Apple Press at LostMeadowvt.com

Missed your chance folks...

2011-10-05T04:25:00.001-07:00

Fermenting blends are all spoken for for 2011. If you want to be on a
waiting list only, drop a line.

Comment from a CSA customer

2011-09-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

"Hi Terry,

Yesterday when I picked up my gallon you remarked that you were really
pleased with the day's batch. I'm here to tell you that I just had my
first glass of this jug, and WOW! It's like the juiciest bite of the
best apple I've ever had! Really wonderful! I feel like inviting
people over to taste it! Thanks for doing this for all of us."

Or you all can come by the garage and try it yourselves.

Finally, ready for fall?

2011-08-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

We've started picking early apples at work, I've been lining up fruit
and prepping the garage/mill for our September 10 opening. As far as
making cider this fall, I've been bottling 2010's wine like crazy to
free up carboy space. Proud to say, everything is out of carboys and
bottled, save for about 20 gallons in stainless that I can sit on until
I have time to wash the 15 or so cases of bottles in the backup stash.

Now to hook up the hot water.

Cider tasting at the mill, Sep 17

2011-08-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

Fellow cider makers:

We've been doing this for a few years, so maybe it's time we pull up a
chair and taste some ciders to see what we've done? I'll be hosting a
tasting on Saturday, September 17 at 2:00 at the cider mill. Bring your
best and worst ciders, and something to eat with them if you wish. It
will be relatively informal, but I do want to get some good feedback on
the blends I've made over the years. Ideally, any ciders you bring
should have the batch number or blend sheet so we can all draw some
conclusions for what's working best.

You can also get on the list then for 2011 squeezes, fermenting blends
will start September 24 through October.

RSVP much appreciated.

Cider Mill opens Sep 10 for 2011 season

2011-08-15T18:46:00.001-07:00

Lost Meadow Cider Mill will be open weekends this fall from September 10 through October 30. The mill is located on Wheeler Road in Calais, VT just off County Road, two miles south of Maple Corner or about seven miles from the Main Street rotary in Montpelier. When open signs can be followed from Main Street in Montpelier.

I will be offering sweet cider shares based on a community supported agriculture (CSA) model. Shareholders prebuy juice at the beginning of the season and receive a weekly gallon from September 17 through the end of October. This amounts to seven gallons for the price of six ($30). Cider will be available for pickup at the mill on Saturdays or Sundays. Share numbers will be limited, and fermenting stock isn't included but CSA members may be offered special cidre blends. Call (802) 922-2591 or email (preferred) terryb@lostmeadowvt.com .

Fresh juice will be available for pickup Saturday or Sunday 12:00-6:00PM or until it's gone. Over the course of the season the mill will squeeze up to fifty varieties of apples resulting in a unique and refreshing product that is an entirely different product from your average jug cider.

Juice quality is the primary focus at Lost Meadow, where cider is our main product, not an afterthought. Lost Meadow Cider Mill produces two main juice products. Sweet Juice ('Cider') is sold in new one-gallon jugs only.

Fermenting stock ('Cidre') is made from specific juice blends intended for making hard cider. These blends are selected to provide a juice with balanced sugar, acid, tannin, and flavor profile suitable for making a quality finished cider. Varieties used change with the season and consist of a base, usually a blend of Liberty, Cortland, Gala, or Golden (Delicious and Russet) and a bittersweet/sharp component such as Foxwhelp, Ellis Bitter, Yarlington Mill, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, and some local crabapples. Blended cidre juice is filled into the customer's container only.

Carboys and other supplies can be had from Local Potion in Plainfield, VT and Vermont Homebrew Supply in Winooski, VT. For a basic cider customers only need a clean, sanitized fermenter and airlock. I try to stock some supplies during the season, but please check ahead if you need something. Fermenter's blends sell out every year so reservations of juice are encouraged. Customers who wish to reserve juice or schedule a pick up time can call owner Terry Bradshaw at (802) 922-2591 or email (preferred) terryb@lostmeadowvt .com. The mill operates on a strict food safety plan and may not be open when pressing sweet juice. Pressing of fermenting stock may be viewed as available.

All cider apples are sourced from Vermont or New Hampshire orchards and are tree picked, whole, sound fruit. The variety mix changes seasonally and only the freshest fruit available are pressed, not cold-storage packing house cast-offs. Source orchards follow modern Integrated Pest Management protocols to ensure that their produce is free of harmful residues and pest infestations and is grown in an environmentally responsible manner. Some fruit are sourced from organic or unsprayed trees depending on availability and quality. As a retail cider mill Lost Meadow Cidery is exempt from federal pasteurization requirements and as such none of the juice is treated. The cidery follows a food safety and sanitation plan based on industry HACCP and SSOP standards.

Lost Meadow Orchard and Cider Mill are run by Terry Bradshaw and his family. Terry has been in the orchard business for sixteen years and has made cider every one of them. His fermented ciders have won numerous national awards in American Homebrew Association-sanctioned events and have developed a devoted local following. These hard ciders are never for sale, but he is always glad to show you how to make your own.

Re: Hard Cider Customer

2011-08-06T03:49:00.001-07:00

> Terry,
>
> I got your name from a friend. I'm in Jericho, and looking to make my
> own hard cider. I have no experience, knowledge, equipment, etc, of
> the process. I understand you provide help in getting things going
> such as information, cider, bottles etc.
>
> Is this correct? When might be a good time to talk more about getting
> a setup for this Fall?
>
> Thanks,
> XX
>

XX:

Thanks for your interest. Yes, I can set you up with everything you need
except bottles. I open the mill on weekends in September and October,
but the best fermenting juice is here in October. Folks who want to make
hard cider sign up ahead of time, just tell me how much juice you want
(typically in 5-gallon increments) and what weekend you want to pick it
up. Pickups are best mid-day on Sundays.

Have a read here to get more on what I do:
http://www.lostmeadowvt.com/cider.htm

Thanks!

Terry B

XX wrote:

Anything for sale at LostMeadow?

2011-02-07T18:33:00.001-08:00

Hey folks, long time no write. I've been getting a few requests for
off-season cider/vinegar lately, and figured I'd mention what I can do
for people. Cider is pretty much out come first week in November, after
that the mill is a garage complete with dripping slushy cars and
wrapping paper trash from Christmas. Any frozen cider is pretty much
mine; after investing in the electricity to jeep it frozen I'd have to
charge you $10 a gallon, an besides, I need cider to make my oatmeal
with. Really.

Vinegar is another matter, and I have gotten a few requests for it,
including bulk orders. I'll sell vinegar any time, but folks need to
remember that this is a micro-operation, with total vinegar production
at 25-50 gallons per year. So if I have it, you can have it, just
contact me. I can't set up a long-term deal for your pickled-egg
operation, unless you get me close to the $30 a gallon I retail it for
in smaller bottles. That's it.

I've got maybe 3-4 gallons bottled right now, all in 1.75 liter bottles
($12), and another 15 gallons or so cooking downstairs. I have a new
vinegar generator setup, so I don't know how long a batch will take, at
this time longer than I expected. If you want in, give me a shout.

2010 cider season opener Saturday 10/2

2010-10-01T17:44:00.001-07:00

Opening day for cider season 2010 tomorrow! Three squeezes of sweet jug
juice, six of fermenting stock. Should be a busy day, come by Saturday
or Sunday for the freshest and (if I may say so myself) best cider around!

Getting ready for squeezin' season 2010

2010-09-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

After mulling and flip-flopping about what cidering I'd be doing this season, I'm now getting things lined up for opening weekend, October 2-3. Jugged sweet cider will be flowing, and I'll be filling carboys for those who have lined such up with me ahead of time. The following weekend (10/9-10) it's sweet cider only, we have company coming and I can't spend the whole weekend in the mill. Follow that (10/16-17, 23-34, 30-31) with three full sessions of sweet and fermenting blends. Let me know ASAP if you want to fill a carboy and make your own cider, Vermont's original and most traditional libation.

The apple season has been a bit different from some years, but we're going with the flow. There are almost zero local fruit in farmhouse and feral orchards, so I'll be relying more on my time-honored blends of Champlain Valley base ciders and European-type bittersweet ciders from the Upper Valley of New Hampshire. I've been making cider from some of these same trees consistently for 15 years, so the quality of juice should be unmatched as always. And 2010, after the late spring frosts anyway, has been a tremendously good growing season, so expect high sugars and intense flavors in your fermenting stock.

See you all at the mill, and remember that once November rolls around we're putting it back to bed for the winter!

TB

Cider Mill Plans, 2010

2010-08-18T18:28:00.001-07:00

Lost Meadow Cider Mill will be on 'sabbatical' for 2010, and will not open to the public for sweet cider sales. I will be filling carboys of fermenting blends during October.

I have much to do, little time to do it, and need to take a breather, so I'm taking September off from cidering and not jugging up gallons of sweet cider this year. I'll be squeezing fermenting/carboy stock only, so regular friends and loyalists should give me a shout and we'll make sure to keep the jugs bubbling. Carboy weekends include all in October except Columbus Day weekend (October 9-10) when we will be closed.

As usual, carboy customers should contact me prior to pickup, either by email or (802) 922-2591.

2009 Kingston Black Blend

2010-04-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

Well, sort of. I couldn't get my hands on enough Kingston far a varietal
squeeze this year, so this was blended at the press 3 - Kingston Black :
2 - Liberty : 1 - Major : 1 Local 'Aromatic Redstreak'. This batch was
cold fermented with GRE yeast, racked to keg when clarified at 1.020 or
so, and settled for two months. No sterile filtering, although I might
have to do something to keep it like this longer. Not sure of the
gravity now, I'd call it medium-sweet with gentle, ephemeral
carbonation. How's all this taste? Wonderful- subdued fruit aroma with
cheese notes; flavor full, round, fruit-forward with a nice balanced
acid slightly green apple finish. This is a complex yet very
approachable cider, and I'd love to copy it, to generate a 'recipe', but
cidermaking isn't like that, no. Cidermaking is taking the balance of
fruit from the orchards, sourcing well before an apple is crushed,
pressing with care, handling and fermenting gently, blending as needed,
by taste for taste. A great cider like this needs no additions save for
the yeast that does the bulk of the transformations and a little sulfite
to keep things in balance. Balance, yes, we are lucky in cidermaking
when by serendipity we make a balanced blend straight off the press. I
may have made some dog ciders during the 2009 season, I haven't tasted
them all, but this one folks is a winner.
Sorry, don't come begging for it, it's in short supply although I know
of three more carboys in the area I'd love to sample from. No, get
yourself ready to make your own this fall. Some changes are coming to
Lost Meadow Cider for 2010, but I'll be sure to keep doing my best to
offer premier fermenting blends ready to go off the press.

Raise a glass to your best of the season,

Terry B

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2010-03-23T18:34:00.001-07:00

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Tree Fruit Production Course at UVM this summer

2010-03-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

I don't normally blend my day job and online selves, but this is going to be a great program offered at the University of Vermont this summer (click the video pane if it won't embed):

Summer-U at UVM Horticulture Farm from UVM Continuing Education on Vimeo.

Farmward Bound

This highly-flexible, innovative, hands-on program is designed for aspiring farmers, agriculture leaders, and people interested in learning about the food system first hand. The summer Farmward Bound Program features intensive two week farm-based residential experiences in which students have the opportunity live and learn from successful local farmers. By working on three to four different farms of different sizes students will gain an understanding of multiple approaches to contemporary small scale sustainable agriculture....

My course:

PSS 195: Tree Fruit Culture.

Class Schedule: Tuesdays and Fridays from June 15 to July 9, 2010. 8:45 AM - 3:45 PM.

Three Credits.

Instructor: Terence Bradshaw.

http://www.uvm.edu/~summer/course.php?term=201006&crn=60710

Students will learn principles and practices of commercial tree fruit production, including site selection and preparation, varietal selection, tree training, nutrient, water and pest management, harvest and post harvest considerations. Special emphasis will be placed on environmental and economic sustainability of the orchard system. The class will apply knowledge of integrated horticultural and pest management practices in a real orchard setting.

Pre/co-requisites: PSS 10 or 21 or 1 semester biology or permission.

The class format will consist of a combination of classroom lectures, hands-on fieldwork, and visits to local commercial orchards.

For more information contact course instructor Terence Bradshaw: tbradsha@uvm.edu.

RIP Terry Maloney, West County Ciders

2010-02-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I saw a Facebook blurb from Aeppeltrow Winery that simply said, " Farewell, Terry Maloney. You will remain an inspiration. American cidermakers are all your scion and we will bear good fruit for you, forever." More info came in a quickly assembled Cider Digest this morning:

Subject: RIP Terry Maloney
From: Ben Watson
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:53:44 -0500

Dear Fellow Cider Digesters,

It is my sad duty to report the untimely death of one of the best-known and
best-loved of America's craft cidermakers -- Terry Maloney of West County
Cider in Colrain, Massachusetts.

Terry died in what can only be described as a freak accident yesterday
(Friday) in the basement cidermaking room at his home. From what I
understand, a piece of filtration equipment full of cider under pressure
"exploded" with sufficient force to knock Terry back, and he hit his head
hard, causing his death.

Already this morning (Sat), some of Terry's closest friends in the cider
community have been on the phone with one another, discussing this shocking
and unexpected event. In the course of time, I'm sure that we will organize
at least one memorial or tribute (and probably more) to this gentle,
affectionate man who -- as much as anyone -- was responsible (along with
his terrific wife Judith) for the modern rebirth of cider culture in the
US.

I first met Judith and Terry Maloney more than 20 years ago, and we almost
immediately became friends. The Maloneys came to western Massachusetts with
experience from California vineyards. The beautiful hill towns of Franklin
County, MA are a traditional apple-growing and cider-making region, so Terry
and Judith began a winery that focused on locally grown fruits like apples
and blueberries. Over the years, they have everything from unfiltered Farm
Cider (still one of my favorites) to artfully crafted cidre doux and a whole
range of distinguished varietals that included Reine de Pomme, Baldwin,
Roxbury Russet, Kingston Black, and the astonishingly good, copper-colored
Redfield, a signature product of West County Cider and an example of Terry's
skill as both a cidermaker and fruit grower.

In addition to making their own cider, Terry and Judith have been central
players in promoting craft ciders from all over the US -- as founders and
organizers of the annual Cider Days festival, which over the past 15+ years
has provided an ever-expanding showcase of the best American ciders. All of
us -- producers and drinkers alike -- owe the Maloneys our profound respect
and gratitude.

