Hi Gary - I have read the same thing about chilling tomatoes kills the flavor - haha - but I don't much care about that because I like to eat fresh tomatoes cold and that's just the way it is - whether just on a plate or in a sandwich - they just taste better to me that way and for some reason - especially Better Boy!

I am definitely with you when it comes to tomato juice! To each his own!

This post was edited by Hudson...WY on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 23:21

Definitely, aside from the variety, Brandy boy is the winner in my opinion.

About refrigeration: I do not know if something chemically happens or not but to me all the fruits taste best at room temperature or even slightly warmer. Because, in part, that is how and where they grow. When the fruits are too cold(45F?) they numb the taste sensors in the mouth so you can not get and feel the true taste. Just my personal view.

Hudson... Please tell us more about the green house set up that is in the picture.
Since you are in zone 3, and have ripe tomatoes now, how long do you have to use supplemental lighting?
When did you start your seeds?
Did you also grow other varieties?
What do you use for a growing medium?
Thanks!

Seysonn - I know it is odd - but I like Brandy Boy better at room temps and Better Boy chilled - one of those variables that at least doesn't affect the growth of the plant!

Northernmn - We are in similar zones - It took some effort to get tomatoes so early in our zone - but it was fun doing it!
Here is the short story: Planted seeds indoors under lights the last week of January - Moved to unheated GH on March 10th - covered seedlings in GH with frost blankets - kept seedlings above 40 degrees under the frost blanket with light bulbs on a timer at night - removed frost blanket on sunny days.

{{gwi:293465}}

As the plants grew, we had to change the frost blanket supports to accommodate - the outside temps became warmer (32 degrees and colder instead of 0 degrees and colder) - so the light bulbs were still able to keep the plants above 40 degrees in the GH.

Finally the plants grew so tall that we had to remove all protection in the GH to allow them to climb - at that point we used an electric space heater on nights when outside temps were below 25 degrees - the GH kept the plants above 40 degrees without heat above 25 degrees.

There you have it - it worked for us and now we are enjoying nice ripe tomatoes in this frigid beautiful Wyoming in June! We planted 5 varieties - German Giant, Better Boy, Brandy Boy, Super Marzano and Sweet Baby Girl.

Happy results from some early effort. Next year we plan to start the seeds the middle of February and delay the process two weeks - (we think we will have similar outcome - although the plants were always healthy and never appeared stressed) - because the cold weather (sub-zero temps) slowed down the growth process some back in February.

This post was edited by Hudson...WY on Sun, Jul 7, 13 at 1:06

Thank You! Great job on the explanation and a super pictorial to go with it. VERY well done.

No problem Northernmn - be sure to post some photos of your GH when you start construction - I would like to see what you end up with. We must have looked at hundreds of GH's before we designed the one we built.

Salsa time! Brandy Boy did not disappoint !!

Another very good Burpee product is Orange Slice. I have ten plants hanging full of large green fruit bigger than Better Boy ever gets. They taste good too.

I have grown Brandy Boy twice. I love the color and size but in my garden it comes in a poor second to Estlers Mortgage Lifter.

hey Hudson, loved seeing the photo of your greenhouse lit up at night with snow surrounding it! That must keep your gardening heart going in the winter!

bigpinks: Thanks for the recommendation (Orange Slice & Estlers Mortgage Lifter)! I will have to try both varieties. Do you have any photos of the plants / fruits so I can compare?

Amerique: Yes - there was therapeutic benefits from opening our GH on March 10th. The photo you are referring to was taken on March 12, 2013. Snow is expected here in Wyoming (zone 3) through May and last frost is forecast by the end of May - but we always get subfreezing temps in June it seems ------- I just can't wait that long!!! I have to start tinkering with grow lights in January and lighting up the GH in March - haha. It proved worth it though because we are now enjoying a bumper crop of tomatoes! Thanks for your comments.

I might have some later. My son said he would give me an older camera and show me how to post pictures. Right now I have clusters of 3-5 in a bunch of the EMLs. Last summer I weighed one that wa 37 oz. They are much rounder in my garden than BB and just a smoother more attractive shape..jmo. They are meaty, slightly sweet and I love the taste. The pretty pink color of Brandy Boy however is almost unique. When my plants got 5 ft tall the Orange Slice had a bigger stem and more robust look(deep green leaves) than any other plant in my garden. And they were full of round 3-4 inch fruit.

