'Brown Snout' is a 19th-century

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

cider apple Cider apples are a group of apple cultivars grown for their use in the production of cider (referred to as "hard cider" in the United States). Cider apples are distinguished from "cookers" and "eaters", or dessert apples, by their bitterness or ...

originating in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, though now grown in other counties and parts of the world.

History

Although several different apple varieties have been given this name in the past,Morgan, ''The New Book of Apples'', 2013, lvii the familiar 'Brown Snout' cultivar of apple is said to have been discovered on the farm of a Mr Dent at Yarkhill, Herefordshire, in the middle of the 19th century.Copas, L. ''A Somerset Pomona: the cider apples of Somerset'', Dovecote, 2001, p.26 It was subsequently widely propagated by the H. P. Bulmer company of Hereford, and was planted in orchards across the west Midlands and, less commonly, in parts of the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

. The Brown Snout remains a popular cultivar in traditional cider making.

Characteristics

It is a late-flowering variety, classed as a "bittersweet" apple, with relatively high

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

s and low levels of

malic acid Malic acid is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a dicarboxylic acid that is made by all living organisms, contributes to the sour taste of fruits, and is used as a food additive. Malic acid has two stereoisomeric forms ( ...

. It makes a medium-sized tree with a stiffly upright habit. The fruit are small and green, with patches of

russeting Russeting or russetting is an abnormality of fruit skin which manifests in russet-colored (brownish) patches that are rougher than healthy skin. It is a common feature in apples and pears. Russeting is typically an undesirable trait, which reduc ...

, and a large patch of russeting at the calyx end, giving the variety its name. 'Brown Snout' is very susceptible to

fire blight Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard ...

References

{{Apples, state=collapsed Apple cultivars British apples Cider apples