Summary of 2022 cider cultivar evaluations

Cider apple cultivar selection

Cultivar selection is foundational to the success of any orchard. It is a major challenge for cider apple growers, as we are just starting to learn which cider cultivars are adapted to our variable climates in the Western United States. Historically, bittersweet and bittersharp apples, popular for cider production, have been grown in milder climates than the Intermountain West. Harsh winters and short growing seasons may leave trees vulnerable to cold injury or unable to ripen high quality fruit. Traditional cider growing regions in Europe also have different disease pressure, resulting in cultivars that may be more susceptible to common diseases in new growing regions. For example, in cool, maritime climates of traditional European cider production, fire blight rarely occurs since it’s almost never warm enough during bloom to produce fire blight infection. However, many popular cider cultivars are highly susceptible to fire blight, a deadly disease of pome fruits, throughout much of the Intermountain West.

With input from growers and cider makers, the Western Ag Research Center (WARC) has initiated several trials of cider cultivars to evaluate apples for cider production in the Intermountain West. Between 2016 and 2021, the following cultivars have been planted and subsequently evaluated for production in Montana: Ashmead’s Kernel, Binet Rouge, Bulmer’s Norman, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, Hewe’s Virginia Crab, Harrison, Golden Russet, Major, Marie Mendard, Muscadette de Dieppe, and Wickson. In 2021, Chisel Jersey, Dabinett, Ashmead’s Kernel, and Golden Russet were replaced with Bedan, Hewe’s Virginia Crab, and Domaines, due to the total loss of these trees in October 2020’s cold snap (see Summary of 2020 Cider Apple Cold Injury). Once these new cultivars reach production they will similarly be evaluated alongside others in our trials. For more information on other cultivars commonly grown in the Intermountain West, see WARC’s summary of a grower survey conducted in 2019, Performance of Cider Apples Cultivars in the Intermountain West.

WARC Cider Cultivar Evaluations

Following are fruit quality, harvest and growth summaries for cultivars grown in WARC’s trials as well as juice quality characteristics for Kingston Black and Golden Russet, popular cider cultivars grown nearby in partnering orchards. Tables and figures are provided to allow direct comparisons between cultivars.

Winners and Losers

According to our planting trials, working with growers, and the 2019 Growers’ Survey, the following cultivars have been identified as reliable cultivars for orchards in the Intermountain West:

• Bittersharp: Hewe’s Virginia Crabapple, and Porter’s Perfection
• Bittersweet: Binet Rouge and Muscadette de Dieppe
• Sweet/Sharp: Wickson (sharp), as well as several fresh market apples including MacIntosh, Wealthy, Cortland, Northern Spy, Jonathan, and Whitney. Some of these “dessert” apples often fall into the category of sharp.

Cider cultivars were evaluated for juice quality, yield, and maturity at harvest. Additional notes were recorded for vigor, cold hardiness, and fire blight susceptibility; however, this information is currently qualitative, as more data are necessary to provide a statistically accurate comparison of cultivars. Data collection began for most cultivars in 2019 and will be updated as evaluation continues. Where multiple years of data are available, averages are reported. Years are missing for some cultivars, as they were either not in production or were damaged by cold injury and could not be evaluated. To compare cider cultivars grown in Corvallis MT, to established trees in the pacific northwest, visit WSU’s Cider Cultivar Performance Database at https://cider.wsu.edu/ciderweb/.

Juice Quality

Data collection began in 2019. All data represent averages; however, for some cultivars, only one or two years of data are available. In 2020, percent total tannic acid was determined using the Lowenthal- Permanganate (L-P) method at WSU's Mt. Vernon Cider Lab. This was to allow for classification of apples using the traditional English system developed at the Long Ashton Research Station in the UK (Table 1). This system classifies apples into four categories based on percent total tannic acid using the L-P method and total acid (percent malic acid). Growing conditions and climate can influence how an apple is classified (Alexander et al., 2016; Mendrey et al. 2020).

All other juice analyses were performed in WARC's laboratory. All cultivars were grown at WARC in Corvallis, MT unless otherwise noted. For non-producing cultivars in 2020, % tannic acid is unavailable; however, total tannins (mg/L) and total phenolics (mg/L) (using the Harbertson assay), are compared in Figures 1 and 2, allowing for relative comparisons with other cultivars.

