Co-op cidery operational


Long-termgoal is to save grower-members of B.C. Tree Fruits Cooperative $1million a year.


By Judie Steeves L


arge and small, many marked by a scar or scab, hundreds of Pink Ladies roll out of the


upended apple bin, through a shower of washwater and up a conveyor belt to the press.


They’re all apples that might be considered imperfect by retailers and consumers, but, once pressed to release their juice, their outward looks don’t matter any more. What’s important is the juice


inside.


In the press, that flavourful juice is released from the skin and pulp to flow directly into a pipe carrying it into one of the 20,000-litre stainless steel tanks lined up at the B.C. Tree Fruits Cider Company operation in Kelowna.


Juice from those Pink Ladies will end up being blended with that of apples pressed last October to create the first batch of Broken Ladder Apple Cider, set to be released this spring.


And, it’s a trade secret what the other varieties in that blend are, notes cidery manager Mike Daley. With 25 years’ experience in the wine and cider industry, most recently as director of operations for Vincor, Daley has the experience with both wine and cider production to ensure this most-recent value-added project of the BCTF Co-op is a success.


And, cider-making is under the same licence and a very similar process to making wine, he explains. “The biggest difference is we don’t use oak barrels to age cider,” he adds. It’s actually very similar to making white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc or Gewurztraminer, in terms of aging, although different yeasts are used, including champagne yeast. This will be a sparkling cider, carbonated after filtering and then


20 JUDIE STEEVES


B.C. Tree Fruits marketing manager Chris Pollock, left, and B.C. Tree Fruits Cider Company manager Mike Daley with Pink Lady apples being crushed for first batch of Broken Ladder cider.


tinned using a mobile canning line that will be brought to the Vaughn Avenue facility in the north end of Kelowna.


Once in the huge stainless steel tanks, the juice is inoculated with yeast and begins ‘working’ to produce alcohol. As the sugar is converted to alcohol the yeast dies off and settles to the bottom, creating a sediment that’s left behind when the cider is racked.


Daley says the cider will be aged for three to four months, but he will conduct a final blending just before filtering and carbonation.


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2015


Staff at the Pacific Agri-food Research Centre in Summerland have assisted to determine the blends of apple varieties that will produce the best flavour in the ciders and staff will help taste the cider before it is put into tins.


“No fructose or glucose will be added, unlike many other ciders,” notes Daley. “It will be one of the driest ciders on the market.” As well, he says no flavouring or grain alcohol will be used to produce these ciders. “They will be true to the core; natural and pure,” he adds. These first ciders will be a dessert


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