Historical cider factoids.

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LeBreton

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Been doing a lot of research recently on the history of cider, both foreign and domestic. Spending time combing through the Cornell University library catalogs and rare book depository, sifting through a lot of unhelpful text and occasionally uncovering some hidden gems.

Thought I'd share a few with you guys . . .

- In 1813, a popular war tune about how American Perry was better than British cider as often sung in US bars. A reference to a naval victory by Commodore Perry over British naval forces on lake Erie. Also a nod to the fact the the Brits halted all imports of US apples following the revolution. That is until 1838 when US politician Andrew Stevenson brought a bushel of Newtown Pippins as a gift for Queen Victoria and the ban was lifted.

- From the 1840s until prohibition, one of the larger cider producers was the Genesee Fruit Company, now known as Mott's.

- Keeving cider seems to have been a common occurrence through the mid 1800's in this country, but by the turn of the century seems to be relatively unknown here while remaining typical in Europe. I'm thinking that innovation in grinding & pressing technologies may be responsible, which resulted in more efficient workflow and less time between grinding and pressing and thus less pectin in the juice.

- Think hopped cider is a new development? I sure did, until I came across a recipe from 1867.

More to come if people find these as interesting as I do.
 
I don't know if you can find it, (and sorry that i have pimped this book on here before) but i highly recommend following re-issue of an old english publication from the late 1600's that was edited and released by my friend and former colleague Barrie Juniper at the university of oxford (and world expert on the history of the apple; see 'the story of the apple' by juniper and mabberly, also a very interesting read on how and why the apple came to europe from the forests of kazakhstan and china, or this little write-up
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/history-apple-247957/ ), anyways the title is this:

The compleat planter & cyderist, or, Choice collections and observations for the propagating all manner of fruit-trees: and the most approved ways and methods yet known for the making and ordering of cyder, and other English-wines

err, yep.
anyways Barrie and his daughter dug up this manuscript somewhere, footnoted it so it's legible to the modern reader, included color plates of apple, peach, plum, nectarine varieties from the time. it has detailed descriptions of not only the varieties and propagation techniques, but very precise description of the whole process of cider making at the time. not so much historical factoids, but a genuine and very specific look at the english cider making of the 1600's
 
Thanks for the tips Dinnerstick. I'll definitely search both those titles out. Dr. Juniper certainly makes some large claims in his thesis, from bears to glaciers to horses and I'd love to see the supporting research.

Most of the things I've come across have been gleaned from similar works as 'the complete planter . . .' that someone else has carefully scanned or preserved. Cider production has changed relatively little over the course of the centuries it seems, with the exception of materials science and the use of steel which allows for mechanical pumps, presses, grinders, and tanks.
 
WilliamSlayer said:
Cider should be the official drink of New England.
Click to expand...

You've got my vote! :D


Looks like batch pasteurizing cider was being done in the mid 1800s to halt the yeast in order to preserve the sugars as well as to kill off microbes to increase shelf-life of still cider.
 
LeBreton said:
You've got my vote! :D

Looks like batch pasteurizing cider was being done in the mid 1800s to halt the yeast in order to preserve the sugars as well as to kill off microbes to increase shelf-life of still cider.
Click to expand...

'Canning' cider. Guess I'll give this a try next season. I have a sister and brother in law who can/make bread/raise chickens etc. I'll recruit them to make sure I do it properly!
 
LeBreton said:
Thanks for the tips Dinnerstick. I'll definitely search both those titles out. Dr. Juniper certainly makes some large claims in his thesis, from bears to glaciers to horses and I'd love to see the supporting research.
Click to expand...

he is a funny guy, super opinionated, in his talks he would present half tongue in cheek tirades for example about how london's traffic problem is due to poor planning by the stupid roman invaders, etc. should be some interesting kernels of truth in there among the hyperbole
 
Well now, it's not really fair to blame the Romans. From what I understand they got pretty sloshed on the local cider.

:mug:
 
UpstateMike said:
You have a dog named Brian too? Peter Griffin will be thrilled! :D
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Oops ... My brain... Sorry
Speaking of brains, mine is pickled after this holiday season! Lol
Look at the Firedog recipe in the recipe section... Plus while visiting my grandparents there is a huge liquor wholesale warehouse like the size of Costco almost in Laguna Hills California... I literally raped the cider shelf of every single cider there was minus the ones I have tried which only was about 20%...
 
LeBreton said:
- From the 1840s until prohibition, one of the larger cider producers was the Genesee Fruit Company, now known as Mott's.
Click to expand...

