Fruit for Hard Cider

Our use scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings, adapted from the grades S. A. Beach used in The Apples of New York (1905). A 6 is a solid good, and 8 and up are his higher grades, the ones that land on our Best Of lists. For hard cider, Golden Russet and Hewe's Virginia crab top the group at 9 out of 10. Airlie Red Flesh, Franklin, Frostbite, Golden Harvey, Newtown Pippin, Otterson, Roxbury Russet, Trail and Yates all scored 8.

Most good cider is a blend, so it helps to plant for different jobs. Franklin gives bittersharp juice at 17.5 to 19 Brix. Otterson is a red-fleshed crab with deep red, astringent juice for blending, and Hyslop carries lots of tannin. Brown Snout is a bittersweet with rich tannins and low acid, Binet Rouge is a Normandy bittersweet once used for Calvados, and Ellis Bitter is grown for tannin, structure and mouthfeel.

For a cold site, start with the hardy ones. Trail crabapple is rated to zone 1b, Frostbite and Burgundy to zone 2b, and Golden Russet, Franklin and Otterson to zone 3. Hewe's is rated to zone 3b, and Newtown Pippin, Roxbury Russet and Yates need zone 4. The cold hardiness calculator will tell you where you stand.

Every apple and crab here needs cross-pollination. Roxbury Russet, Ashmead's Kernel and Karmijn de Sonnaville are triploids, so plant two other apples near them. Binet Rouge and Ellis Bitter bloom very late, so pair them with another late bloomer. Dolgo crab scored 8 as a pollenizer and 7 for cider, so it pulls double duty. Check the pollination maps for bloom timing.