Figures 1 and 2. Average total tannins (mg/L) and total phenolics (mg/L) for cider cultivars grown in Montana. Data represent cultivars grown between 2019 and 2021 at the WARC, unless otherwise noted. Letters indicate statistical differences between cultivars (Total tannins: p=7.87E-25 ; Total phenolics p=5.29E-26).

Bloom Data

Full bloom dates are provided in cultivar summaries. Following is a table with average dates when a majority of trees had reached a certain bloom stage. Cultivars are classified as early, mid to late blooming. Data were collected between 2019 and 2021. Bloom date is important when considering spring frost risk and certain pest management decisions, particularly fire blight. Later blooming cultivars tend to be more susceptible to fire blight.

Harvest data

Most of the cultivars evaluated at WARC were grafted in 2017, with the exception of Hewe’s Virginia Crab and Bulmer’s Norman which were planted as nursery trees in spring 2016. Harvest data collection began on all trees when they reached their fourth leaf in 2019 and 2021 respectively. In addition to yield (lbs/acre and bins/acre), harvest date and maturity using Cornell’s Starch-Iodine Index are reported. Several cultivars have yet to ripen (starch index<6) in the orchard prior to harvest, however, all still have Brix above 16 and even 20 despite low Starch-Iodine Index values (see Table 2). Based on yield in trees fourth year alone, Hewe’s and Binet Rouge on G935 rootstock are statistically higher yielding than all other cultivars. Muscadette de Dieppe and Wickson, yield slightly less but still significantly higher than other cultivars (Figure 3). Additional notes on harvest ease, fruit drop and fruit quality are included in cultivar descriptions. For more information on the importance of yield to profitability visit https://www.goodfruit.com/figuring-out-profitability/.

Figure 3. Average yields in lbs/tree at tree ages 4-6 years. Production data began at four years of age for all cultivars, hence only Bulmer’s Norman and Hewe’s Virginia Crab have multiple years of data. Winter injury to Bulmer’s Norman occurred during Year 6. No significant increase between Year 4 and Year 5 was likely due to Bulmer’s Norman being strongly biennial bearing. Hewe’s annual production increased 33% between Year 5 and Year 6, Bulmer’s increased 56% between the same two years despite winter injury, however 75% of Bulmer’s Norman trees have been lost completely to winter injury or fire blight since planting.

^*Cultivars with greater than 50% damage from winter injury in fall 2020.

^**Cultivars with 10-50% damage from winter injury in fall 2020.

Fruit Weight

Fruit weight is an important factor when considering harvest ease. Small fruit like Wickson and Hewe’s Virginia Crab are great from an orchard management perspective and have desirable fruit quality for cider makers but they can be difficult to manually pick increasing labor costs. Below is a comparison of fruit weight for apples harvested at the station and in nearby orchards (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Average fruit weight (g) for cultivars grown at WARC or in nearby orchards. Significance differences noted by lettering (p< 0.05). Fruit weights for Dabinett and Chisel Jersey are only for 2020, prior to trees being killed by winter injury. Similarly, data was only collected for Tom Putt in 2021. For all other cultivars, averages represent data from two to three years of harvests depending on tree age.

Juice Yields

While fruit weight is an important consideration for ease of harvest, juice yield should be considered as well. Large fruit may be dry or high in pectin reducing overall yields relative to slightly smaller or similarly sized fruit. Trees in this harvest are still young and harvests are low for allowing comparison of juice yields using the grower standard 40 L bladder press. Juice yield information will be posted when larger harvests are available to allow for more consistent and comparable data.

Cultivars

The cultivars included below represent trees grown and evaluated at the WARC as part of our cider apple research program.

References

Alexander, Travis & King, Jacqueline & Zimmerman, Andrew & Miles, Carol. (2016). Regional Variation in Juice Quality Characteristics of Four Cider Apple ( Malus ×domestica Borkh.) Cultivars in Northwest and Central Washington. HortScience. 51. 1498-1502. 10.21273/HORTSCI11209-16.

Mendrey, Katrina, Miller, Z., Darling, A., (2020). Performance of Cider Apple Cultivars in the Intermountain West. https://agresearch.montana.edu/warc/research_current/apples.