Step 1: Harvest

Without apples there would be no cider. Apples are the one and only ingredient and the quality are therefore highly important as it is reflected in the final wine. Optimal management of the orchard ensures this. However this project focuses only on the enology part and viticulture would therefore not be discussed in details.

250 Danish apples varieties are available at Pometet (the national Danish collection of apples) were I do my studies. The harvest was done before I started my project and I was therefore not able to define on my own what apples to use. Among the harvested apples I decided to work with Ingrid Marie, Ildrød Pigeon, Dronning Louise (Queen Luoise), sukkeræble fra Vaalse (sugar apple from Vaalse) and det søde æble fra Aalsrode (the sweet apple from Aalsrode). Furthermore I added Aston Brown Jersey as a cider reference apple for my experiments. All apples would be described in more details later on.

I will therefore work with the following batches:

• Ingrid Marie, traditional approach
• Ingrid Marie, modern approach
• Ildrød Pigeon, traditional approach
• Ildrød Pigeon, modern approach
• Dronning Louise, traditional approach
• Dronning Louise, modern approach
• Sukkeræble fra Vaalse mixed with søde æbler fra Aalsrode, traditional approach
• Sukkeræble fra Vaalse mixed with søde æbler fra Aalsrode, modern approach
• Aston Brown Jersey, traditional approach
• Aston Brown Jersey, modern approach