Posted by Justin Younker on September 09, 2011 0 Comments
Great Article from Journey magazine in Yakima, Washington about Tieton Cider Works. A friend of mine Marcus Robert, a cidermaker, is featured in this article. You can view the entire Tieton Cider Works article here...
Posted by Justin Younker on July 17, 2011 0 Comments
The Yakima Press Company website is now up and running! Check it out by clicking the link below. Yakima Press Company manufactures high quality vintage cider and wine presses. The large double tub cider press is outfitted with a large handle with a 3:1 gear ratio for increased efficiency when grinding the apples. The large wine press is great for home wine makers who produce enough wine to need something larger, but not quite commercial size. Both the cider and wine press made from Yakima Press Company will be great additions to your next family pressing event!
Yakima Press Company Cider & Wine Presses
Posted by Justin Younker on February 07, 2011 3 Comments
We had about 80 lbs. of unused Honeycrisp Apples from this fall. We keep them in a cooler so they are still very good to eat, but we decided to press them and make some hard cider. I ended up pressing the apples while it was snowing, my first time pressing in the snow! So, I let the apple juice settle for a day, and then a friend came over and we racked it into a 5 gallon carboy, threw some yeast in there, and we're currently in fermentation stage. It seems to be fermenting quite slow, but it's been steady, so we'll let it continue unless we see something abnormal. The apple juice has turned to a yellow orange tone, but looks delicious. We'll find out. I know the cider would be better if we had some other varieties in the mix, but we thought it was a worthy experiment. Has anyone had any success with dessert apples and hard cider?
Posted by Justin Younker on January 09, 2011 0 Comments
The Fruit Press is now carrying all Happy Valley Ranch Cider and Wine Presses. Happy Valley Ranch has been building quality presses for a while now, and we are excited to expand our product offering here at The Fruit Press. HVR's American Harvester is a 4 leg, double tub cider mill that is thier flagship cider press. We are also carrying thier Homesteader cider and wine presses, the Pioneer Junior cider press, as well as hardware kits and accessories if you are interested in building your own homemade cider press. All of Happy Valley Ranch's products are now listing on The Fruit Press website, please check them out!
Posted by Justin Younker on October 28, 2010 0 Comments
The Fruit Press is proud to bring our customers boxes of apples directly to thier door. We are shipping quality apples directly from the Yakima Valley, the nations leading producer of apples. We are currently offering Washington State grown Honeycrisp apples. Our Honeycrisp apples are in high demand as they are great tasting for both eating and pressing to make fresh cider. They can also be used to mix with your own varieties of apples to create the perfect cider blend.
We package the apples ourselves in bushel boxes, which are about 42 lbs. and ship them directly to your door. We are currently selling our Honeycrisps for about $1.30 / lb., and with shipping costs included they are still under $2.00 / lb.! Check out our fresh packed Honeycrisp apples at The Fruit Press, and place your order today!
Posted by Justin Younker on August 16, 2010 0 Comments
The family and I had a succesful weekend of cider pressing. Every year we go over to my in-law's home and press apples for fresh cider. This year we used Honeycrisp apples that my father-in-law grows, as well as Red Delicious apples from Yakima and a few other varieties. We were pressing about 1 bushel of apples to yield a gallon or gallon and one-half. This is the first year I've really paid attention to yield per bushel. Does anyone else have any statistics on how many gallons of cider they yield per bushel or box of apples?
Posted by Justin Younker on August 16, 2010 0 Comments
When making an apple grinder for crushing apples, you will probably want to serrate or at least sharpen the teeth on your grinder. A lot of homemade apple press grinders are nothing more than the wood core with screws drilled about three-quarters of the way into the wood. If you are more of the metal working type you can cut strips of aluminum or stainless steel and bend them upright at a 90 degree angle. You can them carve out teeth on the part of the strip that is perpendicular to the wood base. I will post a picture below to help explain. The point is to carve out teeth that are as sharp as possible to create the finest mash as possible.
Posted by Justin Younker on August 16, 2010 0 Comments
Great publication on the forgotten apples in United States History, compiled by Cory Paul Nabhan.
Executive Summary excerpt:
"The f irst-ever gathering of grassroots apple conservationists in the United States, organized by the Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) Alliance on March 19, 2009 in Madison, WI, acknowledged that not only are many apple varieties endangered, but the unique "apple culture" of America is endangered as well. These experts—who have collectively had more than two hundred years of experience in apple nurseries and orchards—charted a plan that would restore apple diversity to our farms and gardens, restaurants and cideries, home kitchens and festivals."
For a complete reading, click on the link below:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/images/ark_products/applebklet_web-3-11.pdf
Enjoy!
Posted by Justin Younker on August 16, 2010 0 Comments
Apple Harvest is coming up soon and it looks to be a record harvest year here in Washington State. If you are thinking about pressing apples this year and have yet to purchase a cider press, you can find some great ones at The Fruit Press!
More posts to come as we enter September and October. Have a great end of the summer everyone!