Those of us who knew Terry personally will always remember him as a
thoughtful, soft-spoken, cultured, but also passionate man, and will miss
him greatly. But Terry's death is also a loss to many in the cider world who
never met him -- he was a real pioneer who showed the way for so many of
today's craft producers. He willed be missed.

As I hear of any tributes or memorials being planned, I will try to pass
along that information to everyone.

Respectfully yours,

Ben Watson
Francestown, NH

This is sad news for all cidermakers, and for all of us as human beings. Terry was a real inspiration to many, myself included. I concur with those who ask that we raise a glass in respect, and continue to ply our craft in his honor.

Live today as if it's your last, it might be, and remember to leave smiles and good thoughts behind.

TB

Holiday break squarings way

2010-01-03T03:58:00.001-08:00

10 cases bottles washed, three kegs cider bottled, three transferred to
vinegar tank. Vinegar tank all insulated and heater running. General
tidying (although it doesn't look it), airlocks topped, the cider room
is in pretty good shape right now.

Hardest part was deciding which three kegs to send to vinegar.

Patience, people!

2009-12-21T18:49:00.001-08:00

This time around Christmas usually finds me straightening things up in
the cider cellar. With my day job generally off for a couple of weeks,
and the first of the 'oh yeah it's here' winter settling in, time can be
found to wash bottles, rack carboys, check airlocks, wash bottles,
bottle a little Christmas cider, wash bottles, you get it. Today I
cleaned six cases of bottles, racked and topped a bunch of cider, and
did some general tidying up. A little concerning was the 'big tank'
variable fermenter that I usually do keeves/sweeter ciders in. I knew it
was there, but just today got around to pulling the trash bag off the
(open) top and setting the sealed lid in place. This should be BAD...an
open top fermenter two months after squeezing, kept in a cold,
slow-fermenting area is a textbook oxidation case. Yes, the cider tasted
a little off, even acetic a bit. This may be the closest I have come to
unintentional vinegar making. Of course, I sell vinegar, and always
make extra cider so that my 'lesser liquids' can be converted for sale,
so that's not too bad...I just wasn't counting on an extra 12 cases this
year.
After dinner I visited the cellar again. Last year I had a similar
problem, but instead of forgetting to put the lid on, I failed to check
the seal, so the resulting 25 gallons of cider got pretty oxidized, and
tasted a bit acidic, a sign of volatile (acetic) acid buildup. I kegged
it up this past summer to make carboy/tank space, but planned on
pitching it in the vinegar tank this winter. As a quick test, I pitched
a pack of malo-lactic bacteria each in two kegs and set them in the
furnace side of the basement. ML bacteria convert sharp-tasting malic
acid to softer lactic acid, this technique is used in many wines.
Tonight I compared a snort of the pre- and post-ML ciders, and damn if
they both weren't pretty good. Not great, but not ready for the salad
dressing either.
Which brings me to my point. People often ask me about how long to wait
to drink their cider, and I tell them a year. The truth is, all sorts
of things can happen over time, and given a robust, tannic, balanced
juice blend, time is generally your friend in cider (or wine) making.
Rough flavors tend to mellow, sharp acids tend to soften, subtle notes
open up. Time will often help a funky cider, but if after a year it's
still off, open up the vinegar tank. This pertains generally to
unbalanced, maybe over sharp, sometimes slightly oxidized ciders. A
truly nasty one should be tossed at any time.
Even though I'm considered a big 'cider guy', I admit that I'm not great
with my precise cider analysis- ethyl acetate vs diacetyl and the like.
I like my customers, and friends, to feel that a good cider can be made
without a bunch of expensive words and equipment. Start with good juice,
ferment it clean and cool, minimize any messing with it, and enjoy in a
year. Works for me.

Cider Season 2009 Comes to a Close

2009-11-01T16:13:00.001-08:00

After a busy weekend, and plenty more cleaning up to do tomorrow, the
Lost Meadow 2009 Cider Season is closed, at least the retail end. I
still have my fermenting stocks to tend to (including my annual keeve
that I'll set up tomorrow), as do many of the smart/lucky folks who
stepped up to get their share.

The 2009 season by the numbers:

Weekends open: 8...definitely too many, next year we'll shave a few off
in September. I don't expect to decrease total production much if any,
just concentrate on those peak weeks.
Number of pressings: 42
Total gallons squeezed: 828
Fermenting blends: 55% of total, we'll bump that up next year
Profit (cash in - apples and expendable supplies): $1623. This doesn't
account for equipment, space, improvements, my orchard (or its apples),
trucking, or any other indirect/fixed costs.
Estimated wage/hour: ~$10, ignoring the above considerations.

Getting rich? Hell no, and a P&L sheet would have me losing money.
Having fun? Of course, that's why we do it. Tired and ready for a
break? You bet, we'll do it again next year. Looking forward to this
season's cidre, come spring? Of course.

Thanks folks,

Last Call for 2009 cider

2009-10-26T18:22:00.001-07:00

This weekends marks the end of the squeezin' season at Lost Meadow Cider
Mill, so if you want to put up a carboy, let me know ASAP, it will sell
out. I have a better selection of fruit than ever and will be making
some nice custom blends. $7 a gallon, $35 fills a standard carboy. I
can supply the carboy, stopper, and airlock as well with a little
notice. I'll also be finishing the sweet cider squeezes this weekend as
well, so anyone who wants to put jugs in the freezer should stock up.
For larger orders (3+ gallons) reservations are encouraged; I've been
selling out of sweet jug juice every week lately.

You've been warned,

healingsgreen.com: World's Best Apple Cider: Terry Bradshaw: Lost Meadow Cider Mill

2009-10-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

blog post from Monday October 19:
healingsgreen.com: World's Best Apple Cider: Terry Bradshaw: Lost Meadow Cider Mill

Terry Bradshaw makes the most incredibly wonderful apple cider. A glass of his cider, sipped yesterday, was so far beyond anything that I have ever experienced that language fails me in creating a description. His blends leave anything else calling itself cider akin to mouth wash. If in Montpelier, Vermont in the fall on the weekends his cidery is a destination and offers an experience of a lifetime. http://www.lostmeadowvt.com/

Posted by healingsgreen.com

Ashmead's Kernel apples are deliciously ugly -- latimes.com

2009-10-14T12:03:00.001-07:00

Ashmead's Kernel apples are deliciously ugly -- latimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Juicy Times for Hard Apple Cider (Washington Post)

2009-10-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

By Greg Kitsock

Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

"Last year, they had a great crop of Kingston Black," home-brewer Rick Garvin says as he plucks purplish-red fruit from one of 3,000 semi-dwarf apple trees at the Distillery Lane Ciderworks in Jefferson. "It makes a nice, balanced single-variety cider."

Garvin, a McLean resident, meant hard cider -- the alcoholic kind. In America, we have to use an adjective to distinguish it from sweet cider, which is fresh, unfiltered apple juice. But in England, where every 12th pint slung over the bar contains cider, the term always denotes strong drink.

Some of the best apples for making hard cider are not the kind you find in a supermarket. Rob Miller, who owns the orchard, says Kingston Black is a bittersharp, a variety rich in acid and tannin. You wouldn't want to bake such apples into a pie; a bite of the fruit leaves a dry, woody sensation in the back of the throat. But the juice "makes a thick cider on the side of a sweet syrup; it ferments well," he says.

The juice is what brought two dozen members of the Washington area home-brew club, Brewers United for Real Potables, to Miller's farm on an early September outing. They planned to use his cider press to smash their newly picked apples into pomace and squeeze out every last dribble of juice, which they would tote home in glass jugs and plastic buckets. Dosed with packets of yeast and allowed to ferment for a few weeks, the juice transforms into a lightly effervescent, pleasantly tart alcoholic beverage that our colonial forbears likened to champagne.

Hard cider is a potent reminder of America's bucolic past. "Johnny Appleseed was actually planting apples for cider," says Dave Fredlund, district manager for Green Mountain Beverage in Middlebury, Vt. John Adams, our second president, regularly downed a tankard for breakfast to settle his stomach, Fredlund says. (That must have been quite an eye-opener; in early America, cider often was blended with spirits to keep it from turning into vinegar.)

During the 18th century, American adults imbibed an average of 34 gallons of hard cider a year, according to W.J. Rorabaugh's book "The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition." Cider consumption plummeted rapidly in the 19th century, giving way first to bourbon whiskey, then to lager beer and soft drinks. It didn't help that cider's popularity was strongest in the countryside, where Prohibitionist sentiments held sway.

After a century and a half as an anachronism, hard cider is staging a comeback. Since that BURP member outing, Miller has had 25 to 30 other home-brewers drop in to buy the juice. (It's available at his farm, 10 miles west of Frederick, and in pasteurized form in half-gallon bottles at the South Mountain Creamery in nearby Middletown.) Sales of commercial cider are up 14.4 percent so far this year, making it the fastest-growing segment in the alcoholic beverage industry, says industry analyst Bump Williams. Miller sells only fresh fruit and juice, but he intends to apply for a winery license that will allow him to market his own hard cider.

Fredlund estimates that Americans consume 4 million cases of hard cider a year. That translates into about 290,000 barrels, the output of a large craft brewery. But that's still a major step upward from the paltry 145,000 cases sold in 1990.

In 1991, the Joseph Cerniglia Winery (as Green Mountain was originally called) phased out its high-alcohol apple wine sold in Mason jars in favor of a lighter, more accessible beverage. Cerniglia decided to package his new Woodchuck brands in six-packs and kegs, and reduce the alcohol content to a more beerlike 5 percent by volume.

Woodchuck set the pattern for its imitators. E.&J. Gallo introduced its Hornsby's brands in 1995, and several breweries followed suit, including Boston Beer Co. with its HardCore line and, more recently, Harpoon Brewing Co. with its Harpoon Cider.

Today, Green Mountain is the Anheuser-Busch of the U.S. cider industry, accounting for 52 percent of domestic sales, by Fredlund's reckoning. Its Woodchuck ciders tend to be aromatic, rounded and fruity, dominated by the sweet, fragrant McIntosh apple. The 802 Dark and Dry (named after Vermont's area code) has caramelized sugar added for extra body and color. Woodchuck Granny Smith is made entirely from the tart green apples of the same name. Green Mountain also markets pear and raspberry ciders, in which other fruit flavorings are added to an apple base, as well as a spiced cider in the fall and an oak-aged cider in winter.

European imports offer a drier, more complex alternative. Samuel Smith's Organic Cider from England is a pale straw gold, crisp and thirst-quenching, almost like a champagne. The Normandy region of France is noted for its fruity, bubbly, low-alcohol ciders. Organic Etienne Dupont has an apple blossom aroma, a tart and fruity flavor and a spritzy carbonation. By contrast, most U.S. ciders are lightly carbonated. Jaime Schier, Harpoon's quality control manager, explains that if the CO2 exceeds 1.2 volumes per liter -- less than half that of beer -- Uncle Sam levies a "crippling" sparkling wine tax.

Cider occupies a no-man's land in terms of federal regulation. Technically, it's a wine. But due to a loophole in the alcohol code, labeling authority for lower-alcohol varieties defaults to the Food and Drug Administration instead of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. That's why bottles of cider, unlike beer or liquor, contain a nutritional information panel that lists the content of fat, sodium, carbohydrates, sugars and proteins.

Woodchuck is typical in that its label notes the presence of sulfites, preservatives that can spark an allergic reaction in some drinkers. But Fredlund says some of the antioxidants that abound in fresh apples remain in the fermented drink. He also notes that ciders contain no gluten, a gummy protein found in grains such as wheat and barley that can be dangerous to sufferers of celiac disease and wheat allergies.

Four weeks after BURP's apple-picking excursion, the home-brewers' ciders are bubbling away. Cider is easier to make than beer; you don't need to steep the raw material in hot water to break down starches into sugar, nor do you have to add hops. Garvin, however, has dissolved 12 pounds of clover and thistle honeys into five gallons of cider to create a hybrid beverage called a cyser. Rather than add ale or wine yeast, fellow home-brewer Bud Hensgen of Arlington has allowed airborne microorganisms to ferment his cider; a sample drawn from a plastic jug with an airlock is tart, faintly apple, with a hint of clove.

In 1997, Congress passed a tax relief bill that reduced the excise tax on cider (the non-sparkling kind) to 22 cents a gallon, on a par with microbrewed beer. That windfall, plus renewed interest, has spurred the opening of farmhouse producers such Foggy Ridge Cider in Dugspur in southwestern Virginia. Owner Diane Flynt grows more than 30 kinds of apples ("they're not dessert apples; they're ugly and hard to grow") rich in the tannins, acids and sugars needed to make good cider. Her products include Pippin Gold, a blend of cider and 80-proof apple brandy from the Laird & Co. distillery in Scobeyville, N.J. She recommends soaking peaches in the cider and serving them with pound cake.

At the Albemarle CiderWorks in North Garden, Va., about 10 miles south of Charlottesville, owner Chuck Shelton cultivates 80 varieties of heirloom apples, including several strains that date to Thomas Jefferson's day. One of Shelton's three ciders, Jupiter's Legacy, is named after Jupiter Evans, a slave who was entrusted with bottling the cider produced at Monticello.

Shelton hand-bottles his ciders in 750-milliliter corked champagne bottles, borrowing his bottling apparatus from Flynt. They're available only at the cidery's tasting room, although he hopes to self-distribute eventually. Shelton describes his ciders as resembling "a very dry white wine," with minimal or no sugar added to adjust the taste.

Albemarle CiderWorks opened in July; Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) paid a visit to the tasting room on July 13. "He stayed for an hour and a half," says Shelton. "I had sent him a trial pack of my ciders. I thought he'd put it in a trophy case, but he must have tried them, because he mentioned that he liked one in particular, the Royal Pippin."

Cider claims another convert.

Beer columnist Greg Kitsock can be reached at food@washpost.com.

