Today we've been mostly milling and pressing apples...

November dawns...

It was the turn of the trailer-load of mixed-apples from the Hempsall Heritage Orchard to be milled and pressed today. The apples are mainly mixed varieties of dessert apple, with some dual-purpose and a few culinary thrown in for good measure.

The aroma rising from the trailer was extraordinarily rich. We used some of the non-returnable builders sacks which held the materials we used for the base of the "Cider Shed" to hold the apples for the journey home. They are very useful bags, being strong, rot-proof and easily washable.

The apples were transferred to tubs to be taken to the bath for washing before milling. As all of the apples we collected were windfalls, they had quite a bit of mud on them so careful washing and in many cases scrubbing, was the order of the day. Worm casts in particular were a pain.

The apples looked great though, the few Norfolk Beefing being instantly recognisable; the colour of the skins looked just like aged beefsteak. I wished that I had not collected so many Russets though, as their rough skins really held onto the mud and soil.

The apples pressed really well; I know that some folks have had problems with the softer flesh of dessert fruit clogging the mesh of the press-cloths. Luckily we had no problems. Both presses handled the pulp really well and after two tandem pressings, we had another 18-odd gallons of juice to add to the total. So far this season we've produced about 115 gallons; small-fry sure, but great for us after such a late start.

The taste of the juice was something else...

Rich, full of honey notes, something like toffee... Toffee apple? The juice was also thick and syrupy. Acidity was quite high, with a Ph of less than 3.5, but we didn't expect anything else with the mix of apples we had.

Whatever, it tasted great - we just hope this rich fruity taste comes through in the cider!

The weather was lousy as usual, so Gail retired to mill the apples under the car-port for greater shelter, while I stayed inside the Cider Shed. As usual the morons were letting fireworks off most of the afternoon and they were also joined just after lunch by someone burning a whole load of garden waste - it was like a thick fog. Hope it doesn't affect the cider...