Kerr apple, what a unique juice

General Fruit Growing
#1

I finally got to juice a few Kerr apples and I must say it is extremely unique. My daughter doesn’t care for cider but she loved this one. Heck without telling her she didn’t know it was apple juice.

The taste is floral and very cranberry-like. It doesn’t have much of a smell, not even apple smell. The ruby red color is also extremely unusual and it goes crystal clear in record time. This year I’ll just juice it for drinking fresh but I’m looking forward to next year when I’ll try to make hard cider with it.

Kerr is a child of Dolgo and Harlson. I have been thinking about adding a Dolgo to the orchard; does anybody knows how it compares to Kerr?

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#2

Anybody care to comment on Dolgo? Heck let me throw Chestnut in the mix… I’m pondering which one to get next year.

Main use would be juicing and cider making. Some of the best cider making apples are late season but here in Alaska end of September is a tad late in the season, hence me looking for early-ish stuff that will contribute to the cause.

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#3

Not a ton of experience with actually tasting crabs, since squirrels and deer take almost every apple I grow.

I have Kerr and like it and that is my remaining tree after starting a bunch of crabs 5 or 6 years ago, although I’ve only gotten to taste a couple so far. It was the only one not on dwarf rootstock (G969) so I hope it gets tall enough that I can enjoy a good crop. The others were dropped (or not replaced when lost) since their height made them too vulnerable to deer. I’ve moved away from apples now because of the animal pressure.

Centennial is more like a really good sweet apple to me and is fairly dwarf. It is also quite early which might be helpful to you up there, although I don’t know about total hardiness. I would have kept it, but it was on dwarf rootstock so it was so small it was just a salad bar for deer. Only other downside is that like a lot of early apples it doesn’t keep and can get soft/mealy if left too long before picking. I actually like them a bit early so there is a little more tartness anyway.

I had a dolgo that was on dwarf rootstock and runted out even more due to deer. I only got one to eat and it was okay, but smaller and more “crabby” than dolgo. It wouldn’t be my pick for a second variety.

I had wickson and it was okay, but maybe it wasn’t the correct wickson since people seem to love it. It was squashed by a falling oak tree.

I also had a chestnut, which didn’t seem right to me either, even though size and shape was right. It didn’t get as red and just wasn’t super tasty, which is counter to almost any other tasting report I’ve seen. It was also a victim of the falling oak.

I also had Calloway, which is smaller, super productive and okay to eat, but probably better for jelly, etc. Very dwarf as well. I replaced it with a persimmon.

I’ve also heard good things about Trailman, but I didn’t try it here since I thought it was more of a northern apple.

If it was me, I would probably add Chestnut based on the reviews and Centennial for something earlier that is very tasty as well. I’m not sure which would be better for a cider mix, so this is just for fresh eating.

#4

Hi Don;

Alaska? Wow this is way north than my supposedly “near the North Pole” location… I grow many crabapple varieties like Dolgo, Chestnet, Hewes, Whitney, Wickson and next spring will add Trailman. Unfortunately I can not comment about juicing them since I only do jelly with them and all I can say is all of them taste and smell differently. Fragrance coming from the pot where they cook is always a deep pleasure to smell.

As of Dolgo it makes wonderful jelly with a perfume that a regular apple jelly can not beat.

Cheers!

Marc

#5

The weird thing about Kerr juice is that it looks like and tastes like sweetened cranberry juice. It also doesn’t have much of a smell at all, not even apple smell.