Now we’re talking! Sam and I worked our way through a tonne of Cox last weekend.
It took all day but we made Appletinis to keep us going in between each pressing.
That’s 750 litres cider made so far. Half way there for my intended 1500 litres this year.
I’m taking this weekend off to watch Star Wars for the first time with my boys (I am clearly even more excited than them!) and to go fishing.
But then it’s back into the pressing, hopefully with another tonne delivered the weekend after.
I got down to my first serious apple pressing of the season this weekend: about 300 kilos of Windsors and Grenadiers from the orchards of Bob Thompson in Chainhurst.
We made 50 litres last weekend from Discovery apples but this was the first real test of my new hydropress and mill.
Have to say I’m delighted with the results. Even working on my own I got through the apples in no time. Indeed, in time to get down to Dungeness to catch my first codling of the coming Winter.
I’ll be pressing the same again this weekend. Then we’ll be looking to order some apples by the ton and I’ll really see what this new press is made of.
Exciting times for Turner & Co. cider! We’ll have a couple of boxes on sale behind the bar at the Brogdale cider festival this bank holiday weekend. And I’ll also be entering the cider competition. (Apparently the National Association of Cider Makers judge is coming down from the West Country, so it’ll be interesting to see what he thinks of our Eastern Counties ciders.)
Unfortunately that means we’re almost out of the 2012 vintage. But I’ve been getting the equipment ready and preparing the cider workshop for what should be a bumper apple harvest this Autumn so we can significantly up production for next year.
Here we are the cider makers taking the first taste of my homemade cider. And you know what, I’m quite please with it! At least everyone seemed to have a good time drinking it after Teddy’s christening.
It all started last October when I asked around the village for people’s spare apples. Despite the poor harvest in 2012, we managed to gather about 450lbs, which we pressed into about 75 litres of cider using the press from Big Tree Cider in Hartley.
We had to take what we were given, but we were aiming for a dessert / cooker mix of about 70 / 30 to create a traditional Eastern Counties style cider, and we threw in a few wild crab apples for tannin. (Our apple mix included McIntosh Red, Golden Noble, Howgate Wonder, George Cave, Egremont Russet, Cox’s, Gala’s, Greensleaves and various other cookers).
I used some cultured yeast to kick off the fermentation, a little pectolase to clear the juice and suplhur in the form of Campden tablets to kill off any nasties.
If you’re thinking of doing it yourself the Cider Workshop group is invaluable, and I used both Andrew Lea’s and Simon McKie’s books as guides. Though ultimately you’ve just got to get on and do it and make mistakes and learn from them.
Next step is to plan a big summer party where we can invite the cider helpers and apple contributors to sample the fruits of their efforts.
PHIL TURNER 