Final pressing of the season?

[James Fidell]

Maybe :D

Probably 85% Dabinett and Black Dabinett with a few Chisel Jersey to
make up the volume in the fermenter. I had to go scrounging around the
trees to find enough decent apples for the last press.

OG is 1060, but the pH is rather high again which seems odd to me given
that Dabinett allegedly makes a decent single-variety cider. More
research required, perhaps.

James

[Ian Shields]

Interesting you should mention single variety Dabinet I have been meaning to ask the group how that would be achieved without adding malic acid?

Also I have made a Kingston Black/ Stoke Red blend and even that had a pretty high pH 3.8 so I would gave thought Single Dabinet would be off the scale, also wouldn't it be really flabby without some acidity?

I have an interest as I still have several hundred kilos of Dabinet which I was planning to press with some Porters Perfection. Has anyone tried a single variety PP?

Ian

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[simon fisher]

Hi Ian, 

I have made Single variety Dabinet and it is a nice cider without any additions of anything 

Regards 

Simon

Sent from my iPhone

On 25 Nov 2025, at 15:17, Ian Shields <iancs...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Ian Shields]

Hi Simon,

Perhaps I will give it a go.

Thanks 

Ian

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[Keith Balch]

Yes I made a Porters Perfection SV. Champagne method now two years old, only a couple of bottles left. Easy drinking subtle cider.

Keith.

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[Ian Shields]

Thanks Keith I will definitely give it a go.

Ian

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[Ian Shields]

Hi Simon,

Inteterested to know if your Dabinet sv was a wild ,semi wild or added commercial yeast and what So2 you used if any?

Thanks,

Ian

On Tue, 25 Nov 2025, 15:38 simon fisher, <simonf...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:

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[Albert Johnson]

Hi everyone,

We make single variety Dabinett every year. Spontaneous ferment, 100ppm sodium metabisulphite added soon after pressing. No further sulphite additions. I personally would say that it makes a very good cider and it certainly sells well. 

In 2021 we experimented with a half dose of sulphite and no addition at all. 2 x 220L barrels of each. All pressed on the same day. 

They tasted identical for the first year but the zero dose started to go a little weirder as time went on. We decided to bottle it in November 2023. In hindsight a poor time of year to bottle condition it. It's now definitely a cider with a touch of funk. We haven't released it yet but it's very interesting sharing it with people. When presented blind as a cider we don't like, it's rejected harshly. Without that pre information, people find it interesting but also enjoyable. In any case it convinced us to continue adding sulphite. 

That has all been made in IBC / blue barrel plastic. Now that we are investing in stainless steel we intend to experiment more with low/no sulphite additions, although this year we plan to blend in 20% live Foxwhelp with Dabinett we will press next week in order to reduce the risk of a zero sulphite ferment. 

All of this is talking about machine harvested fruit which I think is what necessitates adding it. Producers like Little Pomona have made plenty of fantastic Dabinett SVs with no addition of sulphite from hand-picked fruit. 

Cheers

Albert 

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[John Taylor]

Interesting. We also learnt that bottle conditioning in winter isn’t optimal for us, especially considering we get slightly lower winter temperatures. We’re thinking of taking the stuff which we consider a bit rough to a distiller and using it for a Dabinett/Major Pommeau next year. Fun fact: drinking cider in Bilbao similar to what we’ll distill but it feels right and reasonable  here in the Basque Country. :)

Skickat från min iPhone

27 nov. 2025 kl. 13:46 skrev Albert Johnson <albert.j...@gmail.com>:



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[Ian Shields]

Hi Albert,

That's very helpful. I will get on with an SV Dabinet soon. 

Where are you located? I am in South Devon.

Many thanks,

Ian

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[Albert Johnson]

Hi Ian - I work at Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Company in south Herefordshire. Always welcome to drop me an email and stop by to visit us. 

John - I'm sure that will be fun! Our interest in lowering/removing the sulphite additions is so that we can experiment with distillation down the line. Sulphite destroys stills and gets concentrated in the distillation process so it's very much something to be avoided. I quite know what you mean about what feels acceptable, fitting or even tasty when you are there in the Basque Country doesn't necessarily translate to our climates!! 

Cheers

Albert 

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[Ian Shields]

Thanks Albert I will hopefully take you up on that offer sometime in the future.

Ian

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[Keith Balch]

For the first time in 25 years I have a problem with my keeves.

I've done 3 different keeves this year. All were macerated over night and added enzymes (last years kept in fridge as instructed) and calcium 24 hours later. Done a test first and fluctuation was achieved.

1 bittersweet blend OG1064

2 Chisel Jersey OG 1074

3 Browns OG 1056

First two keeves are 11 days old and the 3rd one 4 days. All 3 formed a gel overnight but the temperature here in Somerset UK was -4c overnight /daytime 3c .

All three are a gel (pectin I presume) from top to bottom. And no signs of a cap.??.

Is this a temperature issue though it has now warmed up to 12c . Or something else? 

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[Bartek Knapek]

This happens very frequently to me. Waiting will not help - the gel will eventually raise a bit, but it will not compress much.

This is caused by either
- too much bitter-sweets in the blend
- too much calcium added
- too low temp

I have consulted with Stranda (Klercidre manufacturer) and got following advice: The phenomenon you are experiencing is quite common. I also recommend vigorously mixing the contents of your tanks where these gel clumps are present. Ideally, do this with a pump in a closed circuit for 15 minutes. This will break up the gel, reintroduce air into the must, and quickly bring the brown cap to the surface of the tank with good shrinkage. You will then be able to obtain a greater quantity of perfectly clear juice. If the cap hasn't formed after 72 hours, the vigorous mixing I recommend should be repeated several times if necessary until a full cap is present. (Every 2 to 3 days following the inoculation of the must.)

Here is an example batch: 1) original all-gel; 2) one day after mixing; 3) three days after mixing

If you will not be getting any yeast activity, you may add 1g/100L dry yeast to the mix. Works for me and does not prevent me from slowing down and eventually stopping the fermentation later on.

good luck! 
//Bartek

[Keith Balch]

Thanks for the feedback. I put a test sample in the house last night and woke up this morning and found it's started to separate so it must be an temperature issue.  First pic night before, second pic first thing in the morning at 19c 

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