crabapples in cider

[kentish dave]

Hi,
I will be making cider this autumn, I have one 'eating' apple tree, one 'cooking' apple tree and one crabapple tree. I have read that the addtion of a small amount of crabapples into cider gives it a spicy, complex flavour, anyone corroborate this from experience? anyone know how much crabapple to use relative to the others?

It would be good to make use of it as the tree yields masses and my neighbours have them as well.

 

[fermentall]

Hi KD you have all the right apples for a great cider.Crab apples are good with a mixture of eaters and cookers,i would use a ratio of 1/3 of each and it should be very good.Ferment it to dry and sweeten if needed to you own taste.A friend of mine uses the same apple combination and i have some good memories of drunken nights with him and a few mates. : Ken.

 

[kentish dave]

as much as a third can be crabapples? excellent!
thanks for the advice.

 

[chrisp]

Dave

Well we are in the Garden of England :thumb:

I have posted on another thread, planning pulp and pressing 10 toones of apples on August Bank holiday weekend, to make 5500 litres of cider from apples left in the orchard after Mr Suprmarket has taken the "pretty one" :grin:

Where abouts in Kent are you, we might be plannig a bit of a camping/fruit picking weekend, if you fancy it

Chrisp

 

[metalmickey]

i might be up for a bit of that...for some free juice to turn into cider.
im in west sussex so not far from kent...although it depends which part.

PM me if you need a helper

 

Just for the record, I make 100% Crab Apple cider when my tree plays ball.

 

[kentish dave]

@ericstd: what is it like? my crabs mature quite a bit earlier than the other apples so it would be worth considering.

 

[kentish dave]

@chrisp: sounds interesting, I am halfway between Ashford and Canterbury, you?

 

[chrisp]

Dave

I'm in Tonbridge but "orchard and press" are in Pembury, near Tunbridge Wells

Chris

 

@ericstd: what is it like? my crabs mature quite a bit earlier than the other apples so it would be worth considering.

To my mind they make a very superior "Cider", very reminiscent of "Merrydown dry", but much better.
I used crab apple juice and Champagne yeast, no added sugar or anything else, and sweetened to taste with "Splenda".

 

[kentish dave]

I am now drinking my cider, are you supposed to let cider mature? I didn't think so, it is quite acidic but some good flavour in there, very good for cooking sausages.