I have a Bramley a bit south of you. It is doing fine. So far it has been a pretty adaptable variety and has avoided the worst of the fireblight. I haven't gotten enough fruits yet to comment on how the taste will be. This year I will get a bigger batch for the first time.

Scott

My questions are "is it in fact a seedling, and if so, is there any chance that it will grow true to type?"

Thanks,

M

Mark, it was a seedling in 1809... somehow the word "seedling" got attached to it ever since.

Scott

Not sure if I am teaching my grandmother, but you do all know it is a cooking apple don't you? Very sour to eat raw but it cooks down quickly into a fine puree. No need to sieve or mash. It just collapses in the pan. Also the trees I know have a tendency to be biennial bearers. This year is an 'on' year for the tree I know best.

flora,

i'm not exactly a suzy homemaker so forgive me. i'm assuming by your comments that the bramley would not be considered a pie apple ?

would this apple have a use for sweet or hard cider ?

i have a few early "sauce" apples and as i believe this is a late ripening apple that it may fill a niche as a late "sauce" apple. just wondering to what extent that this variety offers as to versatility.

thanks,
wildlifeman

Over here we divide apples into 'cookers' and 'eaters'. Cookers are too tart to eat raw. Eaters can be cooked but cookers are rarely eaten raw. I've not heard of Bramley being used for cider, though I don't suppose it would hurt to try it. (We refer only tothe alcoholic version as 'cider'). I have had Bramley apple juice but it is pretty tart and would need to be mixed with a sweeter variety IMO. Bramley is used here essentially only for cooking eg tarts, pies, crumbles and purees. It makes lovely baked apples because the centre cooks to a frothy puree, but you need to cut through the skin around the circumference of the apple because otherwise it will explode.If you want a pie with visible slices in it don't use Bramley. It makes excellent apple sauce to go with pork because, as I said, it requires no sieving or mashing. It purees itself. You might want to add sugar for a sweet applesauce.

wildlifeman, Bramley is commonly used in Britain for getting the acidity up in hard cider.

Scott

Seems to me, also, that Bramley Seeding is a triploid, meaning that its pollen is sterile. So, greenhousems, you'll need two other varieties. One or the other (or both) to pollenize the BS, and then, to pollenize each other, if you want all three varieties to have fruit. (Perhaps you could get by with one other variety if it were self-fruitful). Also, if there are other apple trees in your neighborhood, you're probably fine.

Don

Thank you for all the responses. I have two other apple trees in my yard (don't remember the variety) so hopefully it should be fine. The new bramleys have not yet produced any fruit however I only planted them in May and they were very small.