Apple Blend Recommendations

[Chalkyt]

Down here in Oz it is the middle of Spring so no apples, just buds and blossoms. I have just returned from a vacation in Tasmania where a lot of old "eating apple" orchards are moving into cider, so after a fair bit of tasting along the way I am a bit inspired to get some juice and crank up a few ciders.

My favourite orchard "Summer Snow" has just released their latest single variety AJ 2 litre bottles. They have available... Pink Lady, Royal Gala, Golden Delicious, Fuji, and Granny Smith.

I can't really get any information about things like tannin levels, acidity etc, etc for these varieties so am looking for any recommendations for a blend that would work well with cherry or blackberry.

All thoughts are welcome... Cheers!

 

[madscientist451]

None of those varieties look all that great from here, but your results and taste preferences are probably going to vary...
If that was all I had, I'd try 80% Gala/Yellow Del and 10% each Fuji and Granny Smith.
If you really want to experiment, get a 2L bottle of each variety, pour off a small amount for head space, add yeast and a stopper/airlock and let them ferment. When they're done, cold crash and age for 6 months then do some blending trials with what you have....

 

[Chalkyt]

Thanks, that was sort of the way I was thinking. I didn't have a handle on what sort of cider those varieties would make. I did make a 60% pink lady/40% granny smith a couple of years ago and it turned out O.K. , but that blend was just because "it seemed like a good idea",

A few of the Tasmanian family based cideries that I visited have old eating apple orchards that became uneconomical because of freight costs etc when trying to compete with high volume imports (getting goods between Tasmania and the Mainland is mostly by road transport via RO/RO Ferries across the Bass Strait which is 150 miles/240Km wide and takes a day to cross by sea). As it turns out, the younger generations have moved into artisan cider and juice production, with some economic success.

Some are now planting "cider apples" which are taking time to reach full production, but the bulk of their apples in the old orchards are pink lady, fuji, and gala. So, there is a trend towards producing both a dry 8% ABV straight cider from these (for the purists) and several 5%ABV fruit infused ciders (for the popular market) with apple/cherry being quite common.

So, although it is Spring and I don't have any of my own apples at present, I thought it might be worthwhile trying a couple of fruit infused ciders myself. I have frozen cherries and blackberries from this year's crop.

The preservative free "Summer Snow" juice comes in 2 litre bottles but only sells in 6 bottle packs from the orchard (mixed or single variety). There are a few organic retailers that carry it but not near me, so I will need to make 12 litres (three gallons) of both straight cider and fruit infused, hence the question about what varieties would be good.

The other interesting trend that I noticed was that some of the producers are moving to 330ml (12oz) cans for marketing reasons... they suit the shelf spacing of canned beer in liquor stores, 5%ABV competes with beer (why sell a customer 1 x 8% ABV beverage when you can sell them 2 x 5%), and you can get more cans than bottles on a shipping pallet (and they weigh less). As more and more producers enter the market, it seems that marketing and image is King

Interesting times... commercial cider making seems like a tough gig! I wonder if the same issues are affecting the rest of the cider making world.

 

[madscientist451]

Here in the US, alcoholic seltzer, "hard tea" and similar beverages have pushed commercial cider almost off the shelves. Yes, you can still find some of the major brands, but the availability is less than a few years back.
Honestly, most of the commercial cider I've tried really isn't all that great anyway, so no big deal if it disappears.
The really good commercial cider is super hard to find and somewhat high priced.
These days the only cider I'm drinking is home made and I'm really picky what apples I'm using.

 

[Cider Wraith]

Apparently, being driven by market and ingredients budgeting, and with a focus on reproducibility, US offerings are awful ...

 

[Cider Wraith]

Honestly, most of the commercial cider I've tried really isn't all that great anyway, so no big deal if it disappears

Amen

 

[Chalkyt]

Sounds the same everywhere. A quick on-line check with one of the major Liquor Store chains shows that they are dominated by imports like Bulmers,Strongbow, Mangers etc. They do have some "craft" ciders but a little bit of digging shows that most of these are now owned by the major brewing companies. The real cider makers that I spoke to are only selling through small independent outlets and restaurants.

As one independent cider maker put it to me... rather than press apples, it is easier for the big players to get some Chinese AJC, add water, throw in some yeast and maybe a bit of flavour, let it ferment, filter out the yeast, add sugar, bottle with a bit of CO2, and hey presto instant CIDER!!!

 

[Cider Wraith]

...yup

 

[Srimmey]

Oregon must be a special spot. I can always count on finding good store bought hard cider but it might cost me a bit more
2 towns cider house and Bauman’s can be easily found in any major grocery store. We have a lot of pride in Bauman’s especially since they are a small operation cider house winning all sorts of awards across the pond.

 

[Kees]

Does the orchard have crab apples produced by the trees they grow for pollination? You may want to add 10% of those to a juice from a blend of the eating apples they have on sale.