It appears mother nature may have a solution - a "Better Brandy Boy"! I was surprised to find several cross pollinated Better Boys in the GH - the plants are at least 15' apart! Our GH is air tight and screened!! As of yet - I have not found any Brandy Boys that look like Better Boys though. Maybe Burpee can develop a "Better Brandy Boy" for those of us that like both of them!?

Better Boy is still one of the varieties of choice for our GH. The Brandy Boy is a great slicing tomato - but Better Boy is an awesome canning tomato (good for slicing too - but not as good as Brandy Boy - IMO). And..........Better Boy is a great producer too.

My wife bottles/cans some awesome tomato soup as well as salsa. We just picked another round of Better Boy tomatoes today (most of these tomatoes are 8-14 oz) - that will find their way into her awesome soup!! It got down to 19 degrees last week and the frost killed everything that wasn't in the GH (except some of the cold crops). Better Boy and Brandy Boy are our favorites at this point in time and are still producing!!

{{gwi:290210}}

Better Boy is ok, but in my garden Brandy Boy is the winner.

Brandy Boy is superior to Better Boy in: taste, size and productivity.

I also suggest Brandy BoyâÂÂs fans, to check another thread by Hudson...WY: Brandy Boy - awesome variety.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Sun, Sep 14, 14 at 13:03

Awesome looking tomato Daniel - and huge at that !! I agree 100% - Brandy Boy is the best tomato we have found to date! I can taste it - just looking at your photo !!!

In my garden Brandy Boy and Mortgage Lifter tasted EXCELLENT. But the "King of the Garden" is Brandywine Pink, which taste is OUTSTANDING !!!

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Sun, Sep 14, 14 at 13:16

Jealous! My garden is finished. Put away sauce and tomato jam, which is so delicious. I'm hoping to give brandy boy another try next year. Brandy wines are permanently off my list. Too few and too late!

Here in Long Island (NY) things are better than ever...

A few tomatoes I picked up yesterday, Saturday, September 13, 2014.

The two large ones in the corners are... Brandy Boys: 18 oz. and 13 oz. EXCELLENT taste !!! Nice size too.

I'm with you Sharon - Brandy Wine is off my list also - not impressed in my GH - for the same reasons !!

Nice Tomatoes Daniel !!

Hudson, you know your stuff and show everything in actual results.
Anyway. You can, of course, compare any two tomatoes, for sure. But maybe not a tomato to a tomatillo.

So far I like what I read and hear in this thread. Here is my dilemma. If I can only have one of the 2 BOYs, which one I should pick ?. My criteria:

--- Production, Earliness ( I have short cool season) , Compactness( I prefer smaller plants, to take less air space),

So , please help me out on this.

seysonn, I know your question was for Hudson, but in case youâÂÂre curious what happened in my garden, here it is:

* Production: Brandy Boy
* Earliness: Better Boy
* Compactness: Better Boy
* Size: Brandy Boy
* Taste: Brandy Boy (by far)

For me the choice next year is clear: BRANDY BOY.

Taste and size for me are much more important than waiting one more week for a Brandy Boy tomato to ripe.

While next year I will plant 3-4 Brandy Boy, I will still plant 1 or 2 Better Boy, which is still a good tomato.

Hi seysonn, I haven't grown Better Boy for a long time and this was my first year with Brandy boy. I can say that Brandy boy is not early, it's at least 80 DTM. I can't base production on this year as I had some disease issues with most of my plants, we had spider mites and extreme humidity. But the tomatoes did have excellent taste. I'm fairly certain it's going to be in my grow list for next year.

> Wine Tastings are all the rage these days but with the tomatoes producing volumes this year, why not consider hosting a 'tomato tasting' party? You will need to have a variety of tomatoes but, should you decide to have a party you could ask your guests to bring those from their garden or some from the Farmer's Market to add to the collective fun.

The cast of characters included the following:â¦[ Brandy Boy, Early Wonder, Glory, Green Zebra, Legend, Mortgage Lifter and Sungold. ]

'Brandy Boy' - 75-78 day maturity, indeterminate vine, a hybrid of Brandywine. This tomato is large and most fruit are in excess of five inches across. The skin is thin and pink and this plant produces quite a few fruit. It is much more prolific in production than 'Brandywine' . The flavor was described as tangy, sweet, zippy and robust. It was the clear favorite.

Of the eight guests, four liked 'Brandy Boy' the best, two liked 'Early Wonder', one liked 'Green Zebra' and one liked 'Mortgage Lifter'. [ Tomato Tasting. ]

Brandy Boy is my choice as well. Delicious 1lb+ fruit and very productive.

