Pressing all done...

So, the last pressing for the 2009 cider is now done and ‘Stephen’, the #1 Spiedel tank, is bubbling away. So that is that… time to do the maths and the records ad pack everything away. No, it doesn’t mean ‘no more washing, sterilising and cleaning’ as it generally doesn’t at all. However, my target for this year was to double (again) the quantity of juice pressed, and I am happy to report that this has been achieved.

There are a number of reasons for ‘just’ doubling up and not rushing away with and pressing thousands of litres. The main reason is simply that I am not set up to produce lots of cider well. I don’t have the tankage, pressing ability, storage and most importantly the time. By increasing steadily (if you can call doubling up each year steady) things can be bought and introduced in a reasonable way. This year I am have the benefit of 2 Speidel tanks – which have proven themselves already. The Fruit Shark mill has made such light work of producing pomace from apples this year that I know it will do for a number of years to come. The press has come in to its own too this year, with a consistent 6-7 gallons of juice at each pressing taking just under 2 hours to achieve. Harmony, it would seem, has been achieved – shame it can’t last!

So, with 835 litres of juice fermenting, there should be now be much more time to organise things. I need to finish bottling up the 2008 season cider. It is now pretty much fully mature and I need to find a few buyers for it. I am hoping that this won’t be too much of a task – in any case it’s all on a VERY small scale!

Also, the next four months will be taken up by builders and buildings as we extend the house to provide better disabled facilities for my daughter. Not that I begrudge her this at all – it has been too long in coming!

All in all a good season. Time to start thinking about the next one!