Apple Picking & Cider Pressing

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 10:40 pm

Summary
Time: 3 pm until everyone leaves
When: 15-Sept (next Saturday)
What: Free apples & cider
Where: Lee's House (3601 Otis Rd, SE, Cedar Rapids)

You are all invited out next Saturday (15-Sept) to pick apples and press cider. We're going to start at 3 pm and go until everyone leaves. In addition to all the free apples you want, there is a good chance some of Tim's leftover BBQ will be available from an event he's catering for me the day before. I'll also have a grill and paper plates available if you want to bring some food.

Liberty, Gala, Jonadel, Ozark Gold, Jonamac, and Jonafree are all either ripe right now or will be by next Saturday.

Last year we seemed to average about 3 gallons of cider per bushel of apples, so please plan accordingly and bring your own buckets/containers for the apples. If I recall correctly, a bushel of apples fits in about two 5 gallon buckets, so plan on 1 bucket per 1.5 gallons of soft cider you want. I will have a bin to wash the apples and a press. Rick is going to let us use the Apple Destroyer again to macerate the fruit prior to pressing.

I'm not putting any limits on how many apples you guys can pick and we're not charging anything this year. I do recommend bringing a ladder, if you can, to help reach some of the higher up fruit, since they tend to be nicer. If you think you might be interested in making cider, I suggest you come out because I can't guarantee we'll be able to do this again next year. We're going to cut down half the trees to make room for more disease-resistant varieties, and it will be 5+ years before we get back to this capacity again.

If you're interested in making hard cider, plan on having a fermenter, some wine yeast, and camden tablets (to sulfite the unpasteurized cider). Rick, myself, and about 15 other people in the club can give you more info if you need it. Alternatively, homebrewtalk.com has some good info in their cider forum. If you just want soft cider, I recommend milk jugs. If you leave some head space in the jug, the cider will store very well in the freezer for over a year.

If you plan to attend, please post on this forum so I have a rough idea of what to expect.

tompb · Post by **tompb** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 2:14 am

I'll be out.

CMLarrison · Post by **CMLarrison** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 5:11 am

I will be in attendance

quinton · Post by **quinton** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:31 am

I have a access to a pretty big, pretty nifty crusher and press. Is there a need for this?

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:39 am

Yes. Last year our bottleneck was the pressing process. I've made modifications to the press I have that should allow us to press a lot more at once, but it will still be much slower than Rick's Apple Destroyer.
On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 12:31 PM, quinton <brew-members@crbeernuts.org (brew-members@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

I have a access to a pretty big, pretty nifty crusher and press. Is there a need for this?

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CMLarrison · Post by **CMLarrison** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:56 am

I have a press too that I can bring if needed?

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:57 am

That's fine with me. We should have room on my driveway for 3 presses and 2 crushers.
On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 12:56 PM, CMLarrison <brew-members@crbeernuts.org (brew-members@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

I have a press too that I can bring if needed?

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quinton · Post by **quinton** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:37 pm

Great I will be there with my crusher, press and a no fear of picking the low-hanging fruit.

middleTspeer · Post by **middleTspeer** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:34 pm

I plan to come out. How tall are the apple trees? Will a 8' step ladder do or would a 12' be better?

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:39 pm

I've never measured, but I would guess that most of the trees are 15 to 20 feet tall. We routinely use an 8' step ladder and get a lot of good apples off the trees.

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middleTspeer · Post by **middleTspeer** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:45 pm

i can bring both as it is not that hard for me to hall them both.

kjball · Post by **kjball** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 2:07 pm

I can bring a pole picker...wait that came out wrong

TappedOut · Post by **TappedOut** » Sat Sep 08, 2012 7:14 am

I'll be there. Probably bring the family. Thanks for sharing your apples, Lee.
-Tom

Steven P · Post by **Steven P** » Sat Sep 08, 2012 7:30 am

I'll be in attendance once more this year. Thanks again Lee!

carrisr · Post by **carrisr** » Sat Sep 08, 2012 9:00 am

I plan to attend with my wife. Thanks again, Lee, for sharing your apples.

On 09/06/12 23:40, DrPaulsen wrote:

Summary
Time: 3 pm until everyone leaves
When: 15-Sept (next Saturday)
What: Free apples & cider
Where: Lee's House (3601 Otis Rd, SE, Cedar Rapids)

You are all invited out next Saturday (15-Sept) to pick apples and press cider. We're going to start at 3 pm and go until everyone leaves. In addition to all the free apples you want, there is a good chance some of Tim's leftover BBQ will be available from an event he's catering for me the day before. I'll also have a grill and paper plates available if you want to bring some food.

Liberty, Gala, Jonadel, Ozark Gold, Jonamac, and Jonafree are all either ripe right now or will be by next Saturday.

Last year we seemed to average about 3 gallons of cider per bushel of apples, so please plan accordingly and bring your own buckets/containers for the apples. If I recall correctly, a bushel of apples fits in about two 5 gallon buckets, so plan on 1 bucket per 1.5 gallons of soft cider you want. I will have a bin to wash the apples and a press. Rick is going to let us use the Apple Destroyer again to macerate the fruit prior to pressing.

I'm not putting any limits on how many apples you guys can pick and we're not charging anything this year. I do recommend bringing a ladder, if you can, to help reach some of the higher up fruit, since they tend to be nicer. If you think you might be interested in making cider, I suggest you come out because I can't guarantee we'll be able to do this again next year. We're going to cut down half the trees to make room for more disease-resistant varieties, and it will be 5+ years before we get back to this capacity again.

If you're interested in making hard cider, plan on having a fermenter, some wine yeast, and camden tablets (to sulfite the unpasteurized cider). Rick, myself, and about 15 other people in the club can give you more info if you need it. Alternatively, homebrewtalk.com has some good info in their cider forum. If you just want soft cider, I recommend milk jugs. If you leave some head space in the jug, the cider will store very well in the freezer for over a year.

If you plan to attend, please post on this forum so I have a rough idea of what to expect.

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