Wild Apple Wine

This batch was made from several pounds of wild apples courtesy Anne-Marie Fournier. I followed my previous crabapple recipe, plus 3 cans of frozen white grape juice, crushed apples in a nylon bag, 12 pounds of sugar, pectic enzyme, acid blend, yeast nutrient, grape tannin and campden tablets. Yeast: Lalvin ICV-D47.

I don’t know how many pounds of apples I used. I think Anne-Marie picked enough apples for two batches of wine. I make a judgment call while crushing the apples. I put the mesh bag in the primary fermenter and I slowly build a large pile of mashed apples inside of the bag.

The grape juice was added because last year’s wine from these same apples was missing a little something. It was drinkable, but I’d like to make a better wine this year. For starters, this year I am going to the trouble of cutting all of the apples into wedges and as a result cutting out any overripe parts and the seeds and core. Last year I did as I do with the crabapples: threw the apples in a bucket, crushed ’em, threw ’em in a nylon bag and made a wine must. Since these apples apparently have a more subtle flavor than the crabapples, I’m hoping that this extra level of effort to get just the good fruit will make a huge difference.

Also, since cutting the apples like that takes time I had to freeze the cut apples as I went along. This turned out to be very beneficial. The frozen apples – once thawed – were very easy to crush. So freeze the apples if you plan to crush the apples like I do. If you have a fruit press, then this advice doesn’t really apply.

Batch #1

Status Date Specific Gravity Fluid Temp. Air Temp.
Build Must 2012-06-16 PM 1.104 75°F 80°F
Primary Fermentation 2012-06-16 AM 1.104 70°F 70°F
Secondary Fermentation °F
Clearing  2012-07-14 °F
Second Clearing
Tertiary Clearing
Quaternary Clearing
Quinary Clearing
Bottling

Primary Fermentation