And Prior to Motts, it was Duffy Mott. One of their locations was in Hamlin NY, just down the road from me.

An exterior view of the Duffy-Mott Company's facilities on Lake Road in Hamlin, N.Y. This photograph was taken in 1977, the year production at the facility was ended. Historical note: This is one in a series of photographs of the Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. facility in Hamlin, N.Y. This company was formed in 1900 through the merge of the W.B. Duffy Cider Company in Rochester, N.Y. with Mott's, which was begun by Samuel R. Mott in Bouckville, N.Y. Both of these companies had been started in 1842 and produced apple-based products such as cider and vinegar. In 1929 the Duffy-Mott Company, which was then based in New York City, purchased the Standard Apple Products Company and its processing plant in Hamlin. The company increased its assets, product line and facilities nationwide through the years. The Hamlin plant, built on Lake Road in the early 1900s, was razed in 1986.
thm00022.jpg


Gigantic apple piles in the yard of Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. on Lake Road in Hamlin. The company mainly produced cider and vinegar until it began branching out to make other products in the 1930s such as applesauce. Several varieties of apples were used in Duffy-Mott products.
thm00019.jpg


Employees of the Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. in Hamlin. These women made jelly (which the company began producing in 1936) and were therefore referred to as the "jelly ladies". Standing from left to right are Mrs. Emma Frost, Ethel Rodas, Ola Perry, Catherine Day, Grace Stevens, Minnie Waterborn, Bessie Merritt, Vera Blodgett, Meta Waterstreet and Lillian Bauer. Kneeling from left to right are Ruth Koss, Esther Miller, Anna DelaLanty and Eva Simmons. In this photograph the women are posing on the scale. A truck driver would place his load of apples on this scale to be weighed and would be handed his weighing slip from the window in the upper right corner.
thm00020.jpg


An aerial view of the Duffy-Mott Company Inc. in Hamlin, looking roughly northeast from the rear of the facility, which fronts on Lake Road. Circa 1974.
thm00024.jpg
 
A little more Motts info from their website:

The national debut of Mott's was a springboard for S.R. (Samuel R. Mott), who had been manufacturing and growing apples in New York since 1842, using techniques he learned from his grandfather, Zebulon Mott. S.R. pioneered advanced pasteurization and filtration techniques at his mill in Bouckland, N.Y., and the popularity of his products began to grow.

After the death of one of his sons, S.R. retired from the apple business, selling the company to his remaining sons, John and Frederick, for $1. After John's death, Frederick sold the company, renamed Genesee Fruit Company, to the W.B. Duffy Cider Company for substantially more. In 1914, the two companies consolidated into the Duffy-Mott Company, Inc., a name that remained until it was shortened to simply "Mott's Inc." in 1986. Cadbury Schweppes acquired Duffy-Mott in 1982.
 
BadgerBrigade said:
Oops ... My brain... Sorry
Speaking of brains, mine is pickled after this holiday season! Lol
Look at the Firedog recipe in the recipe section... Plus while visiting my grandparents there is a huge liquor wholesale warehouse like the size of Costco almost in Laguna Hills California... I literally raped the cider shelf of every single cider there was minus the ones I have tried which only was about 20%...
Click to expand...

Total Wine and More? Went for the first time a few days ago. Really nice beer and wine selection but I thought the cider was lacking, unless I stopped by after your visit:) the Bevmo off crownvalley has about the same size selection but of different verities.
 
UpstateMike said:
Gigantic apple piles in the yard of Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. on Lake Road in Hamlin. The company mainly produced cider and vinegar until it began branching out to make other products in the 1930s such as applesauce. Several varieties of apples were used in Duffy-Mott products.
thm00019.jpg
Click to expand...

Wow. Anyone else get thirsty just looking at this?
:cross:
 
Mike, fantastic rundown and photos! Love the 'apple hill' shot. I'm taking an educated guess that the stream in the shot was used to move the apples from one spot to the next? (Apples float after all)

I need more cider in my stock. Guess I'll have to brew today! :)
 
That was during first year America was in WWII. I wonder how much of those apples ended up in C rations as applesauce? I bet there are still a few cans floating around out there in the world.

BTW, Thanks for posting this, I love historical photographs of all types.

UpstateMike said:
Gigantic apple piles in the yard of Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. on Lake Road in Hamlin. The company mainly produced cider and vinegar until it began branching out to make other products in the 1930s such as applesauce. Several varieties of apples were used in Duffy-Mott products.
thm00019.jpg
Click to expand...
 
