How many crab apples per gallon?

[Chalkyt]

I have a reasonable (but not large) crop of crab apples from a relatively new tree. I am picking and freezing them now. This year I will add some to the regular apples when they ripen in a month or so, but I don't have enough to add to every batch of cider.

My regular apples (pomme de neige, pippins, and a few wild apples if the birds haven't got them, plus red delicious) are generally slightly tart eating/cooking apples. I usually need around 10kg (22 lbs) or 120 or so of our orchard apples to get 4.5 litres (a gallon) of juice.

So, what quantity of crab apples do you typically add per gallon for a bit of tannin and complexity?

 

[Yooper]

Sometimes I do 100% crabapples for some ciders, so it's really up to you for taste, and depending on the variety of crabapples you have. I use dolgo, centennial, and rescue varieties at my house.

 

[madscientist451]

I'd go about 10-15%, but not all crab apples are the same, so it depends what you have.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I put about 2-3 lb of frozen crabs into a 2 gal ferment bucket. It gives me just about the right amount of tart. But keep in mind I also use store bought juice as my base.

 

[dmf38]

I would start with one pint of crabapple juice per gallon, and see what it tastes like. For 5 gallons of cider I added 1 1/2 gallons of crabapple cider. And I added some Erythritol to sweeten it some.