Hibernal

Hibernal is a large pie and sauce apple which ripens late. We harvested it for pie-making in mid-September and found it to make an excellent pie, with good flavor and a firm texture. At this point it may not actually have been completely ripe, but it seemed to be perfect for pie. We found that the apple at this stage oxidized rapidly after cutting, but that doesn't really matter if you are using it in pie.

We currently have hibernal growing only on a "frankentree", a tree with several different varieties, so we know less about the growth habit of the tree.

Pomiferous states that this apple may have originated in the United States or in Russia, sometime around the 1870s or 1880s. It is said to store well, and we will test this for ourselves this fall.