First crop of Franklin crab apples

General Fruit Growing
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Let me start by saying that these are most definitely crab apples. My guess is that for marketing purposes nobody will tell you how far from apple size they are, good ones were about 1.5". They are most certainly bitter sharps; acidity and a tongue-coating tannin blast. Taking a bite shows them to be proper spiters, which is what you want to see for a hard cider blend. Without plenty of those it would taste awful and without a backbone. Sort of like using table grapes to make wine.

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But what made me do a double take was the sugar content, it registered an original gravity of 1.078 at 70f! I tested my hydrometer on water to make sure it was working. Funny how all that acidity and tannins really hid how much sugar they pack. If my measure is correct that puts the brix well north of 18.

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I did not get many this year so they will just be added to my ongoing 5L batch of cider. It will be interesting to see how much that changes the end result. The batch finished initial fermentation a bit ago so I can get a good idea which way it was going. Next year I’ll try to do a batch with 100% of these. Push comes to shove I can always blend it with softer cider after fermentation.

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With sugar that high that alcohol will be off the charts. Might as well add some honey to get it way up there. That is very good news.

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I don’t know how well they would stand as a single variety cider, the acidity and tannins are way up the scale. Then again it is a bonus that they have sugar to contribute no matter what.

I’m going to raise these trees for cider apples, meaning no fertilization, ever. There are specific characteristics that show up in the glass when the trees are grown that way. In particular nutrient deficiency promotes lower fermentation which (with wild yeast as opposed to hyper active cultured yeast) creates a slightly less dry cider.

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How does the tree itself behave? Reading about it indicates great disease resistance but I haven’t seen anything on its growth habit.

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In Alaska so I get my trees as late as possible. That probably contributed to Stark Bros sending me the bottom of the pile, it was a hack job which had branches pointing all over. Besides that it seems like a good grower with sprawling branch habit. I’ll try to take a picture later.

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Ive got this one in my nursery bed so itll be a few years for me. Sounds like it brings a lot to the table for a ciser blend. I hope you get big crops in future years.

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I got my first crop from this variety and also found it to be far to intense in both acidity and astringency to make a single varietal cider. I would guess that any more than 20% in a blend would be too much. The tree seems to be of medium vigor

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@don1357 The owner of the mother tree told me they were good to eat. I guess not, eh? I grafted a couple branches just to see- maybe next year.

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Starks Brothers lists Franklin apples as small to medium–but you’re saying super-small? We have one that we hope will fruit next year.

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I will find some time to get my full writups done again but as this post comes up high in google I’ll share here too.

Zone 4A/3b Canada, USDA 3A/2b? Minimum winter temps I’ve seen -34C (-29f). Summers can hit +34C (93F). Might get a week or two of high humidity but not bad.

My Bud118 trees are reaching 8feet after 4-5 years and sparely bearing. Most of my samples are from grafted branches on mature trees. The trees are vigorous (not as much as Honey gold but still good) with really nice branching habits. Crotch angles are mostly at or near 90 degrees. Fruit forms on tips and spurs and is heavy bearing, 4-5 apples per cluster. Fruit is crab apple sized, most in the 40-50g range. Fruit holds well unlike most cider varieties, just starting to easy release mid October (around same time Wickson starts to be easy to release). Starts dropping late October early Nov, again similar to Wickson. Grafts have been bearing annually, though impression is might be slightly reduced after a big year but it is too early to really say.

I see no real disease other than some sooty blotch but fire blight has not been an issue in the past so can’t fully say. No noted scab, CAR, and PC insects don’t really like them nor do wasps or those asian ladybugs. Flesh is slightly russet like but juicy. HIGH sugar, acid and tannins. Acid seems less harsh than Dolgo, tannins are up there like Frequin Rouge but a bit more harsh than round though more pleasant than most tannins I have found in other crabs. Brix is often 20-22 mid October though 1 apple this year was 24. In previous years have found some late ones as high as 28 brix but did not have enough for a combine juicing at that time. Juicing a bunch together mid oct this year gave SG 1.075. My mid oct Wickson picked same day was 17.5 brix.

I have not had enough to do single ferments but blended with low acid varieties in a small batch the tannins were a nice contribution.

I have 3 Harrison still holding tight to test. Yarlington, Frequin Rouge, Chizel Jersey all produced a bit this year (juice frozen to be sent for analysis with Franklin later this year). Porters perfection never produced so far. Further writeups to be on my site but as a cold hardy source for tannins and sugar, Franklin/Mayo apple is hard to beat for cold climates if you can deal with the acidity and small size. Of the 150+ apples I have tested so far, NOTHING produces sugars as high as this.

I am also using it in breeding experiments with European bittersweet’s, Honey gold, Wolf River, Macfree, and some of my favorite wild apples (trying to reduce acid, increase size while keeping good hanging, cold hardiness and disease resistance). I hope to get 3-4 generations into breeding before I am too old so time will tell what this produces!