Apple wine

I have started a batch of apple wine from the apples in my yard. I blitzed them in the food processor after coring them. My recipe said to boil them for 15min then add the sugar. Instead I put them (39lbs) in the primary and added boiling water, citric acid, sugar. When it cools I will add yeast and nutrient. The recipe says to let it sit for 24hrs, but I am inclined to let it sit for longer with the fruit in there because I did not boil it. Also it does not call for pectic enzyme but I want to use it. At what point do I add it. This is my first batch of wine so any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

vanillabean said:

I have started a batch of apple wine from the apples in my yard. I blitzed them in the food processor after coring them. My recipe said to boil them for 15min then add the sugar. Instead I put them (39lbs) in the primary and added boiling water, citric acid, sugar. When it cools I will add yeast and nutrient. The recipe says to let it sit for 24hrs, but I am inclined to let it sit for longer with the fruit in there because I did not boil it. Also it does not call for pectic enzyme but I want to use it. At what point do I add it. This is my first batch of wine so any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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I'd highly suggest adding campden tablets (sulfite) to kill wild yeast and bacteria. I am NOT a fan of boiling fruit for wine, as it gives a "cooked fruit" flavor but something needs to be done to kill the natural wine yeast and bacteria so I'd use the campden tablets.

Twelve hours after adding the campden tablets, the pectic enzyme is added, and 12 hours after that, the yeast is added.

I have a crabapple wine recipe posted, under my avatar, if you want to see how I make apple wine and crabapple wine. No blender, as that makes the wine a real bugger to clear, but if you don't mind a cloudy wine it might turn out just fine. It may make racking hard, though, if you didn't bag up the pulp.

Ok. So I have been waiting til now for my apple/water/citric acid mixture to come down to 70. I guess in the original recipe the boiling would kill the yuckies. I did not boil it so I will be adding Camden. I am making a 5gal batch. Would I need 5tablets? And would I x5 the pectic enzyme from ur crab recipe? I appreciate all ur tips.

vanillabean said:

Ok. So I have been waiting til now for my apple/water/citric acid mixture to come down to 70. I guess in the original recipe the boiling would kill the yuckies. I did not boil it so I will be adding Camden. I am making a 5gal batch. Would I need 5tablets? And would I x5 the pectic enzyme from ur crab recipe? I appreciate all ur tips.

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Yes, five crushed campden tablets dissolved in boiling water, and 5x the pectic enzyme for a 1 gallon batch.

Added the campden tonight. Gonna add the pectic enzyme in the morning. Thanks for all the advice. I sure hope this turns out.

Also I did not bag up the fruit. Any suggestions on straining.

vanillabean said:

Also I did not bag up the fruit. Any suggestions on straining.

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Careful racking? It's going to be a bugger to rack with all those fruit pieces and stuff, though. I'd probably transfer sooner, rather than later, so if you do accidentally aerate the wine it won't be too bad if it's still at 1.020 or so.

Can I just strain the fruit out into another bucket. Why is aeration so bad.

I tested the sg and it is at 1.072. I havmt added yeast yet, can I add more sugar? And how much would i need to get to around 1.090 ish.

vanillabean said:

Can I just strain the fruit out into another bucket. Why is aeration so bad.

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Once fermentation slows/stops, the wine can be ruined by oxygen. That is why it is always carefully siphoned, topped up to the bung, and airlocked. Splashing/aerating/headspace will allow the wine to oxidize, which ruins it.

Yeah that makes sense. Well I haven't added the yeast yet, so it made sense to me to just strain into another primary. I added some grape concentrate and more sugar. Sg is now sitting at 1.010. I think I'm ready to add the yeast and nutrient. I am certainly doing it the hard way lol. Oh well. I think I am back on track

vanillabean said:

Yeah that makes sense. Well I haven't added the yeast yet, so it made sense to me to just strain into another primary. I added some grape concentrate and more sugar. Sg is now sitting at 1.010. I think I'm ready to add the yeast and nutrient. I am certainly doing it the hard way lol. Oh well. I think I am back on track

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I don't think your SG is possible- run and check it again. It should be more like 1.085-1.100.

I wrote it wrong. It's 1.10

vanillabean said:

I wrote it wrong. It's 1.10

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Ok- that's good!

I checked my apple wine tonight and it is still bubbling like crazy. I know you crabapple wine says to rack at day 6. Is it supposed to calm down first?

Update on the apple wine. S.g. Is about .998. And I've racked it a few times. Should I sulfite again at some point. Also, is bulk aging or bottling better at this stage? How do you know when to bottle and or stabilize and sweeten? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

vanillabean said:

Update on the apple wine. S.g. Is about .998. And I've racked it a few times. Should I sulfite again at some point. Also, is bulk aging or bottling better at this stage? How do you know when to bottle and or stabilize and sweeten? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

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Keep it in the carboy, topped up, and rack every 60 days whenever you have lees. Once you stop dropping lees and the wine is completely clear (like read a newspaper through it), then it can be aged in the carboy or bottled. Use 1 campden tablet per gallon, crushed and dissolved in a little boiling water, at every other racking.

When I back sweeten my apple wine I always boil down some apple juice to give it more of an apple taste and then add some sugar to the boiled down apple juice so it's more concentrated. It ends up tasting amazing an I normally give a few bottles away to client at work. I have about 30 or so pounds of apples waiting to be started as soon as my banana is moved to secondary.

Yooper said:

Keep it in the carboy, topped up, and rack every 60 days whenever you have lees. Once you stop dropping lees and the wine is completely clear (like read a newspaper through it), then it can be aged in the carboy or bottled. Use 1 campden tablet per gallon, crushed and dissolved in a little boiling water, at every other racking.

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Perfect. That's what I needed to know.

rhartwel41 said:

When I back sweeten my apple wine I always boil down some apple juice to give it more of an apple taste and then add some sugar to the boiled down apple juice so it's more concentrated. It ends up tasting amazing an I normally give a few bottles away to client at work. I have about 30 or so pounds of apples waiting to be started as soon as my banana is moved to secondary.

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How many pound do you usually use for a 5 gallon batch? I used 40 lbs for mine ( it's what I got off my tree this year)

I use an average of 8 pounds per gallon when I make my apple wine. Comes out wonderful.

It seems that apple wine can take quite a while to age. I was hoping to be drinking some sooner rather than later. How long do u like to age?

I think it normally got in 3 months. Mine ages maybe 2 months. It's pretty quick and taste good.

I've heard it usually takes 6mo to a year.

Well, my apple wine is actually really good. I decided to back sweeten a bit with some apple juice concentrate and wow! What a difference. I used 2 cans of apple juice concentrate, 1 can of welches white grape con. and about 2 cups of white cranberry juice(cause it was kicken around) I can't believe how good it tastes. Can't wait to age it and see how it changes. I want to take a SG test to see how sweet it is. I would say it might be a medium sweet. ( FYI this is a 5gal. Batch)