You can’t go wrong with Yates and Black Limbertwig for cider. Harrison also may work, it’s more prone to rots than those two however. I am now trying some of the modern crosses people have made for cider, but so far they are rotting too much. All of the growers I know making new crosses are too far north.
Golden Harvey was another fabled cider/brandy favorite in Georgia. Parmer too.
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Hey I made an update on the above for 2025, see here. Not a lot changed but I’ve kept winnowing down the herd. I eventually want to get down to something like 20 varieties total which I know every in and out of.
So far this year, King Russet, Chestnut, Kidds, Hawaii, and Swayzie have been the standouts. I had a lot of alternate bearing and lost a lot due to frosts so am getting much less harvest than usual.
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My current list is:
- Ashmead’s Kernel
- Blacktwig
- Campfield
- Franklin
- Gnarled Chapman
- Harrison
- Liberty
- Pink Lady
- Roxbury Russet
- Winesap
- Hewes Virginia Crab
I really only have room for this many. I had really considered both the varieties you mentioned – what would you replace if you wanted to sub in Yates and Black Limbertwig (or would you leave it as is)? I’m going for a few good fresh eating varieties, cider for everything else.
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Ashmeads Kernel would be the first to go for me, it rots a lot. I’m going to topwork my own tree this winter. Hewes is hard to work into cider making as it ripens very early. The original Hewes was lost, the one in circulation now is considered to be a descendant which ripens much earlier. If you have enough trees to make a batch early or enough cold storage it could work well, it’s a fantastic apple for cider. Gnarled Chapman has been rotting pretty badly for me, but it’s very high in tannins so should be a great apple in the mix if it works out. Campfield is also prone to rot. I haven’t gotten enough fruits to know well though, it is extremely stingy to come into bearing as it is super vigorous and just wants to make wood.
Note that this is my own experience. I don’t do summer sprays and if you are doing summer sprays you will have better luck with the rotting. I did four sprays total in the growing season this year, all in the spring.
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Thanks for the recommendations. I am really hoping Campfield and Gnarled Chapman produce enough fruit to blend into some cider.
I may toss the Ashmead’s and Hewes in favor of the Yates and Black Limbertwig. I’ll be sure to update here as things come along!
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