Heirloom Apples in Burlington Free Press

2009-09-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

"Terence Bradshaw is a research specialist, member of the University of Vermont apple team and assistant director of the UVM Horticulture Research Center. Bradshaw, who grows heirloom apples, answered a few questions for the Free Press about the fruits, what they are, and how they’ve developed over time." Read the whole article

Get Ready for the Rebirth of Cider in America

2009-09-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

Fairly factual article, from the folks at Slate:

"During the 1840 presidential election, opponents of William Henry Harrison portrayed him as a hard-drinking bumpkin. In a savvy act of political jujitsu, Harrison embraced the charge, branding his campaign paraphernalia with a portrait of pure Americana: a log cabin and a barrel of cider. Harrison rode the image to a 234-60 Electoral College victory over incumbent Martin Van Buren....." Read the whole article

Peak cider season is upon us

2009-09-29T19:10:00.001-07:00

I've been getting in some really nice cider apples recently; Ellis and
Ashton Bitter and Major from Poverty Lane, some great local
wild/farmhouse fruit, Liberty season is peaking. Next week or two I
expect more liberty stock, maybe some Jonafrees and Harry Master's
Jersey as well as fruit from my own orchard. Get you orders in while
there's space!

First squeezes, 2009

2009-09-12T18:34:00.001-07:00

Squeezed 60 gallons today, filling both fridges. The first real run of
the season, as always, had a couple of gremlins, mostly uncentered
pressings. All was fixed pretty quick, and in the process I came to the
realization that the press can do better than it always has, pressing 20
gallons a whack instead of 15. This is going to make time management
and pressing efficiency so much easier this season. CSA still has a
couple of slots open, I'll be closing it next weekend. Anyone
interested? Fermentation stock is getting booked pretty quickly too,
get your name in while you can.

Frequently Asked Questions at Lost Meadow Cidery:

2009-09-09T20:06:00.001-07:00

*//**/Frequently Asked Questions at Lost Meadow Cidery:/*

*How long are you open?*

This year, September 12 - October 31. Weekends only, 10-6.

*How long have you been doing this?*

Cider, 15 or so years, more if you go back to when I was a kid. Here in
this garage, since 2005, opened for 'business' in 2006.

*Do you make any money at this?*

Hell no. It's a hobby I would be doing anyway, so I figured I'd set it
up right and offer the goods to the public since this kind of cider is
hard to find.

*Where do you get your apples?*

Apples come from many sources. All sweet cider apples are purchased from
commercial Champlain Valley orchards. Our primary source grows over 40
varieties which contribute to the unique and changing blends we produce
throughout the year. All sweet jug cider apples are tree-picked, whole,
sound fruit.

Fermenter's fruit comes from our own orchard, local feral trees, and
regional orchards that specialize in superior cider fruit. We go to
great lengths to source the best fruit for (hard) cidermaking, and feel
that our product shows it.

*Do you use drops?*

Never for the sweet cider. Some fruit for fermenting blends are
windfalls or intentionally shaken at harvest, with strict mill
sanitation between the two types of fruit.

*Will you squeeze my apples?*

No, I have enough trouble fitting my fruit into the schedule without
messing with squeezing other's fruit. I've also seen enough contaminated
fruit come down the driveway that I'll not take any chances, thank you.

*Do you have an orchard?*

A little one. No, you can't pick any apples there.

*Are the apples organic?*

Some are. Some apples come from certified organic or transition
orchards, some from unsprayed wild trees. 'Conventional' apples come
from orchards that use advanced Integrated Pest Management practices to
reduce chemical inputs to a minimal level. In fact, I manage the farm
that produces the majority of our fruit, and feel confident about all of
the apple products from it.

*Is your cider pasteurized?*

No, we do not pasteurize our cider. Because we are a retail operation,
we are not bound by 21 CFR sec 101, the FDA Juice rules that require
pasteurization and HACCP implementation. We do take food safety very
seriously, and operate a strict food safety program to ensure that our
product is safe and healthy.

*What's with this food safety business? I've drank unpasteurized cider
all my life.*

Cider made from bad fruit under unsanitary conditions really can carry
some nasty stuff. The 'bad bugs' have recently evolved to survive and
multiply in the acidic juice environment and really aren't to be messed
with. That's why we run a clean ship and use good fruit.

*But doesn't cider give you the shits?*

Apples are very high in fiber, and a glass of cider is loaded with it.
In this soluble form, it will have a cleansing effect- all things in
moderation, until you're used to it.
*
Do you make hard cider?*

Yes, as a hobby. NO I DON'T SELL IT.

*How much for your hard cider?*

NOT FOR SALE. I'll help you make your own, though.

*What's fermenting stock?*

Fermenting stock ('Cidre') is made from specific juice blends intended
for making hard cider. These blends are selected to provide a juice with
balanced sugar, acid, tannin, and flavor profile suitable for making a
quality finished cider. Varieties used change with the season and
consist of a base, usually a blend of Liberty, Cortland, Gala, or Golden
(Delicious and Russet) and a bittersweet/sharp component such as
Foxwhelp, Ellis Bitter, Yarlington Mill, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, and
some local crabapples. Blended cidre juice is filled into the customer's
container only. Carboys and other supplies can be had from Local Potion
in Plainfield, VT and Vermont Homebrew Supply in Winooski, VT. For a
basic cider customers only need a clean, sanitized fermenter and airlock.

*How do I make hard cider?*

Easy. Get me a carboy, airlock, and stopper, pick up a pack of wine
yeast while you're at it. Get on my cidre reservation list, I'll send
you home with all you need, including directions.

*Do you add yeast to your cider?*

Didn't used to, but the mill is kept so clean I have a hard time keeping
a wild ferment going these days. I use a basic white wine yeast like
Premier Cuvee or Cotes des Blancs.

*Do you add sugar to your cider?*

I don't, you can.

*Enough about cider. Does this road go any farther?*

Yes, it comes back out in East Montpelier like a big jughandle.

*Can I drive it?*

If you have to ask, no. I'm not buying you a new exhaust.

*Interested in bartering?*

I'm always looking for syrup, meat, and other goodies. Let's talk.

* *

Wild Fermentation

2009-09-02T04:29:00.000-07:00

I was picking this section of Gingergolds yesterday, and while picking drops (I have to pick up and count drops in my day job) I stumbled across this beauty. Crows love Gingergolds, and peck big holes in them, knocking them out of the tree. This one landed peck-up, and the juices started to collect in the hole as the tissues brokes down the sun. The juice was frothing like a cider ferment, and the sroma was unmistakable. A little taste, in the name of science of course, confirmed that this was indeed a miniature cider ferment happening all on its own, right in the pecked bowl of the apple. Never seen that before...

Fall is Here: Lost Meadow Cider Mill Opens September 12, 2009

2009-08-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

Calais,VT:

Lost Meadow Cider Mill will be open weekends this fall from September 12
through October 31. The mill is located on Wheeler Road in Calais, VT
just off County Road, two miles south of Maple Corner or about seven miles
from the Main Street rotary in Montpelier. When open signs can be
followed from Main Street in Montpelier

New for 2009, the mill is offering cider shares based on a community
supported agriculture (CSA) model. Shareholders prebuy juice at the
beginning of the season and receive a weekly gallon from September 19
through the end of October. This amounts to seven gallons for the price
of six ($30). Cider will be available for pickup at the mill on
Saturdays or Sundays. Share numbers will be limited, and fermenting
stock isn't included but CSA members may be offered specials on cidre
blends. Call (802) 922-2591 or email terryb@ lostmeadowvt .com .

Fresh juice will be available for pickup Saturday or Sunday 12:00-6:00
PM or until it's gone. Over the course of the season the mill will
squeeze up to fifty varieties of apples resulting in a unique and
refreshing product that is an entirely different product from your
average jug cider. Juice quality is the primary focus at Lost Meadow,
where cider is our main product, not an afterthought. Lost Meadow Cider
Mill produces two main juice products. Sweet Juice ('Cider') is sold in
new one-gallon jugs only. Fermenting stock ('Cidre') is made from
specific juice blends intended for making hard cider. These blends are
selected to provide a juice with balanced sugar, acid, tannin, and
flavor profile suitable for making a quality finished cider. Varieties
used change with the season and consist of a base, usually a blend of
Liberty, Cortland, Gala, or Golden (Delicious and Russet) and a
bittersweet/sharp component such as Foxwhelp, Ellis Bitter, Yarlington
Mill, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, and some local crabapples. Blended cidre
juice is filled into the customer's container only. Carboys and other
supplies can be had from Local Potion in Plainfield, VT and Vermont
Homebrew Supply in Winooski, VT. For a basic cider customers only need a
clean, sanitized fermenter and airlock. Fermenter's blends sell out
every year so reservations of juice are encouraged. Customers who wish
to reserve juice or schedule a pick up time can call owner Terry
Bradshaw at (802) 922-2591 or email terryb@ lostmeadowvt .com. The mill
operates on a strict food safety plan and may not be open when pressing
sweet juice. Pressing of fermenting stock may be viewed as available.

All cider apples are sourced from Vermont or New Hampshire orchards and
are tree picked, whole, sound fruit. The variety mix changes seasonally
and only the freshest fruit available are pressed, not cold-storage
packing house cast-offs. Source orchards follow modern Integrated Pest
Management protocols to ensure that their produce is free of harmful
residues and grown in an environmentally responsible manner. Some fruit
are sourced from organic or unsprayed trees depending on availability
and quality. As a retail cider mill Lost Meadow Cidery is exempt from
federal pasteurization requirements and as such none of the juice is
treated. The cidery follows a food safety and sanitation plan based on
industry HACCP and SSOP standards.

Lost Meadow Orchard and Cider Mill are run by Terry Bradshaw and his
family. Terry has been in the orchard business for fourteen years and
has made cider every one of them. His fermented ciders have won numerous
national awards in American Homebrew Association-sanctioned events and
have developed a devoted local following. These hard ciders are never
for sale, but he is always glad to show you how to make your own.

Pick-Your-Own Ettiquette

2009-08-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's not as easy as many think! Follow the guidelines and support your local orchards this fall.

Big Deal for VT Cidermakers...Peter Mitchel Cider Course

2009-08-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hi all, sorry for the late posting. The Vermont Grape and Wine Council
and Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association in conjunction with the VT
Agency of Agriculture are sponsoring Peter Mitchell's Cider Making -
Principles & Practice <http://www.mitchell-food-drink.co.uk/> course to
be offered in August 11-14. This is the intensive course is the premier
cider class in the US/UK. Peter runs these courses annually at Cornell
and Washington State University, as well as in England. This is a really
big thing to have him present here in Vermont, and I highly recommend
that anyone with an interest in cider who can swing the time attend.

Involving the world's leading experts in cider making and orcharding,
this course aims to provide you with:
A thorough grounding in the main principles and practices of orcharding
and cider and perry making, a wealth of knowledge, insight and technical
know-how, drawn from many years of practical experience, the skills,
knowledge and understanding necessary for the production of quality
cider and perry.
The course is suitable for beginners, new businesses and existing
producers (large & small-scale) alike.

Sorry about the late notice but we were
looking to fill it first with VGWC/VTFGA folks. At last notice there
were about ten slots left. Because of this industry sponsorship tuition
for the course is only $100. Please contact Steve Justis at VT Agency of
Ag for signups.

Tel: (802) 828-3827
Fax: (802) 828-3831
steve.justis@state.vt.us
www.vermontagriculture.com

TerryB

================
Terence Bradshaw
Lost Meadow Orchard and Cidery
Calais, VT
(802)229-2004
http://www.lostmeadowvt.com
views expressed are mine only,
and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer
or other affiliation to which I may belong

Cider CSA this fall

2009-07-16T11:48:00.001-07:00

I'm planning the season a little here and would like to offer prepaid
shares based on the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. You
prebuy your juice before the season, I get early operating capital to
buy fruit, jugs, etc, and you get a deal and can feel all warm and fuzzy
about being a 'member' of the farm. Buy a season's worth of fresh juice
and you'll get a gallon a week for seven weeks, likely starting
September 19. Get this for the price of six gallons ($30). Cider will
be available for pickup at the mill on Saturdays or Sundays, I may
muster up a Monday Burlington drop if there's enough interest. I'll be
limiting the number of these shares, so if you're interested, let me
know soon. Fermenting stock isn't included here but I may offer a
special on the good stuff to CSA members.

Vinegar Mother Pics

2009-07-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Cider work to do...

2009-06-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

It's June now, and I find myself playing catch up to get ready for cider
season only three months away. There's the garage/mill to clean out,
scrub down, and prep; supplies to line up and such. The bigger issue is
the 9 carboys and 1 30 gallon tank of cider that need emptying (i.e.
blending, stabilizing, kegging/bottling, etc) from last year, and
bottles to wash...
It'll happen, in due time.

Bastard Cider: Latest Cider Competition Results

2009-01-09T07:05:00.000-08:00

I sent my 2007 Kingston Black Special Reserve off to the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry competition in early December and took home a silver medal. This event is the preeminent cider event in the US with exceptionally well-trained judges thanks in no small part to Gary Awdey's (and others) judge training sessions. Now I'm not greedy, and am very happy and honored to be recognized with a silver which I feel is a very respectable award. So when I get the judge sheets back I was interested in the comments behind the ranking. I don't have them in front of me but the gist was that it was a great british cider, true to style aside from one thing...apple aroma. According to the BJCP Cider Guidelines English Ciders should have "No overt apple character, but various flavors and esters that suggest apples. May have “smoky (bacon)” character from a combination of apple varieties and MLF. Some “Farmyard nose” may be present but must not dominate; mousiness is a serious fault. The common slight farmyard nose of an English West Country cider is the result of lactic acid bacteria, not a Brettanomyces contamination..."

This cider was fermented from 100% Kingston Black, reknowned as the premier British cider apple. Given that, and the management of the juice and fermentation, and the dryness of the finished cider, it seemed like the best (only?) category to put it in.

So the general comments stated that the cider was really good, but it was out-of-style because it has a nice apple aroma and flavor. This flavor was deliberately kept in their through cold fermentation and multiple racking, and I consider it a testament to my skill (hand pats self on back) to make a fruity, but not overly so, cider from this apple.
So the judges did their job correctly in ranking the cider based on the guidelines, and I feel the guidelines are correct in their definition of true English Cider. Does a fruit-forward cider made with English fruit therefore belong in another category? I would guess 'Common Cider" would fit the bill, but that is to be made from "...culinary/table apples, with wild or crab apples often used for acidity/tannin balance..."

I guess I'll just be happy with my admittedly good, award-winning, bastard of a Kinston Black cider.

TB

Cider Vinegar Available

2008-12-22T10:04:00.001-08:00

Hey Folks:

I still have a good bit of my all-natural Live Mother Cider Vinegar
around, so if anyone wants some, give me a shout via the email link in
the right column. Price same as in the garage, $7 for 750 ml. Bulk
orders are good, I'd do a case for $60 ($5 per bottle).

