Golden delicious - are a great aromatic sweet
Red Delicious - sweet
Fuiji - Great aromatic sweet
gala - aromatic sweet

I personally don't like mac for pressing (if I have my choice of other apples). Have heard cortlands and baldwins are great - but never tried them.

My purchased apples (This year I pressed):
Empire
Gala
Jonagold
Red Delicious

Made a fantastic drinking cider, waiting on the results for the actual cider.

From my trees I pressed macs, northern spy, red delicious.

I have heard goldrush make fantastic cider.

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truckjohn

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The 1st question is what type of hard cider do you like?

Sweet/mild - not tart
Sweet/tart
Sweet/bitter/tart

Dry/mild
Dry/tart
Dry/bitter/tart

This will determine what sort of apples you go after....
Sweet dessert apples like Goldens make bland cider - like apple scented alcoholic water...

Tart dessert apples like Granny Smiths make decent tart cider..... especially if you like a sweet/tart cider

Since sweet ciders don't age out for long - you need to be closer to your goal when you start... My preference is to start with a sweet hard cider that is a bit more tart initially than I like - as it will mellow out quite a bit in the first 6-months... but it is gone by then.

But... when you start talking dry ciders that age out for a while (1+ years) - if you don't start with a cider that is very tart and that has a good bit of tannin bite - you end up with a cider that ages out and tastes kinda like apple scented chardonnay....

What are you aiming for?

Thanks

CidahMastah

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truckjohn - I agree. Unless people live in england, where do they get english apples for cider? I know places that grow them here, but guess what, they are using them for cider and won't sell them for a reasonable price.

Of course your apple blend is the most important key item to your cider.

I find that my ciders tast like chardonnays only if they undergo malolactic fermentation. This can be a desirable trait, and for me it usually is. One of my ciders made with wyeast cider yeast, has this chardonay buttery flavor - it is excellent. Another that I made in a New England cider styling does too, but also has grape tanin in it and will likely need to reach about 6-8 months before it mellows. From my previous experience, it will be well worth the wait.

I like to try varieties and variations. I know what I like, but I like to flex the creativity muscle and let people try several types and see what they like. Once you stop expiremnting you stop growing.

the fact of the matter is ciders, especially those that are highly alcoholic, taste more like wine with apple essence. If you want a boone's cider, the only way to get there is backsweetening with concentrate.

But excellent point, you have to determine what cider you are looking for and go from there.

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HillbillyBee

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Thanks for the replys, It was recomended locally to go with northern spy, mac and delicious.

I'll post back in 5 years and let you know how it turnded out

I think the apple that i liked in the cyser was courtland...maybe in a couple years i'll try my hand at grafting.

cheers

dinnerstick

Recipes 

here i use elstars in most of my batches, partly because they are the most popular apple in the region, so i can get the lower grades and windfalls from my local orchard on the cheap. they are apparently (if wikipedia is to be trusted!) a hybrid of golden delicious and ingrid marie, which is itself apparently (thank you wikipedia) a cross between cox orange pippin (which i also use regularly and recommend) and some danish variety.
they give a really nice sweetness, less sweet than a golden, with more crisp flesh. i supplement with grannys for added tartness.
i have no idea if elstar is grown at all outside the netherlands?? but i recommend it! my guess is that it thrives in damp murky winters and damp murky summers, punctuated by damp murky springs and autumns.

CidahMastah

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hillbillybee-

I currently have four mature trees (two northern spy, one mac and one red delicous) 5 immature (Sundance, Goldrush, Gala and two empire) and 22 babies on the way - I am all about 5 years happening fast haha. Northern spys can make a good single variety, which I made this year. The trees are vigorous as hell (tough to keep up with the pruning). What rootstock did you get? I would go with a M7 or M106 or larger being in Ontario. A lot of the semidwarf+ to standard rootstocks do better in cold than the dwarf. The semidwarfs on M7 or similar are a great trade off, good cold weather and wind resistance as well as good precocity.


Interesting information on that Elstar cultivar - I have never heard of it, but will look around. I am certain none of the orchards here grow it.

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sashurlow

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When I purchased my trees I looked at it this way. I can always buy the "generic" apples at a store or a local orchard. I bought the trees that I could not find locally. The store varieties also do not make great cider.
I got a Roxbury Russet because I worked in the Roxbury neighborhood in Boston and unknowingly picked a bunch of RR. It was a sentimental pick, but they make spectacular deserts and cider (I could not brew it because I started brewing after leaving Boston). Other than that, I bought a couple varieties I have never tasted before. When I did pick locally, I was very impressed with the taste of the Northern Sky, but its still not a classic cider variety.