About 20 members gathered for the annual members' pressing and cider-making day at Mosser. About 280 litres of cider was made and a fair amount pressed for juice to take away.

About 20 members gathered for the annual members' pressing and cider-making day at Mosser. About 280 litres of cider was made and a fair amount pressed for juice to take away. I was amazed at how much was pressed by what someone called the "well-oiled machine" (referring to the team, not the equipment!).
Since the pressing was outside, we arranged the weather satisfactorily! Many thanks to all those who brought food, which resulted in an excellent spread much appreciated by all.

A brief report on the cider for those who contributed/are interested:

• No.1 was just over 100L and had a gravity (corrected to 20C) of 1.042 with an expected ABV of 5.4% and a pH of 3.33. It is to be fermented on the wild yeast so I added a half dose of sulphite (37ppm).
• No.2: 100+L, SG 1.046 (expected ABV 6%), pH 3.38, wild yeast (41ppm SO2 added).
• No.3: approx 75L, SG 1.042 (expected ABV 5.5%), pH 3.3, Lalvin 71b (full dose - 72ppm - SO2 added).

Thanks to Graham Millar for the photos and a special thanks to those who stayed to help with the cleaning at the end - very effective and fast!

Report by Mark Evens; Sunday, 27 October 2019