"Miss'n Apple Cider"

2008-12-21T07:45:00.000-08:00

Don't know about the 'rotten fruit' part, but this is pretty cool (I'll even let it mess with my window size):

[Fwd: Commercial Cider Mills in Washington State]

2008-12-21T07:40:00.001-08:00

Terry:

Just read through your website and would like to provide some more cider
mills for your consideration.

I am a fairly new home cider maker with no financial connections to some
of the commercial cider mills (Sweet & Hard Cider) from around
Washington State (from a short Google search):

*_SWEET CIDER:_*
http://www.bellewoodapples.com/

http://www.allaboutapples.com/orchard/wa02.htm

http://www.washingtonapplecountry.com/

http://www.lattinscider.com/applecider.html

http://www.orondociderworks.com/

*_HARD CIDER:_*
http://www.washingtonapplecountry.com/

http://www.fishbrewing.com/ciders.html

http://www.tulipvalley.net/

http://www.bluemountaincider.com/?page_id=9

There is also a Pacific Northwest Cider Society that may be of interest,
see their site at:
http://www.nwcider.org/index.html

Best Regards,
Carl

2008 Cider Season by the Numbers

2008-12-11T13:37:00.001-08:00

Sweet Juice (jugs) sold......279 gallons
Sweet juice unsold (vinegar, frozen, given away)......111 gal
Fermenting stock sold......243 gal
TB's fermenting stock......100 gal; 1/2 will go to vinegar
Vinegar sold......4 cases
Total # Squeezes......54
Total Gallons Squeezed......780
Profit (juice sales - apples, jugs,etc.)......$1800
Mill improvements (Pan, steelwork, paint)......$450
Net Profit......$1350
Hours spent......100 (very conservative)
Return on time ($/hour)......$13.50

Not included is initial cost of mill, home orchard, etc that could
probably be amortized over say ten years for about $350 per year, puts
my time under $10 per hour.

Obviously I don't do this for money, but more to spread the good cider
culture about and cover my expenses while I'm at it. Also not taken
into account here is the lack of a day off from Labor Day to Halloween,
and Julie's time spent tending to Alice and out home life alone while
I'm squeezing away. I need to officially thank Julie and Alice for all
they deal with while I'm hiding out in the garage on weekends.

Worth it? Yes, but I'm always glad when the season's over, and look
forward to it as it begins. Sounds like it's balanced itself out a
little. And no, I don;t ever plan on going into November.

Wild stuff

2008-11-18T06:56:00.001-08:00

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht
the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total
mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but, the wrod as a wlohe.

Ptetry amzanig huh?

Re: Keeving Question

2008-10-17T04:58:00.001-07:00

Dave:

Gary Awdey has produced some nice instructions of getting a keeve
going. I don't have them handy but they can be summarized as such:
Since you are starting with a juice with a good proportion of
bittersweets I don't see where PME enzyme is necessary, and as we
discussed it isn't really available in the states anyway.Allow the juice
to rest in a cool spot, preferably <50F, around 40 is better. Add your
CaCl at a rate of about 9 grams per 5 gallons, a little more won't hurt.
Keep the carboy covered, a dry airlock or even a condom works well.
Watch for signs of keeving over the next few days. Gel should start to
form within a few days; the key point is when it coagulates and rises to
the top of the carboy. Siphon the clear juice under the gel into a
fresh carboy. Sometimes the cap just won't float up, in this case you
can do a 'bottom keeve' and siphon the juice off the top of the gel.
There are some pictures on my website
<http://www.lostmeadowvt.com/cider/keeve.htm>. I've had some problems
getting spontaneous ferments from the press this year, so you may want
to pitch a few grains of packaged wine yeast into the juice at the start
of the whole process. Ferment to clarified juice as you would any cider
or wine, but keep it cool. You may wish to rack it in midwinter if a
good yeast bed forms.

Good luck!

TerryB

> Hi Terry,
>
> Thanks again for the cider and the carboys. Since I have my mind set
> on doing French cider, I probably could not have found a better
> contact than you. I appreciate all the advice and support.
>
> A question about the keeving process: Apart from putting some calcium
> chloride in the cider you gave me, do I need to do anything else? I
> will be keeping the jugs in my cider room (soon to be finished) in my
> basement and I will try to keep the temperature there at around 50
> degrees once it gets colder). How long should it take for the keeving
> to happen, a month? two months?
>
> Thanks very much.
>
> Best,
>
> Dave

Season's ending soon

2008-10-13T04:21:00.001-07:00

Hey all:

I was just wanting to let everyone know that the mill will only be
squeezing for two more weekends, and the hard cider blends will run out
so if you're in, let me know now- how much you want and when you want
it. I'll be squeezing Saturdays 10/18 and 25; pickup can be between
1:00-6:00 on those Saturdays or all day the following Sundays (19th and
26th). I could also be convinced to accept empty carboys on the Fridays
prior at my work in South Burlington with return the following Monday.

The remaining apple stash looks great: Major and Somerset Redstreak, two
really nice bittersweets from Poverty Lane Orchard; the bittersweets
Binet Rouge, Bedan, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, and Stembridge from my own
plantings; some Esopus Spitzenburg, Black Oxford, and Hubbardston
Nonesuch heirlooms from right here at Lost Meadow Orchard; a bin of
Golden Russets coming from Douglas Orchards in Shoreham and my workhorse
Liberty from the Champlain Valley to round it all out. The blends I
will make from these fruit simply cannot be found at most other cider
mills, and your resulting ciders will be worth the trip. See the awards
page here for proof: http://www.lostmeadowvt.com/cider/awards.htm

Hard cider blends will remain at $7 per gallon, in your container, this
season. I try to carry a limited number of supplies (ailocks, stoppers,
carboys, sulfite, yeast) to get you started.

Any questions or for reservations email me (click email in sidebar) or
call (802)229-2004.

TerryB

--
================
Terence Bradshaw
Lost Meadow Orchard and Cidery
Calais, VT 1450 feet asl

http://www.lostmeadowvt.com

Cider Day!!

2008-09-26T04:24:00.000-07:00

For those in the area, check out Cider Day in Colrain, MA on November 1 and 2 this year. It's a great event for all things cider. For more information go to www.ciderday.org.

Heirloom Fruit Workshop

2008-09-26T04:23:00.001-07:00

Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
9 a.m - 7 p.m.
Old Sturbridge Village, Mass.

Dear Fruit Growers, Chefs and Food Historians of Massachusetts,

You are invited to attend a workshop on rediscovering forgotten heirloom fruits and restoring historic orchards in Massachusetts. The workshop will take place on November 1, 2008 beginning at 9:00 am at Old Sturbridge Village, with a visit to a local orchard in the afternoon, followed by an heirloom apple tasting event. Co-sponsored by the Renewing America's Food Traditions (RAFT) Alliance and hosted by Old Sturbridge Village, it will feature two heirloom fruit conservationists from Arizona, Kanin Routson and Gary Nabhan, in addition to local experts. The goal of RAFT is to safeguard foods currently at risk in the landscape, and bring a greater diversity of these back to our tables. In the morning, the workshop will highlight the historic loss of fruit diversity; reasons for still maintaining heirlooms; how to begin to identify "unnamed" varieties found in abandoned orchards; historic orchard restoration; and establishing a regional directory of sources of historic scion wood. After lunch, we will journey to an abandoned orchard in Rutland, returning to Old Sturbridge Village for an heirloom apple tasting event. A $25 fee per person includes the costs of materials and lunch. Reservations may be made by contacting Old Sturbridge Village at www.osv.org and must be made by October 22, 2008. We look forward to your involvement; please call Gary Nabhan at 928-225-0293 or email him at gpnabhan@email.arizona.edu if you have questions.

Thank you,
Gary, Suzanne, Christie, Jenny and Leigh

Managed by Slow Food USA, RAFT is an alliance of food, farming, environmental and culinary advocates who have joined together to identify, restore and celebrate America’s biologically and culturally diverse food traditions through conservation, education, promotion and regional networking.

Founding RAFT partners: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University, Chefs Collaborative, The Cultural Conservancy, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Seed Savers Exchange and Slow Food USA

For more information about RAFT visit www.slowfoodusa.org

Simple Steps to a Great Dry Hard Cider:

2008-09-26T04:21:00.001-07:00

1. Use the best juice possible. A blend of high-tannin cider fruits from wild apples, European bittersweets, or some crabapples, mixed with a balanced juice apple like Liberty, Golden Russet, Gala, Golden Delicious, Northern Spy will give a fermenting ‘must’ with good fermentation characteristics. If possible use fruit from low-fertility soils or trees without excess soluble nitrogen. Our cider blends offer these characteristics.

2. Press on a clean press with wooden racks, preferably cultured for a good wild yeast population.

3. Transfer to a sanitized carboy, filling to just below the shoulder.

4. Treat the juice with 50 ppm sulfite to limit growth of wild bacteria.

5. Place the fermenter in a cool area, preferably <60°F. Primary fermentation should begin within a few days. Using wild yeasts you will not tend to get the vigorous foaming found in a cultured yeast ferment, but some froth will be evident. Yopu may want to attach a blowoff tube to the airlock or even leave the fermenter open with a bit of cheesecloth over the top to prevent bugs from getting in. A secondary container such as a bathtub will allow easy cleanup if it does ‘puke out’ a little bit.

6. After the initial froth subsides, top up the carboy to the neck with fresh cider and attach the airlock. Make sure the water level is kept up. For an extra degree of safety a sulfite solution or even vodka can be used in the airlock. Keep the fermenter cool, preferably <50°F.

7. Let her sit for 2-3 months. Rack off the lees in midwinter if desired. Then let her sit some more.

8. Bottle or keg in late winter or early spring. Or let her sit until summer. For a sparkling cider prime with ½ cup cane sugar at bottling time and crown cap. Let the bottles warm to 65-70°F for a day or two, then return to a cool spot for conditioning.

9. Enjoy. When coming for next year’s cider, be sure to bring a sample to swap.

Scott Farm cider apples

2008-09-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Passing this email on at the request of Zeke, a grower of really interesting apples just outside Brattleboro, VT:

Terry, we have a very good supply of Kingston Black along with several other American and English apples well suited for hard cider if you could pass the word along.
Our price would be $14/bu, $12 for American and some of the other French and English varieties.
Contact Scott Farm at scottfrm@sover.net or 802 254 6868. Thanks and good luck with the season.
Zeke Goodband

Fall is Here: Lost Meadow Cider Mill Opens September 13, 2008

2008-08-26T04:05:00.000-07:00

Calais,VT:

Lost Meadow Cider Mill will be open weekends this fall starting September 13 and going until October 26. The mill is located off County Rd in Calais, VT, two miles south of Maple Corner.

Fresh juice will be available for pickup Saturday or Sunday 12:00-6:00 PM or until it's gone. Call or email for directions. Sorry, the mill is not open to the public during operation. If you need juice and can't catch us on weekends or want us to reserve some, call and we'll work something out [(802) 229-2004].

We will also have our own vinegar for sale at the mill as well as the odd bag of apples that we just didn't have the heart to put through the grinder.

Lost Meadow Cider Mill is located on Wheeler Road in Calais, VT; just off County Road a couple miles south of Maple Corner or about seven miles from the Main St rotary in Montpelier. _ Sweet Juice ('Cider')_ Generally we squeeze on Saturday morning and try to be cleaning up by the time we'open' around noon. Sweet juice (unpasteurized 'cider') will be available every weekend until it's gone. The price for all fresh cider on these days is$5 per gallon, in our one-gallon jugs only. We do not fill your containers with fresh juice. _ Fermenting stock ('Cidre') _ We will be making cidremaker's blends on the most weekends of the season, at the end of the squeeze day. Varieties used will change with the season; come a couple different times and compare the ciders you make! Juice blends consist of a base, usually Liberty, Cortland, Gala, or Golden (Delicious and Russet) and a bittersweet/sharp component such as Foxwhelp, Ellis Bitter, Yarlington Mill, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, and some local crabs. Blended cidre juice is $7 per gallon in your container only. Carboys and other supplies can be had from Vermont Homebrew Supply in Winooski, VT (802) 655-2070. For a basic cider you will only need to bring a clean, sanitized carboy and airlock. We can take care of the rest, including any tips and consultation needed to get things going.We strongly suggest getting reservations in ASAP for your blended juice. While the sweet juice will ferment into cider, the special blends tailored for cidermaking are the reason why we do this, and a much superior product will come from it. And once the barrels are empty, it will be a long wait until next year.

All cider apples are sourced from Vermont or New Hampshire orchards and are tree picked, whole, sound fruit. The variety mix will change with the season and we use only the freshest fruit available, not cold-storage packing house cast-offs. The orchards we work with all follow modern Integrated Pest Management protocols to ensure that their produce is free of harmful residues and grown in an environmentally responsible manner. Some fruit are sourced from organic or unsprayed trees depending on availability and quality. All juice is unpasteurized. For more information on cider/food safety go to http://www.lostmeadowvt.com/juice/safety.htm/

Lost Meadow Orchard and Cider Mill are run by Terry Bradshaw and his family. Terry has been in the orchard business for fourteen years and has made cider every one of them. His fermented ciders have won national awards in American Homebrew Association-sanctioned events and have developed a local following. These hard ciders are never for sale, but he is always glad to show you how to make your own.

