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Llanblethian Orchards

@llancider

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Tradtional Welsh cider made in the Vale of Glamorgan

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Today's job at the cidery is the lot less glamourous but no less essential job of dealing with the spent pomace.

If you leave it around the cidery too long not only will it start smelling very 'ripe' 🤢 it will also cause a plague of fruit flies so it needs to be dealt with promptly.

At my cidery I take it back down the orchard and spread it thinly so it breaks down quickly and returns its nutrition to the soil.

I spread it in an uncut part of the orchard I jokingly refer to as 'the wild orchard'. Ive been doing it for years and each year I move the area I spread in and leave the previous years areas untouched.

From looking today, it's definately starting to live up to its name. Everywhere I look I can see another apple seedling growing up through the undergrowth. 😆

Who knows, perhaps one of them will be the next big cider variety you can only hope! 😃

Ehh at the very least it keeps the local bunnies and pheasants off my trees they think its party time when I start spreading. 😁

#llanblethianOrchards
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#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

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0

2 hours ago

With Keith and Paul's help we managed to get through the rest of the apples today and get everything cleaned up ready for the next load. 🥰

In the end 1.5 tonnes of Three Counties yielded 740l of juice, not a bad little haul. 😄

The pH was 4.69, so VERY low acidity. I will be blending it with sharp apples to get the pH to 3.8 or below to reduce the risk of a bad ferment.

The sugar content however was so high it was above my hyrdrometer. 😳😯

Thankfully I have other hydrometers for ice cider so I was able to get a reading. 1.080! If it fully ferments out, that would yield a 10% cider. Proper wobble juice. 😵‍💫

I will have to try and blend it down with other apples to get it to a more sensible potential abv....

I have already had one request for a demijohn of juice to be racked off first so they can ferment it themselves. 😆

I would like to state for the record: I hold absolutely no responsibility for anything that happens to anyone who drinks a demijohn of 10% cider or where they wake up! 🤣

#llanblethianorchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

11

1

a day ago

Made good headway through the apples with Keith's help at the barn. 70 years young today and shovelling like a champ, he earned his cider and curry today. 😁

Should have them all finished off tomorrow and everything cleaned down with luck. Fruit was in need of a good wash but pressed cleanly.

Like dabinett, the fruit had a low juice content. Curious how much 1.5 tonnes will yield when it's all pressed tomorrow. Each pressing was getting around 45 litres a go vs the 65 litres that tends to be the norm. Wonderful rich juice mind, looks really promising. 😍

#llanblethianorchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

22

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2 days ago

It's been a long day on the road today picking up apples from the edge of the Cotswolds to cover the light harvest down here in the Vale.

This variety a new one on me - Three Counties - one of the 'new' bittersweet varieties bred at the Long ashton research institute in the 1980's.

In need of a wash but smell great and are in good nick. Can't wait to see how the cider turns out.

So... I imagine you can guess what I'll be doing for the next couple of days.... 🤣

Just don't ask about the cost of the diesel to pick them up, its a sore point.. 😖

#llanblethianorchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

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3 days ago

First big pressing of the season yesterday, feels good to finally be making some progress.

My orchard is fairly near the coast and im always earlier than farther inland, but this year everything is exceptionally early.

I ended up pressing the Stoke red, browns apple, pen caled and black tom putt. All mid October varieties. 😳

They had all been down for a fornight, were soft and starting to go over so it had to be done. Never seen it this early. Thankfully the later varieties are still hanging on the trees for now.

Ended up making 500 litres from them all.

I also managed to pick some more crab apples so I could fill the rest of the jars I bought. Managed to make the jelly a bit clearer this time by leaving it to settle after pressing for a few hours then racking it, good to know for the future methinks.

Well next job is picking the hendre huffcaps as they are mostly down and cleaning some containers to fit all the juice, busy busy....

#llanblethianOrchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

35

1

4 days ago

I've always made crab apple jelly for myself on a small scale for personal consumption as I have some crab apple trees down the orchard for pollenation.

I figured yesterday I would try and make a bulk batch for the shop using my bath pasteuriser.

Turned out rather well tbh. I ended up using the press and some old fine cloths to extract the juice then recirculated the juice through a filter to clear it up. Way too large a volume to have it sitting in a cheesecloth overnight - and way too impatient! 🤣

114 jars in the end from around 40l of apples. Would have picked more but forgot my ladder and the tree is massive...

The crab apple in the picture is golden hornet. I also have a red crab apples that went into the blend as well, giving the orange colour to the jelly.

Hopefully it proves popular, a bit too much for me to eat myself. 😅

If you've never had actual crab apple jelly made from Malus sylvestris fruit its sweet, sharp and tannic and goes very well with cheese and cold meats. It is also amazing in a hog roast or pulled jackfruit roll.

#llanblethianorchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

20

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7 days ago

Another busy day at Llanblethian orchards and I have a question for you all.

I was sold this tree as Barnet, but seeing other examples online, was it mislabeled?

#llanblethianorchards
#welshcider
#seidrcymraeg taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

17

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10 days ago

It's a very light crop in the orchard but there is a fair percentage of kingston black apples down already. They taste pretty sweet but not quite ready I think.

A rather large haul of Stoke red down as well and the pips are already brown and the apples are going soft.

Wouldnt surprise me if I have to deal with them next week tbh.

#llanblethianOrchards
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15

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11 days ago

Back picking in the main orchard today.

Going through sone windfall apples and perry pears.

The cummy norman was 60% down when I looked.

Its an early October variety so it has dropped early, im guessing it got stressed in the dry weather.

This winter im going to have to prune the willow next to it, its grown so far out I cant get around it with the tractor anymore. 😅

That old bench used to be in the sun with the willow giving it some shade. Now look at it. 🙄

#llanblethianorchards
#welshcider
#seidrcymraeg by @llancider

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11 days ago

Well, I guess the Tom Putt we pressed on Saturday is fermenting then. 😆

As its so sharp (pH 3.22) I left it sulphite free and the wild yeasts have romped away.

It will be blended into the bittersweets I will be picking in due course to balance the acidity of the bitters to reduce the chance of fermentation issues.

Bitters on their own can be over pH 4 which allows some of the worst buggos to grow so I always try and blend in sharps to get below pH 3.8 to reduce the risk. That and its a lot cheaper than using malic acid powder...

If I was fermenting in a 30l batch if it goes bad no harm no foul. If my 1,250L tank went bad however i'd be in trouble so I always pay attention to the pH in the cidery.

#llanblethianorchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

15

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12 days ago

Never enough hours in the day.

Spent last night trying to figure out the labelling requirements for apple juice.

Clear as mud. Managed to find an old apple juice label I made ten odd years ago which I altered this morning.

Hopefully the labelling guidelines are the same.

Looks nice enough on the bottle and thankfully the labelling stock I have in house works with these small juice bottles.

So on the community apple pressing Sat im delighted to say I will have apple juice from the farm available.

Feedback most welcome. 😃

#llanblethianorchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

15

3

15 days ago

Picking in the main orchard today with Paul's help.

In the end managed to gather a 1/2 builders sack of Hellen's Early perry pears and a sack of Tom Putt apples.

Very light crops in the orchard this year sadly but the Hellen's Early tastes great so fingers crossed what is available will make something a bit special.

From looking at things, although there are a lot of windfalls about timings wise the orchard is only a week early i'd say.

#llanblethianorchards
#seidrcymraeg
#welshcider taken in Llanblethian Orchards by @llancider

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17 days ago