It is apple season and, with the gift of a bag of apples from a friend, I have set to making rough cider again. This year though, I am applying a slight twist in the form of a trug-full of crab apples from our Malus sylvestris ‘John Downie’. We still haven’t finished last year’s batch of crab apple jelly so I don’t want to make any more of that; it will be interesting to see if they contribute anything distinctive to this brew.

All the fruit has been lightly washed and roughly chopped (discarding all the worm holes and rotten bits), covered with water and left in a vat. I will check again next week, when I should have an apple-infused liquid, rich in natural yeasts, along with a thick belt of solid mush than can sweeten the compost heap.