A tale of two ciders

2008-07-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

I've been making cider for a long time, let's say 13 years or so. For a long time I was working solely with 'dessert' apples and some crabs for tannin kick. Now I have/had access to table fruit unlike the average Mac-Delicious-Cortland fruit widely available in New England and elsewhere, and discovered that Liberty, a scab-resistant apple from the Cornell breeding program, makes a decent cider on its own and contributes a lot to a blend as well. After a lot of trial and error I came upon a blend from an unsprayed block I used to manage. At the time the mill I used would not squeeze sprayed fruit, so this was a good block to have. For a number of years my main cider blend consisted of Liberty, Haralson, Nova-Easy-Grow, and some Redfield crab. This made a decent cider, but it tended to be rather sharp, although my tongue got used to it. In 2003 I even did an oak barrel ferment of this blend that turned out well, if not a bit overpowered with oak.
But in the meantime I was just getting it together to grow or source my own 'real' cider fruit, the bittersharps and bittersweets of European ancestry. After reading Proulx and Nichols' cider book, and talking with Steve Wood on the subject, I was convinced that I needed these fruit to make the best cider. In fact I think my infamous statement that I had not yet made a great cider came from that time. So I planted my orchard, and began buying in fruit from Steve. Yes, I was still blending with Liberty most of the time, and starting making good, even great ciders. But I still had not approached the holy grail of ciders, at least according to the books and experts. I'm talking about a varietal Kingston Black cider.
In 2007 I finally had enough KB for a single squeeze. Mind you I was throwing terroir out the window...these fruit came from South Burlington and Calais, Vt as well as Lebanon, NH. But squeeze it I did, and fermented in my usual minimalist style; 50 ppm sulfite at the squeeze, wild yeast, cold fermentation, one racking. In May it was still at a gravity of 1.005 or so, and fairly cloudy, so I hit it with some bentonite, 25 ppm sulfite, and racked. I bottled it two weeks ago.

The verdict? This is a damned good cider, I'd even say excellent (look for it as an entry in the 2008 GLOWS competition). Full bodied, slightly fruity, rich, with just the right acid-tannin balance. It's dry, but that tiniest bit of sweetness carries through with a nice apple character. I call this my Kingston Black Special Reserve, and even state on the label that the drinker should consider themselves lucky to be trying this potion.

So just the other night I was poking around the cider room and came across a bottle of 03 Bar (barrel blend, 2003 harvest). I didn't expect much from this five-year old cider; pulling the cork found a slight effervescent 'pop', maybe not a good thing. It poured into the glass with the most gorgeous trains of bubbles I've seen, the color a nice mild amber. There was still some nice sharp fruit in the aroma, and the flavor? Spectacular! Balanced sharpness, fully dry but fruity, very subdued oak. If I'd known that it would have aged this well I would have saved more than one bottle, and that was probably a mistake.
As for how it matches up to the Kingston Black, I'd put it on equal footing. Once you reach a certain level, particularly with the balance of acid, fruit, and sweetness, they become peers and do not deserve judgment against one another. Am I surprised that 'domestic' apples could make a cider on par with the supposed king of cider apples? Not really, and I have long advocated that the right domestic/crab blends can make decent and even great cider. I just thought it interesting that I got a chance to haphazardly try these two within a couple of days of each other.

Oh, and I no longer say that I haven't ever made a Great Cider.

TB

I'm Back

2008-07-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

From where? Nowhere, I'm just telling myself that it's time to breathe some life into this little cider tale. Expect a few more posts in the coming weeks, and of course details on the 2008 season at Lost Meadow Cidery.

TB

Vermont the #1 cidermaker in US?

2008-03-10T05:55:00.001-07:00

Hi Terry,

SF here--I interviewed you in the fall for an article for the
Montpelier Bridge. Question: someone told me VT is the largest producer
of hard cider in the U.S. True? False? Somewhere in between?
Thanks so much! Hope your workshop at NOFA was a success.

My response:
It's possible that VT is the biggest producer of "hard cider" in the US,
if only because of the presence of Green Mountain Cidery (in
Middlebury), makers of Woodchuck and Cider Jack ciders. They were once
under ownership of Bulmer's UK, the largest cidermakers in the world.
That said, their products are what we call 'industrial ciders'; highly
doctored and not exactly naturally fermented. The process usually is
such: cheap juice (often foreign concentrate) sugared up to double the
alcohol level, ferment fast and dry, water back to 5% abv, add more
apple juice concentrate to sugar it up and replace any flavor or nuance
that were not there after the previous bastardization, pasteurize,
sorbate, sulfite, force carbonate, bottle, and sell on the nearest
alco-pop shelf alongside such concoctions as "Twisted Tea" and "Hard
Lemonade".

Real cider from real juice is probably most made in Oregon, only a guess
but there's a handful of operations out there. NY has a number as well,
as does New England (but only one or maybe two per state it seems).

See my bias?

Thanks for the question...makes me feel like an expert.

OldTimey Dave's Cider Blog

2008-02-15T05:30:00.001-08:00

Check it out here

Gang filters

2008-02-12T13:02:00.001-08:00

Sterile filter setup used for stabilizing sweet ciders. Cleared, cold-shocked, off-dry or sweet ciders are pushed from keg A through two filters, each with two pads apiece. Filter 1 filters down to 2 microns, then filter 2 goes down to 0.5 microns, effectively leaving the cider free of yeast. I generally add 25 ppm sulfite to keg 2 and keep under CO2 pressure to prevent oxidation. Filtering happens at 7-10 psi system pressure.

2007 Great Lakes Olde World Syder Competition

2007-12-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

The results are in:

2007 Great Lakes Olde World Syder Competition
Bronze Medal, 'English Cider,' 06 Dry Bittersharp
Silver Medal, 'English Cider,' 06 Dry Bittersweet
Honorable Mention, 'French Cider,' 06 Bittersweet Semisweet

I could say that I'm a little disappointed with the results...what the hell is 'honorable mention'? Sounds like when you say a blind date had a 'good personality'. But really I know that my ciders are pretty good, and I like them. What this really shows is that the quality of cider made by the enthusiasts all over North America who enter this competition is increasing by leaps and bounds over previous years. There's a lot of debate in the cider community over the worth of these competitions, but in the end I feel that it is indicative of better cider produced of late and more of them being made, both commercially and by us home types. Considering that there were over 140 ciders entered into the competition, I'm pretty happy to think that mine were considered good enough for 'honorable mention,' at a minimum (these were the only three ciders I entered).
I would love to see my mill customers enter their own ciders into this and other comps, if only to show that we have the potential to make really nice ciders on a larger scale in this little corner of the world. Hell, I'll even arrange shipping to the venue. Any takers? Green Mountain Homebrew Comp comes May 2008...

TB

I guess my "Bradshaw Fruit Press" ain't the only one around!

2007-12-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

See it here, a whole lot cheaper than my setup!

A little quote I like...

2007-12-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

"Winemaking isn’t a science. It’s just a branch of cooking where we use a calendar instead of a timer – the ultimate Slow Food. Putting something distinctive and visceral on the table is the challenge with which every chef deals daily. As in all cooking, distinctive terroir expression suffers from overspicing. That doesn’t mean all cooking is bad. You just need to have respect for the native flavors of your raw materials."

From Clark Smith, Appellation America

Cidermaking at Woods Cider Mill

2007-12-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

Making Apple Cider, "The Cider House Rules" Cider Mill - Click here for more free videos
A cool video of their water powered mill. How this could be cleaned in this age to sanitary standards I don't know, but I love an operation like this.
Woods Cider Mill

TB

Ham makes cider....

2007-11-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

I think I have a protégé.

Over the past decade I’ve gotten a bit of a reputation for my cider. And of course in the last couple of years I have been helping people make their own through my little garage mill. Well this fall things really took off, and folks seem to be getting into the cider thing, especially my pal Ham Davis.

I first met Ham some three or so years ago, when he called up UVM looking for someone to prune the apple tree in his back yard. So one March day I went to his Burlington Hill Section house and whacked away at his twenty year-old Red Astrachan tree. Ham hung around as I pruned and picked my brain on all things apple, as many do. He mentioned several times that he was a writer, something I admit I brushed off a little bit. So when I was done, he asked what I would charge him. “A good story on the apple industry,” I told him.

So at least two good stories later (pretty good reads on the Darrows of Green Mountain Orchard and the orchard operations at Scott Farm) and many afternoons spent in that orchard and at the farm talking apples, grapes, and cider, Ham made it down my way this fall. But first he published a nice little piece on cider , mainly on Farnum Hill but with a decent bit of my operation in it.

So Ham came by the mill for a good long day this fall, and got a good dose of juice for himself. It’s his first turn at making cider, or even fermenting anything beyond some nasty brew back in his days in the service. I’m helping him along the way, answering any questions he has like the good cidermaker’s assistant I am.

I look forward to his cider, and mine, next spring. And I look forward to that apple/cider book I know he will write one day.

2007 cider season by the numbers

2007-11-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

For six weekends I ran the mill this past season. That’s no days off for six (actually seven) weeks. What came of it all? Here’s 2007 by the numbers:
Four good local news stories, the best and cheapest advertising I could get. An emailed press release is a powerful thing.
About 700 gallons of juice squeezed, half of that fermenting stock. Sold out most weekends.
$1330 net profit.
65 gallons of the good stuff for my own use, 13 gallons of sweet juice frozen or canned.
Met some nice people, and spread the goodness of real cider to ‘the masses’.
Got some nice trades; a belly full of fresh raw oysters, and several folks offering up their own brews.

All sounds like a rousing success, no? Well the mill needs just shy of $1000 in improvements, which I could realistically put into it every year for the next few. Stainless press pan and plastic racks, for starters. Some welding and tweaking to the press itself. Epoxy coating the walls and sealing of the garage. Patching and sealing the concrete floor. Installing hot water. Then of course there’s the grinder which, while it is the most efficient garage-press unit I’ve ever seen, could use a major overhaul. New steel table with stainless top. 35 gallon conical bottom complete drain hopper, direct dumped from the grinder. Then the big kicker, a stainless pomace pump to fill the racks without any buckets. Of course that would also require some electrical work. And finally a washline for incoming fruit would be an excellent addition.

Presently I have the efficiency of the mill dialed in to commercial standards, and no backyard screwbox can touch it in terms of gallons of juice per bushel. I feel very good about mill sanitation when I am using my own fruit, and in the way that I operate it. Still, most of these improvements are geared towards two goals: further improving sanitation, and speeding cleanup time. Once these parts are tweaked I should be able to squeeze more in less time and clean up in an hour, as opposed to the three-plus it takes now. Then I might be able to take a day off in the fall, or squeeze more, including taking in people’s fruit for custom pressing.

So $1300 doesn’t sound like so much now, does it? I would do that in a month of bartending back in the day, and those few customers who always turn out to be pains in the ass at least weren’t standing in my driveway. I also didn’t have to invest almost three grand to get there (not including the real estate of the garage, or even my orchard costs) with continued investment of $500-1000 for each of the foreseeable seasons.

Why do I do this? Maybe Julie’s right, that I’m trying to live out my little orchard/cider dreams. I know that I would be making cider for myself no matter what, so it makes sense to do it right and spread the goodies around. . I’ll go on about those (sweet juice) customers that make me question the worth of it all in another entry. But still I could do this by sticking only to the hard cider end of things, which would be a hell of a lot easierBut then I wouldn’t have the satisfaction of having a stranger call me out of the blue to tell me that my sweet cider is the best stuff they’ve ever tasted. And I wouldn’t have Alice standing next to the press with her cup, catching any drip she can get to, with that big juicy grin on her face.

2007 Cider Mill Notes...Looking for Input

2007-11-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

So harvest is officially over, and the cider mill closed. I need to assess things to see how to tweak it for next year, or if it even makes sense to do so. So, my minimal legion of readers, I will call on you to help me out. In the coming days and weeks I will be bouncing ideas around about how the season went, where I want the mill to go, and how to get there. Any takers? Feel free to post comments through the blog

10/3 Cider Apple Harvest at LostMeadow

2007-10-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

Alice and I harvested cider fruit from the orchard yesterday. We already picked the Kingston Blacks, 1 box from three trees, on Sep 19, along with the St Edmund's Russet (fraction of a box from one tree). The KB's have a nice balanced and intense flavor, the St Ed's Russets have that pear like russet flavor.
As for the 10/3 pick we looked to the cider trees that were showing the most drop. Picked Nehou and Michelin, two boxes total. I'll save those for a keeved cidre doux. We collected drops from th Dabinetts, maybe 1/2 box and stripped one tree that was maturing early due most likely to borer infestation. Then we picked the Chisel Jersey tree, mainly because the fruit were dropping at the slightest nudge (1 box). This high-tannin bitter tastes just like a tea bag, perfect for addition to a low-tannin cider. Next were the Sweet Alfords, one box from two Bud 9 trees. These Alfords have a mild cider apple flavor; not too high in tannin (although it's there), and low in acid. I think they would make a very nice cider mixed 1:1 with Liberty.
Then we snacked on a Sweet 16, nice flavor with hints of vanilla, and an Egremont Russet, low yielding miserable tree habit, fruit has a nice balanced acid/sugar flavor.

Oh, and 10/3 is Ira "Schiffer" Chamber's birthday. Went to school with him and haven't seen him since, but I have a weird knack for remembering the birthdays of people from elementary school. Full Steam Ahead!

TB

Oysters and cider

2007-10-01T04:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had a visitor/customer, Rowan Jacobsen, another Calais resident. This is a funny town I live in; there are still a pretty good number of old-school Vermonters, as well as plenty of new transplants of the past 35 years to now. Being so close to the capitol, as well as in a fairly artistic community, many of these folks, natives and newcomers alike, tend to develop interests and talents that are pretty unique. I guess my little cider operation is a good case in point.
So Rowan came by for some hard cider fixin's. As often happens talk came to my cider, which I informed him wasn't for sale. "You like oysters?" he asked. Turns out Rowan, a young guy about my age, is quite the expert on oysters, and even wrote an excellent book on the subject (The Geography of Oysters). Packed away in a cooler in his car, just drop-shipped from an oyster farmer in Rhode Island, were three varieties of these little bivalves, fresh and ready for snacking. So cider was poured, shucking knife whipped out, and a nice little raw bar set up on the hood of his Subaru in my driveway. Now I'm no expert on oysters, and had only snacked on them once before, but it was really cool to have such a delicacy offered up. Thanks Rowan!

Rowan's website (www.oysterguide.com) is an excellent starting point to learn about these creattures. Or better yet, buy the book!

TB

Cider's turn toward elegance

2007-09-24T03:49:00.001-07:00

Vermont Sunday Magazine
Published September 23, 2007
Cider's turn toward elegance

By Hamilton E. Davis

In the American colonial period, the universal drink, even for children, was apple cider. That's cider as in hard cider, mildly alcoholic, with just a touch of sweetness. President John Adams is said to have had a tankard every day for breakfast.

Hard cider had pretty much disappeared from the American table by the 20th century, the victim of safer water supplies as well as huge increases first in beer and then in wine. Now hard cider is coming back, and just as New England was the focus of early apple growing in this country, it is the epicenter of the cider renaissance.