Hi Seysonn -
We have grown both varieties in our GH now for several years - We have a good history of performance - this is how they compare up for us:

* Production: Brandy Boy - always more prolific! Although Better Boy is always second place.
* Earliness: Brandy Boy - this is where I differ from Daniel and Sharon - In our GH the Brandy Boy set fruit better than Better Boy in early spring cool temps - so they are the first to ripen. We planted them in the GH the middle of March and had ripe Brandy Boy the middle of June. Better Boy was a week or two later.
* Compactness: Better Boy
* Size: Brandy Boy
* Taste: Brandy Boy (by far)!
* Slicing Tomato - Brandy Boy
* Canning Tomato - Better Boy
* Desease resistant - No Difference
* Skin - Brandy Boy - Thin - Better Boy - Medium

Brandy Boy is very hardy and grew 16' to the top of GH before the tops froze from freezing outside temps - I would recommend planting them behind your other tomato plants and give them strong support - we use cattle panels. I recommend pruning suckers which will keep them as compact as you like - but they keep producing if you let them grow tall or horizontal.

A tomato tasting party is a great idea - I will have to remember that for next year.

Brandy Boy - would be my clear choice of Recommendation for you to consider!! Have you tried Tomatillo? I don't have enough room in my GH for those! But have never grown them either.

Here is a photo of 2013 showing the dates the variety ripened. As you see - Brandy Boy ripens first in our GH.

I didn't grow Brandy Boy in my garden this year, but I gave away seeds and seedlings to friends and family. The tomatoes that I got in return were outstanding. I'll definitely be planting it next year. Check out this 1lb 9oz lunker. It tasted as good as it looks.

It does look awesome rt !! Brandy Boy is producing some big ones too - 1lb 9oz is a big tomato! We had many 14 to 16 oz this year - more big ones this year it seems. Our largest was 1lb 4oz though. Looks bigger in the hands of my two year old granddaughter.

Ok. Thanks for your very descriptive analysis.

I am sold : BRANDY BOY is it. That is a definite choice for me the next season.
Good by Mortgage Lifter (sorry Charlie !). Probably I got a bad plant ( It was Bonnies. One out of about 30 plants)

One of the finds this season for me had been Ananas Noire (aka Black Pine apple) I compare it to Cherokee Purple in size and texture. But probably is juicier than CP. Plus it is a beautiful multi color : Purple, Orange, Yellow and Green.
I recommend it to you to try.

seysonn wrote:

> Good bye Mortgage Lifter (sorry Charlie !).

While in my garden, ML were not that big as I expected - none was bigger than 1 lb - the production was good and the taste EXCEPTIONAL. A keeper for me.

> Probably I got a bad plant ( It was Bonnies. One out of about 30 plants)

Most likely.

Seysonn - it is a beautiful multi-colored tomato! Does it taste as good as a CP? I am a little skeptical after tasting the Mortgage Lifter Bi-color - yellow tomato - I didn't like the flavor - too bland for me

Hudson, all I can say is that it (Ananas Noire) is very juicy and crisp. I usually do not eat a lot of plain tomatoes, but I eat this one whenever I can. The color maybe tricks me . I fall for it. This is like 3 tomatoes in one.
Production and size, I think is comparable to CP, maybe better. I think it is worth trying.

Hey, that's not fair-I didn't get to wear nail polish till I was 13 !

I am bumping this thread for those that may want more information about Brandy Boy - and may want to see the comparison I made with Better Boy - in the event that you have grown Better Boy in the past

Great thread! Definitely something is fairly unique about Better Boy when it comes to flavor and temperature - you have something there. I never understood odd liking of refrigerated tomatoes, but here you mention Better Boy was your principal tomato, and you actually like Brandy Boy at normal temps, that surprised me because Better Boy has always been an exception for me...

Better Boy for me is better at a refreshing temperature, too, not chilled but slightly cooler than other tomatoes. Also it tastes better to me compared to other tomatoes when growing conditions are low light and cool temperatures, like now when I am growing it through a winter when many nights get cold, which isn't the same. That may be related though. I think there is some science going on with the flavor.

My other comment is "BB" is Better Boy, but now "BB" is used for Brandy Boy in our contest. I get confused every time!

PC

haha - me too - I try to use BB in context - but it gets confusing - especially when comparing BB with BB. Maybe brandy Boy should be BBB - for Brandy Boy is Better? haha

I dare not say much about refrigeration and tomatoes or I will get in trouble with Deborah - haha - at least I know that I am not the only one that likes a tomato cooler - it must be science!

