When not pressing apples, I am generally lifting fallen apple trees back up. My better sorts are victims of their own success and tend to get knocked over by the severe winds we get now, since global warming stopped and climate change set in…
We wait till the fruit is ripe and get them picked. Then I sort, wash and rinse the apples before milling them to a pulp which is usually left to stand overnight – this helps the fruit break down to release more juice.
Next day I either hand press the pulp using a restored Herefordshire twin screw press, or if there are plenty of apples, they will be pressed by our Kahl and Schlichterle belt press. Either way, I will expect 150 gallons of juice from each ton of apples.
Depending on the taste of the juice, it will be stored in either stainless steel tanks or wooden barrels, where it is super slow fermented over the chilly winter months. As spring arrives, the juice is drawn off the lees (dead yeast cells) and pumped into fresh storage vessels for another 2 or 3 months to finish off fermenting and start to mature.
The cider is usually ready to try by the end of May, all being well. About this time the ciders are tasted and a bit of blending might take place to create the final ciders for sale. The bulk of my cider is draught, still, real and traditional.
All our ciders are made by pressing apples to extract the juice. This juice is what makes the cider. No concentrate, water and absolutely NO added ‘fruit flavours’ (like concentrated mango, rhubarb, dark forest glupe.)
My cider is just a premium full juice cider made out of apples, FARM PRESSED, right here.