A clear leader in this development is Farnum Hill of Lebanon, N.H., operated by Steve Wood and his wife, Louisa. Wood has transformed his traditional New England orchard of mostly McIntosh into a fascinating hybrid of antique eating and cooking apples and an array of cider apples from England and France that few in this country have ever encountered — Ashmead's Kernel, Stoke Red, Foxwhelp, Kingston Black and dozens of others. Some of his varieties, such as Golden Russet, Esopus Spitzenberg and Ashmead's Kernel, are good for both eating and cider.

For Wood, the operative word is good: He is aiming at the high end of the market, hoping to inspire the growth of demand for fine cider that would parallel the modern wine market, in which large numbers of producers make excellent wines that differ from one another only slightly, with aficionados debating the nuances of bouquet, taste, color and finish. And paying high prices into the bargain.

At this point, the hard cider market barely qualifies as embryonic, but Wood seems to be meeting the quality challenge. His Farnum Hill ciders have received rave reviews from various food and general publications, including the Wine Enthusiast, Saveur and The Atlantic. Vincent Gasnier, a prominent British sommelier and wine writer, says that he agreed with the company's claim that it produces the best ciders in the United States. "I would even say these ciders are comparable to the best from France," he wrote.

Writing in The New York Times, food writer Amanda Hesser surveyed the hard cider revival in the United States and concluded: "Farnum Hill Ciders stand alone. If you swirl a glass of the sparkling semidry, a waft of citrus blossoms and pear travels up your nose. It is dry and crisp, with a gentle warming quality, like Scotch. … His extra dry has the same kind of vibrancy, with an aroma of cherries and melon that seem to leap from the glass. It is dry and distinct with a pleasant sharpness reminiscent of bitter oranges. Both would be terrific with a meal."

Despite these encomiums, Farnum Hill and other quality cider makers face difficult barriers in penetrating a market dominated by wine and beer. Farnum Hill has succeeded in getting its ciders onto the menu in some high-end restaurants, like Gramercy Tavern in New York City. But you can't find Farnum Hill ciders at the Burlington City Market, or the Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier, although buyers at both say they consider hard cider an interesting product.

You can buy them at the Hanover Coop's outlets in Hanover and Lebanon, N.H., which also carries Woodchuck, a commercial variety made in Middlebury, and a hard cider imported from Ireland. Dave Phillips, a beverage buyer at the Hanover Coop, says Farnum Hill represents the high-quality line at his stores. He said he personally likes Farnum Hill's farmhouse and summer ciders, as well as the Kingston Black varietal, but that the extra dry is a little too dry for his palette.

Farnum Hill is more than competitive at the Hanover and Lebanon sites of the Hanover Coop. In 2006, Farnum Hill sold just over 1,700 bottles of its cider, compared to just under 1,000 six packs of Woodchuck, the main low-end cider sold. "It's like drinking Bud Lite versus something like Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout," Phillips said. "I've had many customers come in and say Farnum Hill is the closest thing I've had here to an English cider," Philips said.

The production of fine cider is so new that it is difficult to get figures on its importance in the overall beverage market. A Cornell University study estimated that cider production didn't begin to recover in the United States until the early 1990s, but that it has grown rapidly since then. In 1990, total production amounted to 115,000 cases. By 1995, the total was 1.6 million cases, and by 1997 the number reached 2.7 million cases. The industry target is 75 million cases by 2015.

Much of this is less expensive cider, usually sold in six packs and made from apple juice concentrate, similar to bulk wines made from generic grape juice. A major distributor of six-pack cider is Green Mountain Beverage, which is based in Middlebury. Green Mountain comprises the former Green Mountain Cidery and the American Cider Co. Both were acquired in the late 1990s by Bulmers, a huge British producer and then sold in 2003 to the Vermont group. Green Mountain Beverage (its actual corporate name) distributes several styles of cider, including Woodchuck, Cider Jack, Strongbow (imported from Britain) and Woodpecker, made in Middlebury from a Bulmer's recipe. The firm actually accounts for about half the U.S cider market.

Boston Beer, the maker of Sam Adams, is also now making cider called HardCore, and it has experimented with high-end production. In 1999, for example, it made a limited edition, special batch made from 100 bushels of eight varieties of classic cider apples. The apples are supplied by Farnum Hill.

The ability of boutique cider makers in Northern New England to build a market for their products bears considerable significance for the overall apple industry in the region. For the industry has been under siege for a decade, with costs rising rapidly and prices stagnant, especially for McIntosh, the main mass-market eating apple grown here. Some growers, like Scott farm in Dummerston, and the Steve Wood operation, have been able to get much higher prices for unusual varieties. At Scott Farm, Zeke Goodband, the orchard manager, grows some 70 varieties of apples in a 6,000-tree orchard and gets almost twice as much per pound for his exotic varieties as other growers receive for more traditional mass-market apples, such as McIntosh.

The exotic varieties originally fell out of mass-market favor for many reasons. Some simply didn't look very good. Some were brown, or greenish brown when consumers wanted only bright red. Some tasted bland or even terrible when eaten out of hand, but were much better when cooked in pies, or made into sauce. Others were good mainly for cider. Varieties that were good all around sometimes didn't keep well, or bruised too easily, or had too small a selling window — good for a week or two, then they fade. That's too short a time for them to be transported and sold.

What Wood and other growers of the old time varieties have found is that some consumers, although by no means a new mass market, will pay for the virtues of these old varieties. The potential problem, of course, is that many producers can begin to grow them and flood the market, driving down the prices. The virtue of a high-quality cider market is that consumers will pay good prices for the small differences in flavors based on the blending of ciders from different varieties. It all comes down to the skills and tastes of the producer.

Steve Wood, a tall, powerfully built man of 52, got into the apple cider business as a response to market conditions, mediated by serendipity. He grew up in Lebanon, where his father was a family doctor with a penchant for hard work and accumulating land. In the early 1960s, when Doctor Wood had paid off his medical school bills, he began buying land around Farnum Hill; one of the major pieces included an orchard and a sprawling old farm house on Poverty Lane, which runs up Farnum Hill from Route Four. The site looks west to the valley of the Connecticut and the Green Mountains beyond.

As a kid, Steve worked on the farm for his father, who he describes as a slave driver. He mowed, pruned trees, baled hay for mulch, worked on machinery, but he had no intention of getting involved in the farming operation. Both before and after graduating from Harvard, Steve went west, working in hard mining, partly to test himself physically, and partly because his father had done the same thing to finance medical school.

By the 1970s, however, the farm began encountering more and more financial difficulties, in part because of Doctor Wood's appetite for land and his reluctance to develop it. The long and the short of it was that in 1979, Steve decided to take a year to see if he could get the orchard back on its feet. That involved selling some of the land and managing the orchard. In 1984, he and his wife Louisa bought the orchard property outright.

Known as Poverty Lane Orchards, the business was a traditional New England apple operation. They had about 80 plus acres of trees, medium size for an orchard in the region, and they grew and sold mostly McIntosh apples, along with some Cortlands and Golden Delicious, marketing them through a broker.

In the 1980s, however, Wood's orchard – along with every other orchard in New England – began running into serious trouble. The problem was that the market was softening: People were eating fewer apples, and the prices were dropping, while costs were steadily rising. For example, new equipment was needed to pack apples mechanically. Orchard owners felt they had to build controlled-atmosphere storage facilities, so they could hold fall-picked apples for sale in the spring. Supermarkets, meanwhile, were imposing new requirements on growers. The apples had to be absolutely blemish-free; they had to be waxed, and they had to be as big as possible because they were sold by the pound, whereas most consumers purchase a specific number of apples.

And in the early 1970s, a truly nasty challenge in the form of the first Granny Smith apple showed up from the southern hemisphere. "That should have waked up the whole industry to the fact that we were going to receive freshly picked fruit in the spring and it doesn't matter how good a storage operator you are, you can't produce an apple out of CA storage that is in as good condition as an apple that was picked two weeks ago," he says.

What most New England orchard operators did was to keep investing in the machinery and infrastructure they assumed was necessary to stay in business. Wood didn't invest in any of it.

"I just chickened out," he says. "I couldn't imagine spending that huge portion of my equity on those machines, so I just didn't do it."

He continued to grow and sell high-quality fruit, and contracting for packing and other services that he couldn't do himself, but by the mid 1990s, Steve and Louisa realized that they just couldn't make enough money. "I think it was probably five years ago I sent my last trailer-load of fruit off to a packer," he says, "and the return was such a joke that I thought, 'let's never do that again.'"

So they began to shift their focus, which is where the serendipity came in. A decade earlier, Wood and his wife had begun visiting friends and family in Wales, flying to London and driving through southwest England to reach their destination. Southwest England is the home of the British cider industry, and Steve would occasionally pull over to look at what seemed to him very weird apples.

Eventually he began gathering scion wood — twigs clipped from the cider apple trees — and he grafted them onto the old standards in his orchard. In fact, he had two stands of these old standards down the hill from the house; they call those stands "Below the Barn, One and Two." At the same time, he became interested in and began grafting uncommon American apples. Hundreds of these old varieties had been imported to the United States in the 19th century from England, France, Central Europe and Russia; most had failed the test of the modern market place, and had retreated to the fringe of the apple business, surviving in old, abandoned orchards or in museum plantings. Wood grafted dozens of these also, often exchanging scion wood with his friend, Zeke Goodband, who was doing the same thing, first in southern New Hampshire, and now at Scott Farm in southern Vermont. In addition, he made contact in Britain with many cider apple growers and producers and he learned much by talking to them.

"I got the notion that this would be an interesting sideline," he says. "I could conduct a horticultural experiment to see which of these cider apples would grow to a high standard in our growing conditions. Herefordshire and Somerset, the cider districts of England, don't have our extreme cold, and they have longer growing seasons." At the time, he considered neither the cider apple project nor the growing of antique, or uncommon varieties, as any kind of grand business scheme.

"I was treating this as a commercial experiment, but to be honest, it was as much gardening as anything … I was just fooling around with apple trees."

Nevertheless, the flowering of the experiment converged with Wood's growing realization that the traditional business model of the New England apple orchard no longer worked. So the original business has morphed into his Poverty Lane Orchards, which sells antique varieties, such as Esopus Spitzenberg, Hubbardston Nonesuch, Golden Russet and dozens of others, directly to retail outlets both in the region, and in high-end stores in New York and several other major cities. The Woods market their ciders under the name Farnum Hill Ciders, and they have been working hard to get the ciders into the marketplace.

The first part of the cider challenge has been met. Wood has determined which varieties, especially which of his English cider varieties, will do well in Northern New England. He can grow them now reliably, and he has a more than sufficient supply to serve the very small existing market. In fact, he almost certainly has far more of these varieties than anyone else. Many of his friends and colleagues are also growing cider apples, but Wood appears to be the only one who has them in any real volume.

This year, for example, Wood has 4,000 cider apple trees coming into production at a site he calls the Black Hill in Plainfield, N.H., a short drive from Farnum Hill. He has thousands more at three different sites on Farnum Hill itself that are in full production. These are in addition to the uncommon eating varieties that he produces. In fact, Wood has more cider apples than he needs, in the hopes that the market for fine ciders will grow.

Growing the cider apples, however, is just the first step, and for a lifelong apple expert like Wood, the easiest. Producing outstanding cider from those apples is another challenge entirely.

The nerve center of the Farnum Hill operation is a cluster of three high-ceilinged rooms in the basement of an old barn, just off Poverty Lane. Two of the rooms house a couple of dozen storage containers — very tall steel tanks, some squat plastic ones, and an array of classical, old-oak 55-gallon barrels laid horizontally on racks, the contents and year chalked on their ends.

The third room contains some storage facilities, but is devoted primarily to the mechanical ganglia of a fermentation business, including an ancient French device to measure alcohol content. A small lab opens off this room, where Steve and his crew take samples to help determine how to blend the final products.

When Steve shows a visitor through the place, he'll draw off a couple of small glasses from this tank and the other, swirling them, looking at the color, and then musing in an impromptu tasting about the characteristics each might bring to a final blend for the market. How much sweetness, or bitterness does it have? Can you feel the astringency, the drying sensation, of the tannins? How acidic is it? What kind of mouth feel does it have, and what about the finish, the lingering taste notes after it has been swallowed?

There are four different classifications of apples, based on different combinations of acid and tannin, and the whole enterprise rests on the ability of Steve and Louisa and the other tasters to blend them into an appealing product. It isn't easy.

"I throw away a lot of cider," Steve says. "One of the biggest mistakes people make when they get into this is to make more cider than they can afford to throw away. It's an intensely competitive market. … People don't come back and try something a second time if they didn't like it the first. I mess around a lot."

At Farnum Hill, the blending of individual ciders is a highly rigorous process. Steve convenes a four-person panel, that includes himself and Louisa and two others. One of the tasters is often one of the Farnum employees, Nicole Leibon, who has what Steve considers a very sensitive and reliable palette. The remaining tasters could include one of the Wood's two sons, Brian Goodwin, a member of the staff; Brenda Bailey, who manages the administrative side of the business, and Fitzgerald Campbell, a transplanted Jamaican who now lives in Lebanon and does the day-to-day management of the apple-growing side of the business.

Steve and Louisa have taken professional tasting courses in Europe, but they and their employees have developed a process of their own that works well. "The idea is to empty your mind," Steve says, "and simply react to the smells and tastes you experience — a peach, leather, dust, the neighbor's dog … we have one we call FYM, for farm yard manure." The Farnum panel tastes the sample, swirls it around, spits it out. Then they discuss their impressions of the various flavors they've sensed, the degree of acid and tannins they perceive, and they speculate about how consumers will react to it. On the basis of this sensory data base, Steve blends and bottles the cider.

At various times, Farnum Hill has had various blended ciders on the market. In July and August, the emphasis was on a summer cider they released in May. The others they regularly make include a Farmhouse cider, semi-dry sparkling and still ciders and extra dry sparkling and still ciders. On the evidence of the written criticism in the foodie press, they've done very well.

The pressure of the market place, however, hangs over the process, and it shows up particularly on the issue of whether Farnum Hill ought to send to market varietal ciders, those made from the juice of a single type of apple. In the past, Steve has bottled and sold a cider from the juice of Kingston Black apples, a particular favorite in Britain and one thought to have enough balance to stand on its own. It brings the highest price of any of his ciders, anywhere from $14 a bottle locally to as much as $30 in New York.

