THE CIDER MILL
Old cider mill - Our old cider mill
The new mill. (on the front of my shop, can't quit the day
job)
We opened our new cider mill in 2009. As
you can see, the addition is not a large structure, but one
suited to the size of our orchard (4+ acres). Since we are
a small operation we do not need a lot of space for
specialized equipment; just some basins and sinks, our
grinder, water powered press, bushels of apples, and a
couple of refrigerators. Juice production on a human scale.
We operate our mill as a retail level mill, no wholesaling.
This means that we can sell REAL APPLE CIDER,
unpasteurized, no preservatives, no additives, no
ultra-violet processing (raw). Just wonderful pure fresh
squeezed juice using only tree picked fruit.
The food police have convinced many that consuming raw
(milk, cider, etc) foods can and will cause serious
illness. According to the government the only foods that
are good for you are the ones that have been processed and
sterilized in some way. There is more and more evidence
that the tampering that we do to our food not only can
reduce the nutritional value, but also that some of the
processes and additives used are actually harmful to our
health. Raw foods must be handled with care, though, and
the fewer steps between producer and consumer, the better
in terms of food safety for such foods.
Of course if we don't "treat" it with something it means we
have to put the "you are doomed if you consume this" label
on our bottles. That shouldn't stop people from enjoying
what apple cider should really taste like, in all of its
pro-biotic glory.
We press cider at least every weekend during the apple
season. Since we will not need to process a whole lot of
cider at this point, the press may or may not be running
during business hours on a given weekend; but you are still
welcome to check out our operation.
We offer our organic, fresh sweet cider in half gallons. We
offer a bulk price for 5 gallons (with your own carboy or
other container) at a time for those who want juice for
making hard cider. In the next few years we will have more,
different cultivars coming in to production and will be
able to offer those to people who are looking for hard
cider apples with specific characteristics. In the meantime
our basic blends do make excellent "farm" hard cider (we
can attest to that!). Availability and timing of hard cider
pressings are limited so be sure to call ahead to reserve
you bulk order (5 gallons or more) of cider. Prices are at
the bottom of our home page.
Cheers
The grinder.
Turns the apples into a nice chunky apple sauce. Made in
the USA by OESCO in Conway MA.
The press
The press is a “water” press, made by Lancman and imported
from Europe by OESCO in Conway Ma.
It uses regular household water pressure to fill a rubber
water bladder in the center of the stainless cylinder that
presses the crushed apples (pomace) against the outside of
the cylinder. And then the cider runs out, turning it into
a big fountain.