There has been an inverse relationship between my activity with food and my number of posts lately – ie, I’ve been so busy harvesting and processing fruit and veg that there’s really not much time left to write. But I believe I’ve turned a corner. Apple crush is over.
Last year I crushed and pressed about 1000 lbs of urban apples, and this year I did roughly the same. I have 9 full carboys fermenting away, 16L of juice put up with many litres already consumed fresh, have about 30 lbs fresh in the fridge, made a case-and-a-half of ‘pommeau’, gave a few boxes to charity and Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton, and am now happily turning down offers of more apples. I’m done. Way done. Done to the point of now trying to figure out how to streamline my process so that it’s not such a grind in future years. I recently built a space adjacent to my cellars to accommodate wine/cider making, so my process is under full review and likely to get a profound overhaul.
Needless to say, if my evenings haven’t been consumed by harvesting apples, they’ve been consumed by crushing, pressing, clean down, tending fermenting carboys, clean down, repeat, clean down – and am now seeing the other side where some of the carboys have fermented enough that my first bottling of semi-sweet cider is imminent. Which will mean bottling in flip-tops and then, more clean down. Conclusion: my new wine/cider making space will be well equipped for ease of clean down. Next task, plumbing.
7 Comments on “I’m So Over You, 2011 Apple Crush.”
Hey Kevin, that is awesome to have that much fresh juice at your disposal. You really should try your hand at cysers (apple meads). The honey adds a bit of cost to the batch, but I think cysers would be right up your alley. Recently I made a Pomegranite Blueberry Cyser from 6 gallons of apple juice and 12 lbs of honey…aged it for 2 months on medium toast french oak spirals in the secondary, and recently bottled it. Perfect fall wine to share with friends.
Would be especially “local” if you could find some local honey producers up in your neck of the woods.
Cheers!
Great stuff man.
Nothing like a little cider to calm the nerves. What types of apples are you using? I live in old apple country, Sonoma County Ca. We always use a wide variety when making juice or cider. I especially like the later ripening varieties. A little more tartness. My father in law used to publish a fruit wine making quarterly. He made many different fruit wines. Everything from rhubarb to orange. You seem to enjoy that arena. I can see if I can find some of his old recipes if you like. He passed a few years back and it would be neat to see people using them. Always enjoy your blog…Alan
Alan,
I think a lot of people would be very interested in those recipes, myself included. If you find them, and are willing, please share!
~Barry
Barry – will do. Next post. ;)
Alan – great to hear from you. Do feel free to pass some recipes my way. Might even share them here to other folks. I’m using a variety of local apples – probably about 10 different types this fall.
Barry – I know. I’ve been looking for a local source of economically viable honey. I’m close. Once I do, I’ll be doing some cysers. Honey and apple seems like a no-brainer marriage, and the structure and acid of the apple and the lack thereof but copious aromatics of the mead are a wonderful pair. Look forward to it – thanks for the reminder.
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