Tim_Crowhurst
Landlord.
I've made three gallons of TC so far this summer - four if you include the DJ sitting next to me that's gradually turning into vinegar.
The non-vinegar three have all been experimental - spiced, mixed berry and elderflower - in preparation for making several gallons of cider from fresh-pressed juice this autumn. That means ~80Lbs of apples for 5 gallons, and my original intention was to use equal parts eaters, cookers and crabs, since I can get the cookers and crabs for free and those are the proportions used in one of my wine-making books.
However it looks as if my parents' bramley apple tree and the hedgerow crab I normally plunder will both produce bumper crops this year. In the case of the bramley, it's probably because it didn't produce even one apple last year. There's no way my mum will be able to store that much stewed apple in her freezer, especially since she's also got bumper crops of blackcurrants, beans and plums to find space for. Like my mum, I have a severe shortage of space in my freezer, so that's not an option either, and there's only so much jam and chutney you can make, so I guess I'll have to turn them all into cider. It's a hard life, eh?
I'm wondering if I can save a little money and reduce the proportion of eating apples, which I'd have to buy, and if so by how much? I know it means a more acidic cider, and I'm wondering if maturing the cider for longer would make it less sharp, as happens with TCs?
The non-vinegar three have all been experimental - spiced, mixed berry and elderflower - in preparation for making several gallons of cider from fresh-pressed juice this autumn. That means ~80Lbs of apples for 5 gallons, and my original intention was to use equal parts eaters, cookers and crabs, since I can get the cookers and crabs for free and those are the proportions used in one of my wine-making books.
However it looks as if my parents' bramley apple tree and the hedgerow crab I normally plunder will both produce bumper crops this year. In the case of the bramley, it's probably because it didn't produce even one apple last year. There's no way my mum will be able to store that much stewed apple in her freezer, especially since she's also got bumper crops of blackcurrants, beans and plums to find space for. Like my mum, I have a severe shortage of space in my freezer, so that's not an option either, and there's only so much jam and chutney you can make, so I guess I'll have to turn them all into cider. It's a hard life, eh?
I'm wondering if I can save a little money and reduce the proportion of eating apples, which I'd have to buy, and if so by how much? I know it means a more acidic cider, and I'm wondering if maturing the cider for longer would make it less sharp, as happens with TCs?