Inside, they have crisp, tender flesh with a good mild flavour that balances sweet and sour in its taste.
The apple does not ship well as it bruises easily, so it has not been widely commercialized.
Cooking Tips
For cooking or fresh eating
History Notes
Belmont Apples were developed from a grafting cross between two apple tees by Barbara Herr Nissley Beam (1729-1822) north of Quarryville, Pennsylvania, USA. She planted the tree by her garden gate, and called the apples “Gate Apples.”
Cuttings were taken to the Virginia panhandle by her son from her first marriage, Jacob Nissley (1735-1832) , where he developed an orchard of the apples, which he called “Gate Apples” as well.
Two other sons took the apple to Belmont County, Ohio. They referred to the apple as “Mama Beam” and later “Belmont.”
The apple was presented to the Massachusetts Horticulture Society by a C. Olmstead under the name of “Belmont” sometime before the 1840s.
The apple was being grown as “Belmont” in New York State by 1845.
In 1848, the apple was designated offically “Belmont” by the North American Pomological convention.
At one point, it was also called the “Smilie” apple.
Sources
Galloway, James. A. Mama Beam’s Famous Apple. 20 September 2002. Retrieved January 2011 from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~boehm/data/galloway/Galloway_Anecdote_008.html
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting. Ohio State Horticultural Society. 1884. pp 109-113.
Stratton House Inn. The Belmont Apple and Johnny Appleseed. Retrieved January 2011 from http://strattonhouse.com/index.php?section=history&content=johnny_appleseed.