More pics of Hamlin and Apple growing:

Thousands of apples are shown piled in the yard of F.W. Newman, who operated a produce company in Hamlin. From the late nineteenth and into the twenty-first century, Hamlin has been a major agricultural producer in Monroe County. It has been especially known for its apple industry.
Notes Apple pile at F.W. Newman Produce Co. West side Lake Rd. at railroad c. 1908.
thm00005.jpg


Picking and packing apples in the W.I. Smith orchard at the southwest corner of Dunbar and Collamer Roads in the town of Parma, near the Hamlin border. In the foreground, from left to right, are Albert Kruger, Charlie Straub and Miss Ferguson. In the background on the ladders are Leo Straub and Irv Ferguson, who are picking apples. Kruger is operating a barrel press while Charlie Straub and Miss Ferguson are working at the wheeled apple sorter. Apples were sent down the sorting table and bad apples were removed while the others were packed into barrels and stored. Final grading and sorting was completed after the end of the season. Circa 1900
thm00006.jpg


An irrigation cart, drawn by Holverson's mules, is shown in a Hamlin apple orchard. A man stands atop the cart using a hose to spray the apple trees.
Notes: Sprayer drawn by Holverson's mules. Circa 1924
thm00007.jpg


Four men pose with a horse-drawn irrigation cart. Two of the men are shown spraying apple trees using hoses. Note the blankets thrown over the horses to protect them from the spray. The man on the right is Albert Kruger and the probable location is the Tenny Orchard. Circa 1900
thm00008.jpg


Picking and packing apples on the Klafehn homestead, located on Walker-Lake Ontario Road in Hamlin. On the far right stands John Klafehn, Sr. To his right is John Klafehn, Jr. The three young women are Klafehn's daughters; Lena, Elsie and Josephine. William F. Klafehn stands at the far left. Note the tall ladders used for picking apples from the trees. The apples were first put into baskets and then sorted and put into barrels. Circa 1910
thm00009.jpg
 
Nice, I like where this is going guys!

Looks like during the 19th cenuty, many American apples were dehydrated and shipped overseas to Europe where they were re-hydrated with water and then pressed to make cheap cider.

Also, historically in England and France apple pomace was pressed once, had more water added and then pressed again to retrieve any remaining sugar. This second pressing was fermented separately to make a lower ABV beverage known as 'small cider'. Commonly drank by the working class of all ages while the first pressing cider was sold to and drank by the upper classes for a profit.
 
Wow, ok. 'Near cider' as well as 'Near Beer'. Very interesting! Makes sense too.

Btw, I looked more closely at that pic of the mountain of apples. The 'river' I saw at the lower part of the pic is JUICE! Probally being squeezed out by the weight of the apples.

*Sniff* so much potential cider wasted! :'(
 
Looks like dry tannin power known as 'Catechu' was commonly being used as an additive when racking to secondary by Norman cidermakers to the tune of 8oz per 100 gallons back in 1886.

In England, the first written evidence of taxation of cider revenue dates to the mid 12th century during the reign of Henry II. It is also listed as being a source of income for the Abbeys of Battle and Canterbury during the same time. Later, in 1341, over 80 parishes in Sussex alone report cider as part of their tithes.

Within 5 years of Louis Pasteur developing pasteurization, it was being used to help preserve cider for long term storage in Europe and was being practiced here in the US as well.

In England 1662, cider was being sold at 3.5 times the price of beer in the town of Holme Lacy at 14s and 4s per hogshead respectively by the estate of Viscount Scudamore, a family with a particular interest in cider and cider production. By 1702 the price of cider had jumped to 1L 5s. It seems single varietal ciders were all the rage in England at the time with varieties like Somerset Redstreak and Foxwhelp being among the most highly regarded.
 
Came across a study today from 1898 where Mr. F.J. Lloyd (noted agricultural scientist in the UK) conducts a study of in bottle pasteurization of cider ala Pappers_ method. Seems he was unsuccessful and had 3 bottle bombs . . . guess he shoulda used a plastic soda bottle to gauge the pressure :D
 
1860 - An Ohio gentleman, Mr. Levi Bartlett proposes a method of preserving unfermented cider. In modern terms, he is essentially keeving his fresh pressed cider, then racking off into a freshly sulfited barrel and storing cool.

Meanwhile, in eastern Ohio a bumper crop of apples drops prices and cider is selling for $2 per 40 gallon barrel, and many farmers are shipping low quality apples to Pittsburgh for 20 cents/barrel to be made into brandy.
 
UpstateMike said:
And Prior to Motts, it was Duffy Mott. One of their locations was in Hamlin NY, just down the road from me.

