Business & Tech
WATCH: Apple Growing Season Ends, but Cider Making is Ramping Up
Lull Farm in Hollis churns out fresh apple cider weekly.
MILFORD, NH — Apple picking season has ended, but as the holidays approach, the demand for apple cider, a favorite fall beverage, will increase. Lull Farm’s cider press in Hollis makes between 500 and 1,000 gallons of fresh apple cider each week, Andrew Orde, farmer and cider presser said.
“We try to sell out each week to keep it really, really fresh,” he said.
During the holidays, they will make up to 1, 200 gallons.
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“Usually McInthosh is a good base, but we add in lots of sweet varieties like Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, every apple we can grow,” he said.
See the video below for a glimpse into the cider making process.
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Orde, who said he learned the art of cider pressing by watching his dad and others, explained that the apple crop was light this season as a result of a warm winter and a heavy crop the year before. They did not have a supply for wholesale this year.
“We usually pick between 24,000 to 25,000 bushels of apples, he said. “And this year we only picked 7,000 to 8,000 thousand bushels.”
The apples they grow and the cider they make are sold at both the Hollis and Milford locations. Lull Farm also draws customers interested in making their own hard cider. They can drop their containers off at the Hollis location, and have them filled during the next cider press.
Jeff Brockway from Milford was preparing to brew his first hard cider on Oct. 21, 2016.
“The fact you can just drop off your carboy and get it filled up right here- it saves all the work and all the waste of picking it up in the gallon jugs,” he said.
And on Saturday, Nov. 5, Orde will press a special batch of cider for those interested in hard cider.
“Once or twice a year, we’ll do a good pressing with all of these antique varieties to make a really exceptional hard cider juice for all the hard cider enthusiasts,” he said.
Orde said a club will be coming to the farm, but anyone interested can bring their containers by on Saturday.
“That will be the best hard cider juice of the year,” he said.