Trail (a.k.a. Bilodeau)

type: Cider, Dessert, Jelly, Juice

synonyms: Known as Bilodeau since the mid-1980s when Claude Bilodeau gave some scionwood from a mislabeled graft to his friend Claude Jolicoeur. Though they both found it excellent for making apple cider as well as for eating fresh out of hand, they were unable to determine the real identity until October of 2022 when the latest DNA analysis found a highly probable match in the Trail Crab . In December, 2022, researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario (Canada) confirmed that the Trail and the Bilodeau were indeed one and the same apple.

summary: Primarily a cider apple, but also makes excellent jelly. A well-flavoured snacking apple too.

identification: Small, round with lightly angular sides, often flattened at the calyx and stem. When ripe, the base colour is a bright yellow over which is a bright red blush that can range from orange to deep red, sometimes marked with a light network of russeting. The calyx is partly open, with long, pointed sepals, set in a deep and wide basin which is irregularly puckered and surrounded by a knobbed ridge. The stem is long, slender and set in a medium deep and narrow cavity. A thin, tan bloom develops on the surface.

characteristics: The flesh is yellow, fine-grained and soft, somewhat dry. Aroma and flavour of baked apple pie.

origins: The story of the Bilodeau apple actually begins in the early 1970s when Claude Bilodeau of Lotbinière, Quebec (Canada) ordered some grafted pear scionwood from a local nursery. Among the pieces he received was an untagged apple graft, which he planted. Some years later, the tree produced a crop of apples which were sweet, lightly tart and flavourful. In 1986, he gave some scion wood from the tree to his friend Claude Jolicoeur, a craft cider maker from Petite Rivière Saint Francois in Quebec. Jolicoeur introduced the apple as the Bilodeau in his “The New Cider Maker’s Handbook” published by Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013. “I have always thought it is possible this is an already named variety, but I have yet to find an identical fruit,” Jolicoeur explains in his book. “It does have some similarities with the Robin Crab and with the Virginia Crab, but it isn’t identical with either.” The search for a matching apple continued for more than a decade without success, until in late 2022 the DNA analysis carried out by Paul Kron at the University of Guelph in Ontario showed a match with the Canadian-bred applecrab Trail Crab , bringing the mystery to an end.

cultivation: Moderately vigorous, precocious. Produces annual crops.

cold storage: Does not keep well.

vulnerabilities: Generally disease free, but scab has been reported in a few isolated areas.

harvest: In the last half of the fourth period.

juice character: Very sweet, somewhat tart, lighly astringent. Intense flavours reminiscent of fresh-baked apple pie. The sweetness varies according to the growing season, ranges from Brix 12.40 to 17.70. Light amber colour.

juice_classification: Bittersharp