But Steve is scared to death of it. Many people love it, but some don't. The cider is a lovely amber color, and it is smooth and almost rich, but some drinkers sense a slightly musty odor. In the trade they call it butterscotch, but in fact, it very faintly evokes the barnyard. FYM. This bouquet is counted a virtue in Normandy in northern France, the spiritual home of cider. But not necessarily in a country with little to no acquaintance with hard cider.

"Even though we have been able to sell it, and sell it quite profitably, at high prices, it's a terrible introduction to cider," he says. "The worst reviews we have had are from people who go into a New York shop and pick up a bottle of Kingston Black, and don't pick up any of our other ciders. I mean, Kingston Black is just too freaking weird."

And in any case, Wood believes that cider ought to be blended to get the best result. "You get a wider and more pleasing range of flavors and aromas, a more balanced mouth feel, a cleaner, more structured finish than any single variety is likely to give," he says. So when it came time to blend the currently-on-the-market summer cider, he had to decide whether to add in a truly wonderful varietal, Ribston Pippin. Everybody who tried it loved it and urged Steve to release it as a varietal cider. But he tested it with the other components of the prospective summer cider, and it made a real, positive difference.

"So, phttp, in it went … there it goes. It's not Ribston Pippin anymore," he says mournfully. "The goal is to make the regular cider as good as we can make it."

Farnum Hill currently sells about 2,000 cases of cider a year, well below its capacity. Wood has far more cider apples than he needs, partly because doesn't want to run out of raw material if the market develops rapidly. But he has no target volumes for the operation.

"I know that for this to work we need to sell considerably more cider than we are selling right now," he says. "I don't know whether the right number is 8,000 or 20,000. I'm pretty sure it isn't 50."

The marketing end of the business is handled by Louisa Spencer, Steve's wife. It is a hard challenge, and Louisa is looking forward to turning it over to a professional marketing person who will come to work for Farnum Hill this fall. The essential problem, Louisa says, is that most people know nothing about hard cider; in fact, most don't know that it exists. Even the basic name is a problem.

Everywhere else in the world the word "cider" means fermented juice of apples. In the United States, by contrast, cider is considered to be the unfermented, or sweet juice of apples. Fermented apple juice has been known as "hard cider." American (hard) cider makers are trying to persuade people to call their products just plain "cider," but they have a long way to go.

So, Louisa spends much of her time traveling around, talking to retailers and state liquor-control buyers about cider, its long history, the differences between fine and commercial ciders, describing how they are made, and so forth. She often starts with a power point presentation that lays out these issues. This is all before she even gets to actually sell her own ciders.

A second major hurdle is that the sale of any alcoholic beverage is hedged about by a huge web of federal and state regulations. In many states, for example, including Vermont, a producer can't simply approach a retailer to sell his cider, rather he must work through a distributor. The distributor's major lines are likely to be beer and wine, and if he doesn't pay much attention to cider, there isn't much you can do about it.

And even if you get a retailer to market your cider, the lack of a big customer base is a tremendous drag on sales. "We can get into a fancy wine shop in New York," Steve Wood says, "and they taste the cider and they love it; but they don't have any place to put it. Where do you put it? … They don't have a cider section. So it winds up on the dusty back shelf with the fruit wines, where nobody ever goes … with the Slivovitz."

The Woods' response to this is to do whatever they can to encourage competition, to inspire friends in the apple business to make high-quality ciders in hopes that the resulting market would take off, resembling the wine market.

"The wine market is the only agricultural market that not only doesn't punish small differences between similar things, but actually pays for them," Steve says. "Nobody expects a Cabernet Sauvignon, or a Merlot-Cabernet Franc combination grown in Bordeaux to smell and taste like one grown in Western Australia, to smell or taste like one in Willamette Valley, or in Washington, or the Napa Valley, or Long Island.

"What's implicit in this is that if we can develop a market not only can it tolerate a lot of competition, it would welcome it. What I would like to see is a lot more good cider being made from good fruit because at the moment our biggest marketing challenge is the absence of a category of fine cider in the market."

In pursuit of this idea, Wood has urged Evan Darrow at Green Mountain Orchards in Putney to try making cider. Green Mountain is the biggest apple grower in Vermont, and has the capacity to become a major producer. Evan has tried a few batches, but has not pursued it. Wood also hopes that Zeke Goodband at Scott Farm in Dummerston will get into the hard-cider business. Goodband grows an impressive array of excellent cider apples, but Scott Farm currently has no plans to open a cider operation.

There are some other commercial cider makers in the region who make small volumes of hard cider, but the ciders that come closest to the Farnum Hill products have been made by what one might describe as very strong amateurs. One of those is Terry Bradshaw, the chief apple technician at the University of Vermont Horticultural Farm. He has planted a small selection of French and British cider apple trees at the Hort Farm in South Burlington, and a small cider orchard at his home in Calais. He makes very nice cider for himself and his friends, but has no plans to produce cider for the market.

Another is Jason MacArthur, a 31-year-old Marlboro, Vt., carpenter, who makes cider with a friend, Forrest Holzapfel, whose day job is Marlboro town lister. MacArthur became interested in wine during a visit to France as a teenager, and when he came back he thought: "Maybe cider is a local alternative."

Their approach has been to mix European cider apples with the best American antique varieties. "It wasn't a scientific thing," MacArthur says.

At the outset they bought most of their apples from Scott Farm, but four years ago Jason planted a 50-tree cider orchard on a side-hill pasture on his grandfather's farm. He got a good crop last year, and this fall will be in full production. The new orchard fulfills Steve Wood's precept that fine cider requires a blend of the best apple varieties. MacArthur has planted the best — Kingston Black, Golden Russet, Ribston Pippen, Esopus Spitzenberg, Wickson.

His ciders are considered very good but might benefit some from more aging. The amateurs generally age their ciders for six months or so, whereas Farnum Hill will often age for a year, or two. MacArthur and Forrest are making 50 to 60 gallons of cider a season in a dozen or so five-gallon carboys, and like Wood, they throw a lot out.

Have they thought about producing cider for the market?

"I don't know," MacArthur says. "I'd love to; it's a great way to make a living, but to get the space you need and the right fruit and the pressing equipment … to put it all together … is a pretty big investment."

There are no hard figures for establishing commercial cidery, but it could run from tens of thousands of dollars to well up into six figures, depending on what one starts with. What's needed is an orchard, a barn with some concrete floors, equipment, plenty of it.

So what is the devotee of fine cider to do? You may stumble upon something from Farnum Hill, but you cannot find it reliably. If you know somebody like Terry Bradshaw or Jason MacArthur, they might give you a bottle, but they can't sell it under the law, and they don't have much. You can pick up what purports to be fine cider from small producers, and some of it is and some of it isn't.

And even the best producers have to suppress their adventuresome instincts in deference to a skittish embryonic market.

One day in July, Steve Wood pointed out a trio of barrels lying against a wall in one of his storage rooms. Two-year-old Ashmead's Kernel. He found a piece of rubber tubing, clambered up onto the rack and siphoned off two glasses. It was terrific, every bit as good as the Kingston Black, but without the barnyard bouquet that offends some consumers.

Is he going to bottle it? Probably not, he says. "It's so risky to release varietals," he says. "I'll probably just dump it into a blend."

After some, well, wheedling, he agreed to siphon off and sell a couple of bottles to his visitor. Would the visitor share?

Don't even ask.

Hamilton E. Davis is a Burlington freelance writer.

His is a pressing business Calais man says making the mash is 'kind of a Zen thing'

2007-09-20T04:01:00.000-07:00

His is a pressing business Calais man says making the mash is 'kind of a Zen thing'

From the Barre Montpelier Times Argus,
September 20, 2007
photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/Times Argus

By Mel Huff Times Argus Staff

CALAIS – Terry Bradshaw, wearing a neoprene apron over his T-shirt and jeans, dumps a box of apples into the top of his apple grinder and pushes them toward the hopper. When they are all ground, he pours a bucket of the pulp into a press box, lays a cloth over it, fits a wooden rack and cloth on top and adds another bucket of ground apples, layer after layer.

Even before Bradshaw tightens the press, juice begins to bead on the cloth and run into the box.

"Aside from the noise of the grinder, it's kind of a Zen thing," Bradshaw says of the art of cider making.

By profession, Bradshaw is a research specialist for the University of Vermont's "apple team" and assistant director of the UVM Horticultural Research Center. He grew up on a dairy farm in Chelsea.

"I had virtually nothing to do with apples," he says, "but I knew I wanted virtually nothing to do with cows." He started working in the UVM orchard as an undergraduate and found he had a knack for it.

For six weekends this fall, starting Sept. 22, Bradshaw will sell fresh juice from Lost Meadow Cider Mill at his home off County Road in Calais. Although he squeezes a small quantity of sweet juice, his main product – blends of fermenting stock for making hard cider – is the result of a hobby gone wild.

Bradshaw got interested in cider-making a dozen years ago when he read a book by Annie Proulx ("the Annie Proulx") and Lew Nichols called "Sweet and Hard Cider." He says most people think of making cider in the same terms as brewing beer, but Bradshaw maintains the process has more in common with wine-making: "The same rules apply. The best ciders are made in the orchard." He discusses apple varieties in terms of acid balance, tannin and "mouth feel."

Although Bradshaw's hard ciders have won national awards, he doesn't sell them; he just makes them for himself and his friends. What he sells is fermenting stock for the home-brewing market. Bradshaw notes that the market for making hard cider is smaller than that for beer or wine. People have the impression that cider is "sweet, fizzy woodchuck stuff."

Bradshaw blends his fermenting stocks from apples grown specifically for cider-making. To a base of domestic apples, he adds bittersweet or bitter sharp varieties like Foxwhelp, Ellis Bitter, Yarlington Mill, Chisel Jersey and Dabinett. Many of the varieties he uses, like Kingston Black – a dry, sharp, garnet-red British apple – are European.

"Old-timers throw a certain amount of crab apples into the mix," he says. He'll use them this year because the crop is so good. And he might add some wild roadside apples. "I can tell with my palate what's going to make decent cider," he says.

Bradshaw's own orchard, 28 dwarf trees and two rows of nursery stock that he grafted himself, is dedicated to varieties for cider-making, which he says are inedible. They are drier and sharper in flavor than table apples. He supplements the fruit from his orchard, which is just coming into production, with apples he buys from Vermont and New Hampshire growers. He uses only fresh, tree-picked fruit – no falls or fruit that has been in cold storage.

"The hard-cider movement goes back hundreds of years in Europe and even a couple hundred years in North America. My great-grandfather used to make cider and my grandfather used to make a barrel once in a while – he was a teetotaler, but he made it for the farm help," Bradshaw says. But now, "Most people have forgotten what cider is. When they think of cider, they think of something sweet and fizzy that comes in a six-pack and tastes like apple juice."

People ask Bradshaw why, since his work life is filled with apples, he has chosen cider-making as a hobby. He says he likes preserving the history and culture of the craft and, "I found a way to take the science of the thing I know how to do and turn it into an art."

Apple juice flows from the press through clear tubing and swirls around the walls of a 7-gallon glass jug as Bradshaw opens two bottles of fermented cider. "These are two very different styles, both European styles," he says. He pours the first into flute glasses for visitors. "This is a dry, British-style cider, bitter sharp." He aged it in his cellar for two years.

"This is completely different style," he says, pouring a sweet Norman dessert cider.

Bradshaw observes that cider-making is just beginning to find a following in this country; it's where the micro-brew movement was 25 years ago, after Jimmy Carter signed a bill legalizing home-brewing. "This is cheaper and easier than beer," Bradshaw says, watching the glass jug fill. "The home brewer can't make beer as good as you can buy. The cider-maker can make a product that you can't buy."

Re: PRESS RELEASE: Lost Meadow Cider Mill Opens September 22, 2007

2007-09-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

Sylvia:

Thanks for the compliments. The website was initially put together in spare moments on baby leave a couple of winters ago. Anything new is easy to submit/tweak, although I don't do it as often as I should.

As for 'why cider', I guess it has allowed me to develop a unique form of art. My brother is a musician,I have friends who are athletes, and in this I found my thing. As an apple grower/researcher I help mainstream farmers figure out better ways to make a living. As a cidermaker I get to play out my strengths as a grower in a whole new field where my creativity is encouraged and, after a decade of messing around, rewarded. I also feel like I am keeping alive a culture that is all too easily forgotten. That culture includes not only the centuries-old European cider traditions, but also the more recent New England tradition of cidermaking. My great grandfather was known all over West Hill in Chelsea for his cider, even though he was nearly a teetotaler (he made it for friends and the help). Eventually I would like my orchard, when fully folded into the operation, to extend itself as a true community orchard, as we had in the middle of the last century.

So it's a combination of things; art, history, culture, even having a 'knack' for apples. Considering that I had no intention of any farming-type work while I was growing up (on a farm nonetheless) it was pretty cool to find unique trade, and it happened at a time in my life where a direction was needed. So the home cider operation I guess is my personal spin on this little path that life through me on. And I guess that it doesn't hurt that I like cider.

Thanks again, and see you Saturday?

Terry

Sylvia Fagin wrote:

>Hi Terry, thanks a ton for your time last week--I am piecing together the story and I am impressed by your extensive web site! When do you find the time for that, work, and child?
>
>Here's a question: Why the cider? What about making your own cider is so appealing that you've planted an orchard? Inquiring minds want to know.....
>
>Thanks,
>Sylvia
>
>
>

Knowing your 'market'

2007-08-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Recently the annual discussion of what defines 'real' cider, and
therefore a commercial cidery's target market, has come up on cider
digest. Well I'm not in the commercial (hard) cider business, but my
mill does sell juice. I look at the somewhat stagnant cider market as
similar to the homebrewing (beer) market in the early 80's. At that
time there were folks who wanted something different from what was
available commercially, and they took matters into their own hands to
make great beers and resurrect lost styles or even create new ones. I
aim to provide adventurous folks with the raw materials to do the same
with cider. My cidermaking blends are comprised of varieties
specifically designed to make a great fermented product. and with few
folks out there doing so I guess I am a bit of a pioneer in the field.
Yes, craft cider has has a resurgence in the past ten or so years, but
it's really taking its time due to many factors. One is the passing off
of rather crap industrial cider as the real thing. When a drinker
tastes Woodchuck, expecting a nuanced beverage, they are slapped with
the simplicity you will get when making 'cider' from glucose wine and
back-sweetened concentrate. My cider stock is a different thing, which
leads to another impediment to the development of a large home cider
movement- the quality of juice available to would-be cidermakers. In
this same past ten years the commercial juice scene has declined
dramatically after the Odwalla and other pathogen outbreaks to where
many orchards gave up their cider mills and many that do make juice run
under a separate operation using packinghouse culls of boring (from a
cider standpoint) dessert fruit. Again, I am offering a break from all
of that, and my blends tailored specifically to cidermaking provide the
base ingredients for a great cider. Add to that the seasonal nature of
the business, where if you miss it now you need to wait another full
year for the juice to come around again,and potential cider aficionados
can easily miss out.
So come on down to the mill this fall for your chance to get some juice
that is frankly hard to find and will set you up to make a great cider.
You won't regret it, even if you make a funky batch. Before long you'll
be hooked and will absolutely have to get your juice each fall. Hell,
you may even be crazy enough about to sink your cash into an orchard
and mill of your own, and I'll be begging for your juice.

