The Story of Emerald Necklace 2023

The late May freeze took out a lot of our foraging sites but we noticed a curious pattern: most of the sites with fruit were at 1,700’ elevation and above. The apples in this Emerald Necklace reprise came mostly from two sites located on the portage escarpment at about 1,800’ in a north facing hollow where we found massively cropped trees bearing mostly yellow apples with zingy acid and wild flavors.

As of the writing of this ‘zine, the cider is at 1.011 specific gravity, nearing the perfect time to bottle as a pet nat. It’s a little too soon to grab any meaningful tasting notes but I can tell this cider is going to be juicy, tart, energetic and wild. A fresh and fun first release of the 2023 season. A self-selected apple blend by virtue of cold-hardy resilience.

Autumn Stoscheck Cider Maker/ Orchardist