Best Apple Trees for Cider.

[Clanger]

Hi. I live in Norfolk, England. This Autumn I plan to plant 8 cider apple trees at the end of my garden - it will give me a few years to save up and buy a press and the equipment for brewing while I wait for the trees mature and grow.

Having discovered a bewildering array of cider apple varieties I am beginning to narrow down what type of trees I want. I prefer a sharp bitter cider and occasionally a sweet cider.

My tree choices so far are:-

Court de Wyck - Sweet with a sugar content of 1079 - to use in blending and to give a high alcohol content. Can anyone recommend any other varieties with a high sugar content?

Black Dabinett - Bittersweet. Group 4

Yarlington Mill - Bittersweet. Group 4

Harry Masters - Bittersweet. Group 4

Browns - Sharp. Group 3

Stoke Red - Bittersharp. Group 1

Whimple Wonder - Bittersharp.

Dufflin - Bittersharp with a high sugar content. Group 3.

What would you grow for the best vintage and blended Bittersweet and bittersharp cider?

 

[Maylar]

The Dabinett was bred as a cider apple and it's one of the few that make a good single varietal hard cider. The English cider industry leans heavily on the Kingston Black crop, that'd be on my list.

 

[madscientist451]

Some of your listed varieties are well known and some I've never heard of.
The group 1, 3 and 4 refers to when the trees usually flower, early, midseason or late. You'll get a better crop if your trees bloom at around the same time and can polinate each other.
Some varieties will tend towards being biennial, meaning you'll get large crop one year and a small or no crop the following year.
With only 8 trees, I would think you would want to avoid biennial varieties.
Some varieties are more susceptible to diseases and will require spraying.
The best thing to do is check with what other people in your area are doing.
A quick google search using Norfolk England and Cider apple trees turned up several commercial cider producers that are growing their own apples,
Here's one that has lists 8 varieties that they grow:
http://www.whinhillnorfolkcider.co.uk/the-orchard/

I'd go over buy some of their cider and talk with the owner, explain what you have in mind, most people will give out all kinds of free information and tips if you show some interest in what they are doing.

Another resource is Stephen Hays, he's in England and has many You Tube videos about apple and pear trees.
Here's one where he discusses pros/cons of different varieties.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1IKw0_M5XM&t=4s[/ame]

 

[Maylar]

Andrew Lea is an English cider maker and has published a great deal on the subject. Check out his web site (and his book) -

http://www.cider.org.uk/orchard.htm

 

[Scrumpy!]

Greetings from Norfolk County Massachusetts!

There are so many cider apple varieties that it is hard to answer your question. If I lived in Norfolkshire, I would look to what varieties are thriving in the Shire. That should give you a better chance of selecting three or four varieties that are tried and true with respect to your local climate and soil conditions. That said, you should be looking for a low acid variety with a likelihood of having a reasonably high sugar content (1.055+) year after year to use as your base. Add additional sugar and some bitter tannins with a bittersweet variety and a sharp to boost your acid. The trick is to find varieties which ripen at approximately the same time.

Here in the former colonies, we have Agricultural Extension through our state universities which have historically produced research and currently publish guides to what grows well here and how to cultivate it. If such free advice is available in Norfolk, that is your first place to look.

Cultivating your own apples is at least 33% of the fun of cider. The next 33% comes from processing your own apples and fermenting them. Finally, drinking and sharing with friends and family complete the experience.

Best of luck with your venture.

 

[Clanger]

I finally ordered my trees. I already have a 7 year old Bramley seedling growing in my garden and joining this tree will be the following:-

Bittersweet varieties

Three Counties
Black Dabinett
Herefordshire Redstreak
Bloody Butcher

Sharp/Bittersharp varieties

Bramley Seedling (a second tree)
Stoke Red
Browns
Peasgood Nonsuch (because of the massive apples and weird name)

Sweet varieties

Katy
Court de Wick (high sugar = high alcohol content)
Northwood
Sweet Alford

They will be year old plants on MM106 rootstock planted 12 feet apart so its going to take 3 or 4 years worth of growing before I get some decent crops of apples. Most of the varieties will be able to produce vintage cider although I'm going to experiment with blending.

The apples varieties I have chosen mature in September, October and November so I have 3 months of gathering and pressing and blending. A couple of the varieties have biennial tendencies so will try and halt that by selective reduction of the crops.

I now have a few years to save up and buy the equipment I need. I know of several amateur cider makers in my village so will help them in sourcing, gathering apples, milling, pressing and brewing cider to give me some experience in producing cider.