TB

Vermont Life Plugs LostMeadow

2007-08-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

SO the current issue of Vermont Life (Autumn 2007...who the hell calls it 'Autumn, anyway?) gives my little cider hobby a two-sentence plug, one of which is my recommendations of commercial ciders from Vermont. I guess the cider season, five weeks away now, is officially starting as I hoe through the garage transforming it from a place to park, then to stash stuff all summer, into a sanitary cider mill. Cider hounds go here to get the skinny, then email or call me to set up your squeezin's. 2007 is looking to be a 'vintage' cider year, so this will be a great season to start cidermaking or to continue your tradition. Since things are starting up, I'll be a lot more active on the cider blog as the coming weeks unfold, free time be damned...

Oh, and about those VT (hard) ciders I listed, somehow my mention of Mac Jack from Grandview Winery in my town got left out. My apologies.

TB

2007 Cider Mill Schedule

2007-07-20T03:47:00.001-07:00

Cider Season 2007

All of my juice is unpasteurized. For more information on cider/food
safety go here.

Cider mill open weekends starting September 22 and going until
October 28.

Fresh juice will be available for pickup Saturday or Sunday 12:00-6:00
PM or until it's gone. Call or email for directions. Sorry, the mill is
not open to the public during operation.

I will also have my own vinegar for sale at the mill as well as the odd
bag of apples that I just didn't have the heart to put through the grinder.

Sweet Juice ('Cider')
I will be open six continuous weeks this year. Generally I do my
squeezing on Saturday morning and try to be cleaning up by the time I
'open' around noon. Sweet juice (unpasteurized 'cider') will be
available every weekend until it's gone. If you need juice and can't
catch me on weekends or want me to reserve some, give a shout and we'll
work something out [(802) 229-2004]. The price for all fresh cider on
these days is $5 per gallon, in my one-gallon jugs only. At this time I
will not fill your containers with fresh juice.

Fermenting stock ('Cidre')
I will be making cidremaker's blends on the last five weekends of the
season, at the end of the squeeze day. Varieties used will change with
the season; come a couple different times and compare the ciders you
make! Juice blends consist of a base, usually Liberty, Cortland, Gala,
or Golden (Delicious and Russet) and a bittersweet/sharp component such
as Foxwhelp, Ellis Bitter, Yarlington Mill, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, and
even some local crabs. Blended cidre juice is $6 per gallon in /your
container only/. Carboys and other supplies can be had from Vermont
Homebrew Supply in Winooski, VT (802) 655-2070.
I strongly suggest getting reservations in to me ASAP for your blended
juice. While my sweet juice will ferment into cider, the special blends
tailored for cidermaking are the reason why I do this, and a much
superior product will come from it. I am sourcing my fruit now and will
need a little time to get everything lined up. And once the barrels are
empty, it will be a long wait until next year.

All cider apples are sourced from Vermont or New Hampshire orchards and
are tree picked, whole, sound fruit. The variety mix will change with
the season and I use only the freshest fruit available, not cold-storage
packing house cast-offs. The orchards I work with all follow modern
Integrated Pest Management protocols to ensure that their produce is
free of harmful residues and grown in an environmentally responsible manner.

Not a bad place to work.....

2007-05-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

At bloom time in the orchard I suddenly become aware of how fortunate I am to work where I do and not be sitting in a cubicle somewhere.

2007 Bloom Pics from the University of Vermont Horticulture Research Center:

Yeah, I'll get to it someday....

2007-05-08T06:01:00.001-07:00

So I've been telling myself that I will write something at least once a
week for at least one of my blogs. Someday. This spring is hectic as
hell, as they always are, so when things settle down I'll add a few
things. Like Alice's latest feats (Personal Blog). Or my current love
for Cheap Trick (MixTape). Or how my orchard has come through the
winter, and the new strawberry plantings we're putting in (ApplePress).
I'll get to it. Someday.

--
================
Terence Bradshaw
Calais, VT 1450 feet, zone 4

http://www.lostmeadowvt.com

And the winner is.....

2007-02-26T04:59:00.001-08:00

And the winner is.....
Originally uploaded by TerryB_VT.

Finally picked up my medal from the 2006 Great Lakes Olde World Syder competition. Second place, French Cider.

TB

Deer Fence!!

2007-02-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

Think you don't need deer protection for your young trees? Think again! I have always said that deer are likely the greatest pest of young fruit trees in Vermont. Here is a four-year old State Fair tree on Antonovka, full-size rootstock:

This tree is planted at the edge of my yard, thirty feet from my front door, OUTSIDE the deer fence. Obviously planting next to a house will not keep deer away.

Then we have a three-year old Newtown Pippin on M9 fully-dwarfing rootstock planted maybe fifty feet away INSIDE the fence:
I'm 6'2", so this dwarf tree is already at eight feet or more in it;'s third year, and started fruiting last year.

A quick shot of part of the fence:
Ten strands of electrified high tensile wire. It was relatively cheap (~$1000) for the protection it has provided and area it covers. Considering the value of what's inside, it's a bargain.

Contact my fence guys at Wellscroft fencing for help protecting your plantings.

TB

Cider givin' you the shits?

2007-02-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

I've had another #1 page rank in google from someone looking up why cider/apple juice gives them the shits. It's nice to be recognized folks, but I don't have the answer. My site pops up because 'cider' and 'apple juice' are all over the place, and on the general cidermaking page there is a mention of "Uncle Eddie's 'give-you-the-shits' cider". Now I drink a lot of cider and a bit of apple juice (aka sweet cider), and I don't get said gastrointestinal problems. Maybe it's because I'm used to it, maybe I just make good cider.

I could venture a guess as to why you're seeing the gravy train after drinking cider/juice, particularly the sweet, unfermented variety. There's a lot of readily fermentable sugars in juice, so maybe juice combined with your gut flora is creating an in-body fermentation and your butt is acting as an airlock/blowoff tube. Maybe it's the large shot of soluble fiber which is going through your intestines like a pipe roto-rooter. These are my two guesses. I'd google it, but it will only refer me back to myself, the google cider shit expert. Again, I don't have that problem.

If you stumble across this page in a search engine looking to resolve a personal problem, I wish you the best, but can't offer much advice except to keep drinking cider so that your body gets used to it. With that said, everything is best in moderation, as you may just be overpowering your bowels with too much good stuff. Good luck on your further search, keep a clear path to the loo, and don't knock cider in general. It's good stuff and good for you.

TB

Vinegar barrel

2007-01-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

So I got the vinegar barrel going good today. I've been making cider
vinegar in a 5 gallon oak barrel for a couple of years now, and really
like it. In fact I think my near-daily tonic of vinegar, honey, and tap
(well) water helps me to fend off a lot of life's creepy crawlies.
Anyway, I'm planning to offer bottled vinegar for sale, hopefully next
fall. I made an extra 40 gallons or so of cider, fermented in the
garage in an HDPE barrel. Last weekend I pumped it over into my old 60
gallon oak cider barrel which is sitting in a heated, insulated corner
of the garage. NO vinegar makin' near the cider in the house, mind you.
So today I bottled off the rest of my small barrel and poured the lees
and mother into the big batch to get things workin'. I'll try to keep
this section posted on the results and to announce when I might have
some ready.

Next year, two barrels!

TB

Two sip cider

2006-10-27T04:49:00.000-07:00

I was at a meeting recently with a group of tree fruit pest
management professionals, and at the reception folks always bring
libations from back home. Naturally, I brought samples of my
cider. This was my showcase blend, a combination of dry bittersweet
and North American sharps with a touch of keeved sweet cider. Also
there was an 'Apple Wine' from a winery on Long Island. Now I tend to
look askance at commercial apple wines which tend to taste like
high-alcohol mild apple juices. A former colleague of mine was
trying my cider against this other wine, and was, as most people are,
taken aback a bit by the first sip of my bittersweet mix, noting that
it tasted a 'little funky'. After the second sip, however, he noted
that the flavor really grows on you, as the taste buds realign for
this slightly different beverage. A sip of the apple wine he found
pleasant if unobtrusive, but he noted on the second swig that it
didn't have anything left to give. "Your cider takes one sip to get
you oriented, then tastes pretty good thereafter," he noted, "where
that apple wine gives all it has on the first taste but hasn't got
anything left after that." I think that's a good description of real
cider, with the exception being that if you are used to it you can
enjoy what it has from the first taste, and it holds up very well thereafter.

First fruits

2006-09-19T04:26:00.000-07:00

I harvested my first apples from my orchard the other day, five St Edmund's Russets. They're a little dry with pear-like flavor, quite nice. Alice really liked munching on one. I'm sure they will fit into the cider mix very well in seasons to come.

Midseason notes from Lost Meadow Orchard

2006-08-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Compiled here are some general notes from my home
orchard. The bulk of
the trees were planted in 2004, a mix of varieties on a
mix of dwarfing
and semi-dwarfing rootstocks:

1) Wet spring. This spring brought record-setting rains
which made
spraying difficult and irrigation unnecessary. Sprays
were tough to time
between the rains, day job, and caring for an infant.
Still, scab was
fairly low in the orchard save for Blue Pearmain and
Binet Rouge which
have moderate foliar scab. I stopped spraying
altogether after the first
petal fall spray, more on that later.

2) Precocity. These trees are in their third leaf, and
as can be
expected the most dwarfing bloomed the best, with
Wickson/B9,
Keepsake/B9, Spitzenburg/B9, Hubbardston Nonesuch/G16,
Ashmead’s
Kernel/B9, Pomme Gris/G16, Newtown Pippin/M9, and Sweet
Ashton/B9
blooming fairly well, in descending order. Semidwarf
trees with bloom
include Dabinett/GG30, Kingston Black/G30, St Edmund’s
Russet/G30, and
Tremlett’s Bitter/G30. Blossoms were hand-pollinated
Memorial Day
weekend with purchased pollen (www.firmanpollen.com
<http://www.firmanpollen.com/>). Fruits set on nearly
all pollinated trees.

3) Funny set and bloom on Wickson. I have two
Wickson/B9 trees from the
same nursery, planted at the same time, side-by-side.
One bloomed
prolifically and set many fruit, the other nary a blossom.

4) Plum curculio. With my early halting of sprays I
expected quite a bit
of PC damage, but little was seen except on the Wickson
that set many
fruit, where each fruit had 4-5 scars. This tree is at
the edge of the
orchard but with only a half-acre surrounded by woods
all of the trees
should be in the edge zone. Thoes Wicksons did bloom
and set earlier
than everything else so my guess is that they were ripe
for curc attack
while everything else was still blooming and I was not
spraying
insecticide. I removed every fruit and drove over them
in the driveway
to prevent pupation in the orchard.

5) Tree death. One tree, a Kingston Black/M26 did not
leaf out at all,
and was pulled in late May. Upon inspection I found it
dead at the graft
union, living below. An autopsy found the dreaded round
headed apple
borer larvae right at the union. My guess is that
bugger weakened it
enough for our hartd winter snap in January to kill it off.

6) Grafting. Had decent take (~75%) of new stock on M26
that was grafted
this past spring. Last year’s B9 grafts are doing
great. Those that
didn’t take last year as well as a couple of G30’s were
regrafted this
spring right in the field using whatever method that I
could use to get
the pieces together; whip and tongue, cleft, and side
approach. All took
well and are growing nicely.

7) Tree mixup? I have three Foxwhelp in a row, all
purchased from the
same nursery. The two outer ones look identical with
fairly weak,
upright growth. The middle on has very different,
spreading, almost
droopy growth. This one has one fruit on it, but I am
not familiar
enough with Foxwhelp to ID it by the fruit. I know
there has been
question about the ID of Foxwhelp stock in the states,
but I would
expect these trees to be the same. I did grow these
trees out in a
separate nursery row for a year before planting my
orchard, so there
were many opportunities for mixing them up, so we’ll
just see what comes
in the future and try to ID it then.

8) Phytophthera. Looking in the orchard just yesterday
I noticed a Pomme
Gris/G16 looking a bit pekid. Poking around at the base
I saw the
telltale orange, spongey bark at the soil line of
phytophthera crown
rot. I have probably irrigated the orchard a little too
much, and this
tree may have had its summer mulch a little too close
to the trunk
allowing for infection to develop. G16 is supposed to
be crown
rot-resistant, but this goes to show that resistance is
not absolute
under trying circumstances. I’ll nurse the tree along
and see what happens.

9) Tree training. My orchard is planted very close and
I use a sort of
vertical axe/minimal pruning system to try to contain
the trees to their
spaces. The conduit poles they are tied to are not yet
tied themselves
to a trellis, so I am trying to limit height without
pruning. This year
I tried to bend the leaders in a sort of spindle-type
training system,
but in most cases I waited too long both in terms of
tree age (start
before year three) and seasonal timing (do it before
the wood hardens
off) and broke a few leaders in the process.

All in all I’d say I’m having a successful year in the
orchard. I’ll
harvest a few fruit, but look forward to next season as
the first real
crop. Similar trees planted a year previous at my work
are now bearing
nicely and will present me with a good cider crop. The
deer fence still
has yet to be penetrated which has allowed for the
success that we are
having.

Strawberries!!

2006-07-01T05:25:00.000-07:00

Last year I planted a bed of strawberries (Earlygolw variety) right
under my deck. Good, well-drained soil, drip irrigation. Kept up
with setting runners to keep bed in its place. Mulched heavily in
fall with oak leaves. Well this year we've gotten 12 quarts already
with more to come! Not bad for a $12 investment...