HOPE — At the beginning of November, Hope Orchards’ cider press will come to a grinding halt—literally.  From the last week of September to the first week of November, every Friday is cider-making day, using an old-fashioned cider press that is nearly 60 years old. 

The key to excellent cider starts with just-picked ripe apples (never off the ground). The varieties range from macoun, spartan, golden delicious, northern spy and empire apples, which all get placed in wooden boxes and are stacked by the first mechanical piece of the process, the washer. This section washes and polishes the apples of every grade.

They are then transferred to the sizer and hand-sorted to go back into various boxes, some for sale, some for cider and the rest for compost. 

Then, the cider apples travel up a conveyor belt up to the grinder, which grinds the apples into small pieces. The crushed-up apples fall down into a cloth-covered wooden form producing a 2-inch thick “cake.” Employees then stack 10 layers of cakes into the forms under the hydraulic press. When the press squeezes down on the stack, all of the juice, or cider, drips out of the fabric, down the pan and runs down into a reservoir, where it’s pumped into a tank. From there, a set of beer taps open the tank to allow the cider to be filled into jugs.

The mash that is left over from the cakes goes to a compost area, which is mixed with wood chips and leaves and used for next season’s garden.

Hope Orchards only makes 100-200 gallons a week from the week’s harvest and, sells this raw, unpasteurized cider right out of a cooler next to the cider press. By November, they will have used the last of the orchard’s apples, so when it’s gone—it’s gone. At least until next fall.

Watch our video of the entire process — from freshly picked apples to cider.

Reach Kay Stephens at news@penbaypilot.com.