What to do with summer apples?

I have about 8 bushels of soft summer apples. I am told by a friend that those apples, unlike the later ones, are acidic (I have not yet pressed them),have little sugar and yield a poor cider. I am thinking of making a New-England style cider (brown sugar, raisins) with them. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Eat them? Pie?

Hey Dude,

I guess by your reply that they are useless?

DaGilb said:

Hey Dude,

I guess by your reply that they are useless?

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No, I like pie.

Useless to make cider, I meant...;-)

DaGilb said:

Useless to make cider, I meant...;-)

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If you have been told they make bad cider, then I probably wouldn't make cider with them. If this is just because they aren't very sweet, you can always sweeten with unfermentables like lactose or Splenda.

A truely good New England Hard Cider is a combination of several varieties of apples, if the ones you have are high acid apples, find some low acid apples to fix that, and then get some dessert apples (higher in sugar), and blend the three varieties. Check out http://www.pickyourown.org/apples.htm for varietal information.

Also, just a little help with yer math if you need it (or those that are reading and do not know), a bushel is 42-48 pounds (most just round to 45), and you'll get about 3 gallons of cider per bushel. With 8 bushel, you may want to try trading someone bushel for bushel for some low acid and high sugar apples...

P.S. Homebrew Heaven carries a book on making cider that covers all the basics very well, and it's only $3.95. check out http://store.homebrewheaven.com/shared/StoreFront/product_detail.asp?CS=hombre&RowID=504&All=

I'd make some cider now with what you have. Historically, tart apples were more commonly used in ciders. In fact, sweet eating apples are a relatively recent development. Since you were thinking about adjuncts anyway, the actual sugar levels aren't as important. I'd be tempted to freeze some of the juice, so I could compare it to later ripening apples. You might go so far as to make a batch with just the juice and a batch with adjuncts, then a batch with sweet apples later. Record your impressions of the juice, gravities, etc. for later reference.

Summer apples => early cider => something to swill while bringing in the late harvest. There's a reason Johny Appleseed got rich.

david_42 said:

There's a reason Johny Appleseed got rich.

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Oh, you mean the company...

david_42 said:

There's a reason Johny Appleseed got rich.

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Im actually related to Johnny Appleseed (or John Chapman if you prefer). He's my great great great Uncle.

Thank you guys for the replies,

I will go the exploratory way, as suggested, that is, just the apples, then with sugar and raisins, then with dolgo crabs added (lots around). Will pitch Champagne yeast (to be bought tomorrow). I teach research ecology at the U of Quebec, so a little experiment is always nice. Will keep you informed.

Meanwhile, a little more question: I do not plan to sulfite, just to add aggressive champagne yeast. Advisable? Is sulfiting bypassable? Or too risky?

It is apple galore in the landscape here in rural Québec. Very excited about trying this new project. Thanks for your help!

Gilbert

If you make a large starter and pitch right after crushing, you won't have to worry. The cultured yeast will overwhelm any wild yeast by sheer numbers.

Scrumpy and Farm Cider are occasionally made with raw meat, however, I haven't seen a recipe that uses crabs. Let us know how it turns out (or possibly your next of kin can tell us).

http://www.devon-calling.com/food and drink/cider.htm