Hmmmm... I'm a diehard fan of Better Boy. I really find it hard to have a favorite boy since I love them all the same. (jk, I have yet to try a BYOB = Brandy Boy ;-)). Maybe another contest to vote on the best standard abbreviations LOL, I'll submit: the Bet and Bra boys ;-) Not trying to have flavor vs. temperature hijack the thread, but that's mostly what it's about after yield is factored in. I think you nailed it when you observed different varieties like Bra and Bet are different, and part of that is Bet probably has a better skin and regular shaped surface so dehydration isn't a big problem as quickly and it absorbs less random refrigerator smells than a thin skinned, irregular, more easily dehydrated tomato, like 'ugly' shapes do.

The scientists at UCD consider 54 F to be the perfectly fine lowest temp so I'll call that refreshing, but refrigeration temperature of around 40 F to be damaging according to statistical tasting tests they did. Ha, they went on to say when harvested near maturity and ripened above the refreshing temp to table ripe, at that point it can be put in the refrigerator for as long as 3 days and still be great, especially if bagged. OK, I'll quit and Deborah can take over ;-)

PC

I suggest <b> BrB </b> for Brandy Boy .

Similarly <b> BtB </b> for Better Boy. .
Seysonn

html code not working ?!?

No need to use html code anymore. They now have bold and italic buttons just below the text box that you can click.

Rodney

Thanks Rodney. I just noticed that few hours ago.

Here is my signature in bold and Italic combined.

Seysonn

This was the thread , in 2014 that made a convert out of me to grow Brandy Boy.
And so am a proud grower of Brandy Boy this year.
Hudson also has initiated a contest for all Brandy Boy growers, fan.
But where is Daniel ? Look forward to hearing from him soon. I bet plant out day is near in Ling Island.

Sey

Ummmm.............these photos of ripe Brandy Boys are killing me. The first ripe BB tomatoes in 2013 was June 9th although this photo was taken on June 13th. I don't even have just one tomato set - yet - this year! For those who have not tasted a Brandy Boy - it is worth the wait !!

"The first ripe BB tomatoes in 2013 was June 9th although this photo was taken on June 13th. I don't even have just one tomato set - yet - this year! "

Hudson, hmmmm, it sounds like you have flowers if you're complaining about set tomatoes! That's better than me in FL 9a! My plant is a healthy runt. On the bright side of things, maybe I'll come up with a dwarf Brandy Boy that you can grow in the house over winter. Yes, that's what I'll keep saying to keep the faith!

Sey, maybe Daniel took a job as a weatherman and is too busy this season!

PC

Howdy Hudson.

On August 18th, 2013, you posted a Better Boy and Brandy Boy Cross. Meant to ask if you followed up by saving seed and replanting it? I realize that there's a lot of variance in the F2 and F3 generations, but if good lineage(s) are selected and stabilized then *Better Brandy Boy OP* could be a real keeper.

Oh, btw, i'm going to flood my friends, family and coworkers with extra Brandy Boy starts this year, haha. They're doing great in real sunshine as opposed to indoor lighting, they will be ready for plant-out the 2nd or 3rd week of May, which is the norm around here.

Steve

Your are right PC - besides - I got to smell my fingers after pruning some suckers this morning - haha. Good luck on the Dwarf BB - I would plant it!

Hi Steve - no, I didn't save the seeds on the cross - but think I may when I retire and have more time to keep track of things - guess I will leave it to Burpee and PC for the time being - haha.

My first year growing Brandy boys. I am more than willing to overlook the catfacing and cracking on these lovely beefsteaks. Most have been just under 1b. Tonight's dinner was just shy of the 2lb mark and really hit the spot in terms of flavor and texture. I like them sliced with unrefined sea salt. My daughter ate 1/4 slices like a pizza. This Whopper has been harvested shortly after summer solstice, which may help explain the size. Growing in Israel where climate is similar to zone 10. I like these way better than the famous and excellent sungold cherry tomatoes in the same row. Thin skin, refined flavor and beefy interior.

Asaf - Nice looking Brandy Boy!! It is also huge! I can taste it just looking at the slices on the plate! Not bad for your first year growing Brandy Boy!!

This is an old thread but still interesting.

I have only Brandy Boys now but I have plants for Brandy Boy and Better Boy for the second round (fall tomatoes) . I will post a report/review when they come to production. But I don't think that Brandy Boy can be beat. I just planted Better Boy to have different varieties.

Sey