Apple Wine Recipe

Apple Wine

Makes 5 Gallons

Things you will need

7.8 gallon fermentation bucket (larger is fine)
Large nylon or cheesecloth straining bag
5 gallon glass or plastic carboy
Stopper and Airlock
Bottling Bucket with spigot and bottling wand

Ingredient List

30 lbs of Apples
10 lbs of Sugar
5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1/4 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 Tbsp Acid Blend
1 tsp Tannin
1 Packet Mangrove Jack’s CL-23 Premium Wine Yeast OR Lalvin D-47 Wine Yeast
10 Campden Tablets (5 before fermentation, 5 at bottling)

The Magical Procedure

1) Core and Chop apples into bite size pieces.   Do not use a food processor or blender to chop up fruit.   Cut up into small ‘bite size’ pieces.  Place fruit in straining bag and set aside.

2) Add a gallon of water to the bottom of your fermentation bucket.   Mix all the ingredients except the yeast and campden tablets into the water.  Dissolve as best as possible.

3) Place straining bag containing the apples into the bucket and add water to bring volume to 5 1/2 gallons.

4) Crush up 5 Campden tablets and add to bucket and stir into mixture.   Place lid on bucket, fill airlock halfway with water and place in grommeted hole in bucket lid and wait 24 hours. 

5) After 24 hours add your yeast packet.   Just sprinkle over the top.  No need to stir.  You should begin to see signs of fermentation within a couple of days.  Most of your fermentation will happen in the first few days, but allow to ferment a full 7 days before proceeding.

6) After 7 days remove the fermentation bag containing the fruit from your bucket.   Squeeze out as much juice from the bag back into the remaining wine in the bucket.  Do not worry if some of the fruit pulp makes its way through the bag into the wine.   Transfer wine into your secondary 5 gallon carboy.  If needed, add water to bring volume to 5 gallons.   Place stopper and airlock in top of carboy.   Fill airlock about halfway with water and reattach top of airlock.

7) Secondary Fermentation: Allow wine to ferment for an additional 4-8 weeks. The wine may be    completely fermented at this point but leave in carboy to allow it to clear naturally.  If you are uncertain that your wine is completely fermented you may elect to take a specific gravity reading with a beer & wine hydrometer.  The hydrometer should read .998 or below.  

8) Time to bottle:   Siphon the wine into a bucket leaving the sediment in the bottom of the carboy behind.   Crush the remaining 5 campden tablets and stir into the wine.    Connect the bottling wand to the spigot using the food grade tubing and gently fill each bottle.   Cork the bottle and    enjoy at your leisure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Â