History: Chisel Jersey is believed to have originated in Martock, England in the 1800s where it spread little outside the immediate area for about a century. During the mid-1900s, this apple became quite popular in commercial cider orchards although it has lost some of that renown today.
Why We Grow It: With small, green fruit featuring a striped red flush, this bittersweet cider apple is highly recommended in England as well as in Canada. It is high in tannins and sugars but low in malic acid and makes a great cider apple.
Canadian Hardiness Zone: 5
Soil Preference: Sandy loam, loam, clay loam. Prefers average to moist conditions, avoid planting anywhere that floods for more than two weeks in the spring. Generally quite adaptable to different soil conditions.
Growth Habits and Disease Resistance: Moderately vigorous and precocious with an upright growth pattern, tends to have heavy crops every other year. Susceptible to scab, mildew, and fireblight but resistant to brown rot.
Sun/Shade: Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)
Pollination: Requires a pollinator of a different apple variety that blooms around the same time. Chisel Jersey and Dabinett cannot pollinate each other.
Flowering Time: Late
Ripens: Early November
Storage: Keeps less than a month when stored in cool, humid conditions
Recommended Use: Cider
- Class: Bittersweet
- Sugar: Medium, SG 1.059
- Acidity: Low, TA 2.2 g/L
- Tannins: High, 4 g/L
- Juice Yield: 232 mL/lb
- Taste: Mostly bitter with some hints of fruit or citrus, astringent aftertaste
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Recommendations: Good in blends where it adds structure and complexity
Size including roots:
- 1 year grade 100-200 cm whip
- 2 year grade 100 cm+ with 3 or more branches, 30 cm or more
- B grade less than 100 cm
*Information based on Claude Jolicouer's The New Cidermaker's Handbook and Washington State University's "Cultivar Performance Gallery"