Best apple varities for ice cider in the uk

[Andrew Johnson]

Looking to have a go at ice cider this year are there any recommendations to the type of apple or varities to use based in Somerset uk are bramleys worth a go

[Llanblethian Orchards - Alex]

Bramleys!

Remember you will concentrate everything in the when you make ice cider including the acid.

I've made a very nice ice cider out of kingston black and have had some success out of less acidic eating apples. I'd recommend looking at lalvin 71b yeast as well as it can metabolise malic acid.

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Le jeudi 29 septembre 2016 11:24:43 UTC-4, Andrew Johnson a écrit :

Looking to have a go at ice cider this year are there any recommendations to the type of apple or varities to use based in Somerset uk are bramleys worth a go

I don't know Bramley well, but I hear it is quite acidic...
Here in Quebec, ice cider is normally made from relatively low acidity eating apples. McIntosh and Cortland are 2 of the most used varieties. The juice TA is around 6 g/L malic, and when concentrated, the TA may be somewhere around 12 to 15 g/L.
If you use high acidity apples with TA around 10 g/L (which I understand Bramley would be), your concentrated juice could be at 25 g/L, which would make your ice cider excessively sharp.
Alex suggested Kingston Black. The acidity of KB is probably fine, but the tannins would also be concentrated. Would that make the ice cider excessively bitter?
I would probably use some KB if I had some, but I would prefer to blend it with a low-to-moderate-acid dessert apple that has no tannins. I don't know the dessert apples available in Somerset, but perhaps Goldens or Jonagolds?
Note also that a touch of tannin in ice cider is very nice - I've had a Spanish ice cider that had some in the blend, and I enjoyed it very much although it was quite different from the typical Quebec production.
Claude

[Andrew Lea]

Disclaimer - I've never made ice cider but I think Bramley would be a very bad choice, for all the reasons that Claude gives. And it is an almost flavourless apple too. I have never understood our national obsession with it. I think that's mostly down to clever marketing and high crop yield  rather than any inherent quality. And the fact that it cooks to a froth which apparently we British prefer. Can't understand that. I like my apples to stay firm when cooked. 

A couple of years back, someone in the UK was making an excellent ice cider commercially from Blenheim Orange. That's the kind of fruit to go for maybe. Something in the russet class with some real character. But even there you may have problems with high acidity upsetting the final balance. The suggestion of 71B yeast to offset that sounds a good one. 

But, I repeat, I've never done it myself. I'm just an observer, out on the sidelines. 

Andrew 

Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
www.cider.org.uk

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[darlenehayes]

I can't speak to its TA, but Eden ciders in Vermont makes a fine ice cider from Honeycrisp. I'm attempting one this year with what was supposed to be 100% Gravenstein but has turned out to be a mix of Gravenstein and something as yet unidentified, possibly Jonathan. I haven't done the TA analysis yet. The frozen sample waits my return from my current cider adventure in France/England.

Darlene