[Bozwell]

Hello all

I am thinking making my own cider would be a great hobby. I have a couple of trees already a cox's pippin and a breaburn.
Can any one suggest a third and fourth tree that would help pollenate these two I already have and give me some nice apples for making my own cider please.

[JohnB]

I hope I can keep this short? Firstly I have 29 gallons of cider on the go so far this year.
1st how to make the apples suitable for pressing:- DO NOT USE the bucket and 4 inch square wood bit. Use a garden shredder it will give you the perfect size of apple for pressing and I mean perfect. Cut to whatever size will go through the slot at the top with a bucket underneath to catch the shredded apples AND THE JUICE. Makes sure that you leave a bucket underneath at all times as juice will drip out for a while.
2ND The press:- A/ Get an Ebay cheapo.....don't bother they break in no time, plus they are to small.
B/ Again Ebay search and save the search for a Walker Desmond wine press. I have also seen it called a Boots wine press so maybe still available new. Weird design but very well built not huge but adequate for most people.
C/ make your own if you have the ability tons of designs available on the Internet.
D/ buy a new or used one of Ebay or even a home made one of Ebay BUT do a local search and save as postage maybe expensive.
3 The apples. There are 2 types of cider apples one is called a multi purpose (very fashionable now a days) Thatchers (the company) ciders are an obvious example. Or vintage varieties. these are single purpose and taste manure and are unsuitable for cooking they are only suitable for for making cider. Gwatkins a small cider maker on the Herefordshire border are the best example of this (very very cheap if you buy bag in a box will deliver 20 liters for £47 about £1.20 a pint for prize winning cider IE best in Britain)
Odds are you are not going to have either available to you and your cider will NOT taste great. This is what experienced amateur suggest to do.
A/ Blend the apples before you make the cider this assume you have more than 1 variety of apple.
B/ blend the juice before turning into cider. Both the latter need more than 1 variety and the variety have to be available at the same time.
C/ Blend the finished single variety ciders before bottling. The latter is supposed to be the hardest and is used by professionals. As I never have all my apples available at the same time I am going to give this a go but doubt I am skilled enough.
THE LATTER ALL SUGGEST THAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE A GOOD cider NO MATTER WHAT APPLES YOU USE as long as you blend them right. I say that  2 lots of manure apples or ciders will not make a good cider. Therefore the following is what I have done up to now. I have taken my iffy ciders (to say the least) and mixed them with bog standard cheapo apple juice (pasteurised) just before I drink them. Its is not necessary to have more than 25% juice to 75% cider to get very nice cider.
This is what I am trying this year Mix the shop bought pasteurized juice with the pressed apple juice at the start. Also trying mixing it after the first the first and second racking. Also trying adding it just before bottling at what ever proportions I think is right after tasting it. I am doing all the latter this year or put another way experimenting. You can also add sugar but yeast turns all sugar to alcohol (pasteurised apple juice is only water and sugar) so you need to stop the fermentation after you bottle so the sugar does not turn into alcohol. Also it is said that the bottles may exploded if there is to much fermentation going on the bottle. So bottle leave in the house for 2 days then put in the garage (somewhere cold in other words). Take it out when you want to drink it leave at room temperature for 2 days then refrigerate. This will result in a nice fizzy cider and minimal loss of added sugar.
4/ Where to get apples from. This relates only to people living in rural areas, in fact only to people living on the Lincolnshire Wolds. There is a huge amount of apples trees that have been planted in hedge rows quite a lot in road side hedges. I found 3 on 1 road almost immediately I started looking. You need to walk to find them and like mushrooming picking you need to get your eye in. You will soon spot some. Ask people with apple trees in there garden nearly all have loads spare. Back roads are best as they will not be able to sell them outside there house. Now it is important to remember it cost nothing to ask. A farmer drove me up to his field the other day as I had spotted some on his permissive path. Left me to collect them while he did a little bit of ploughing and then drove me home. Result 5 gallons of cider all I did was ask. Also got 60 concrete post for terracing and fencing my garden for free. He is even going to deliver them (I only have bicycles and bicycle trailers) ASK! IT IS FREE AND YOU MAKE NEW FRIENDS. All though they expect a few bottles of your cider.....*.
This has taken me ages to wright so I am going for a rest.....Well I may have some Gwatkins cider first as I have run out of my last years cider and for that matter my Sloe gin and furthermore my mates Elderberry wine, although most of that exploded in my daughters car redecorating the roof and mine and both daughters clothes.  JB
PS REAL CIDER MAKING ON A SMALL SCALE  by Michael Pooley & John Lomax........Excelent book maybe available in Library
PPS I made one particularly fine cider last year. It was a mix of 2 variety from someones garden. I had to mix as they did not have enough of each to make a demijohn BUT I FORGOT TO RIGHT WHICH TREES THEY WERE. They have 6 trees all are different varieties. NOTE EVERYTHING DOWN IN A BOOK AND ON YOUR COMPUTER. It will take me years to work out the right blend again.