#brewblr

A mouse had found the apple stash so I figured I should hurry and prepare this batch before I lose any more apples. I assume he'll be sad tonight when he sees that the motherlode of food is gone.

Here's the meadowsweet I picked and dried this summer. It's a sweet vanilla-ish herb that has been used in mead for centuries. The "meadow" in the name used to refer to mead rather than meadows. Mead-sweet or Mead-wort. I put it in a hop bag and left it in the must while I pasteurised it. I have no idea how much or how long is correct. We'll see.

The currants and gooseberries are ripe!

Don't really know what to do with them, so I decided to try to make gooseberry wine. Added the redcurrants and blackcurrants to the mix. If this turns out horrible I'll give most of the shrubs away next year.

Ooooo bloody nice colour. I don't think it will survive fermentation, but still.

Ended up with roughly 3,5 litres of gooseberry/currants juice mixed with 9 litres of boiled water and sugar.

First tree demalumated. Fewer apples than last year. Makes sense since I've pruned the tree quite a lot and there were a lot of apples in general last year. Hopefully my new press will make up the difference? Estimated around 11L of must if I get a 70% yield.

I've asked around about what type of apples they are, but I can't get a good answer. They could be a hybrid grown from an apple seed.

I also noticed that they tasted better this year. last year, the tree was dropping a lot more of the apples and they were distinctly more sour than these are. They're also bigger this year. again, could be down to the pruning and increased ferilization.'

NEXT TREE!

Finished building my new cider press this week. Using the barrel from the one I had and made gear to use it with my hydraulic press for maximum apple-de-juicing.