An exterior view of the Duffy-Mott Company's facilities on Lake Road in Hamlin, N.Y. This photograph was taken in 1977, the year production at the facility was ended. Historical note: This is one in a series of photographs of the Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. facility in Hamlin, N.Y. This company was formed in 1900 through the merge of the W.B. Duffy Cider Company in Rochester, N.Y. with Mott's, which was begun by Samuel R. Mott in Bouckville, N.Y. Both of these companies had been started in 1842 and produced apple-based products such as cider and vinegar. In 1929 the Duffy-Mott Company, which was then based in New York City, purchased the Standard Apple Products Company and its processing plant in Hamlin. The company increased its assets, product line and facilities nationwide through the years. The Hamlin plant, built on Lake Road in the early 1900s, was razed in 1986.

Gigantic apple piles in the yard of Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. on Lake Road in Hamlin. The company mainly produced cider and vinegar until it began branching out to make other products in the 1930s such as applesauce. Several varieties of apples were used in Duffy-Mott products.

Employees of the Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. in Hamlin. These women made jelly (which the company began producing in 1936) and were therefore referred to as the "jelly ladies". Standing from left to right are Mrs. Emma Frost, Ethel Rodas, Ola Perry, Catherine Day, Grace Stevens, Minnie Waterborn, Bessie Merritt, Vera Blodgett, Meta Waterstreet and Lillian Bauer. Kneeling from left to right are Ruth Koss, Esther Miller, Anna DelaLanty and Eva Simmons. In this photograph the women are posing on the scale. A truck driver would place his load of apples on this scale to be weighed and would be handed his weighing slip from the window in the upper right corner.

An aerial view of the Duffy-Mott Company Inc. in Hamlin, looking roughly northeast from the rear of the facility, which fronts on Lake Road. Circa 1974.
Click to expand...

You talk about jellies. I often wondered about back sweeting with jams and preserves....I know older women that ha e been making these items for years and I Jan e frown up on the flavors s...a little warm wafted stablied Mead and good quality jams/preserves.....what do you think?....BTW. dnt want to Jack thread the op. Is amazing. Just a thot tho
 
Finally came across the oldest written reference of cider, in Pliny the Elder's encyclopedia Natural History written around AD 77-79. In book XIV, which is devoted entirely to alcoholic beverages he mentions wine being made of "pears and all kinds of apples" in Syria.

:mug:
 
Sure!

Marquart, John
Six hundred receipts, worth their weight in gold : including receipts for cooking, making preserves, perfumery, cordials, ice creams, inks, paints, dyes of all kinds, cider, vinegar, wines, spirits, whiskey, brandy, gin, etc., and how to make imitations of all kinds of liquors : together with valuable gauging tables : the collections, testing, and improvements on the receipts extending over a period of thirty years
1867

How to keep common cider good for years.

Take the cider when you think it will suit your taste, put it into a kettle, and boil it very little. Make a bag and put into it 1/4 pound of hops, then put the bag with hops into the kettle with that cider, and tie it fast to the handle so that the bag with hops will not touch the bottom of the kettle; scum off the cider while you have it on the fire, and after it has boiled a short time take it off the fire, and let it cool down lukewarm; put it into a good sweet barrel, and add 1 pint good fresh brandy, bung it up, and it will keep the same as you put it into your barrel for years.


It's interesting to note that the author is, in addition to using hops, boiling the cider to preserve sweetness via pasteurization.
 
LeBreton said:
Sure!

Marquart, John
Six hundred receipts, worth their weight in gold : including receipts for cooking, making preserves, perfumery, cordials, ice creams, inks, paints, dyes of all kinds, cider, vinegar, wines, spirits, whiskey, brandy, gin, etc., and how to make imitations of all kinds of liquors : together with valuable gauging tables : the collections, testing, and improvements on the receipts extending over a period of thirty years
1867

How to keep common cider good for years.

Take the cider when you think it will suit your taste, put it into a kettle, and boil it very little. Make a bag and put into it 1/4 pound of hops, then put the bag with hops into the kettle with that cider, and tie it fast to the handle so that the bag with hops will not touch the bottom of the kettle; scum off the cider while you have it on the fire, and after it has boiled a short time take it off the fire, and let it cool down lukewarm; put it into a good sweet barrel, and add 1 pint good fresh brandy, bung it up, and it will keep the same as you put it into your barrel for years.

It's interesting to note that the author is, in addition to using hops, boiling the cider to preserve sweetness via pasteurization.
Click to expand...

This is really good info thank you for sharing
 

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