Apple Wine

       I consider learning how to make wine an excellent skill if there ever comes a day I need to trade for something.  It's not hard to do.  I've been slowly gathering equipment.  I began making elderberry wine for medicinal reasons...and as a way to preserve my elderberries other than freezing.  Since then, I have been trying different country wines just to practice.   The elderberry wine came out fantastic this year! I made 3 gallons of it.  That is 15 bottles.

     Check out racking the elderberry wine here
     Check out getting ready to bottle the wine here
     Check out bottling the elderberry wine here


     This year I planted parsnips to try parsnip wine.  I haven't harvested them yet.  I didn't plan on making apple wine quite yet.  I don't have a wine press to make juice.  But there were so many apples this year I checked out apple wine recipes.  I found out there's recipes made just from the apples without juicing them so I jumped right in.  I actually crushed the apples in the meat grinder  of my  Kitchen-aide mixer.

First I cored the apples. 
Then I cut them in chunks into the meat grinder.
1 med-large apple = 1 cup chopped apple.

I crushed 16 cups of apples.

I dumped the apples into my primary fermenter,
and on top of that 1 gallon of hot water that I had dissolved
4.5 lbs. of sugar in.  Start with a big enough pot! (6 qt. or >)
1 lb. of white granulated sugar = 2 1/4 cups
(Make a metal note of that because all the wine recipes measure the sugar in #'s)

Apple Wine

16 cups chopped apples
1 cinnamon stick
4.5 lbs. white sugar (10 1/8 cups)
1 crushed campden tablet
1 1/2 tsp. acid blend
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
1/4 tsp. tannin
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
1 pkg. of wine yeast


Don't peel the apples, but remove seeds and core.
Put in primary fermenter along with the cinnamon stick.
Pour hot sugar water over the apples.
Let sit for 24 hr. (covered)
Then add crushed campden tablet, acid blend, yeast nutrient, and tannin.
12 hrs. later add pectic enzyme.
12 hrs later sprinkle wine yeast on the top. (Wait to stir till morning)
Stir daily for 5-10 days until bubbling stops.
Pour the must (the crushed apples etc.) through a colander.
Pour the "wine" into a gallon size secondary fermenter, add airlock.
Rack every 30 days until clear and then bottle. (6-9 mon.)
(All of these ingredients can be found at a wine supply store.)






Ready to add the yeast tonight.
Tomorrow my house will smell like a brewery -- but not for too long.  :-)



.....dr momi

Linked To: Preparedness Challenge
Linked To: Homestead Barn Hop

Bottling The Elderberry Wine



     The elderberry wine has been fermenting since last Oct.  It's now nice and clear, and ready to be bottled.  One gallon of wine equals 5 bottles of wine.  This year I made 3 gallons of elderberry wine so I have 15 bottles ready to go.

     Bottling the wine can be messy, but not really hard.  Having the right equipment is a must.  (I'm still missing a clip to stop the flow of wine when I want.)  A siphon is needed for sure, and a bottle corker.



The bottle corker and the corks (size 8 x 1 3/4).
This corker works slick...about $30 at the wine supply store.

 .

The siphon and corker get washed in One Step.
I will put the siphon together and siphon some One Step water through it
to make sure the tubing is all sanitized.  I will do it again
after we are done, before I store the siphon.

    The carboy (jar) of wine is on the table, and we are filling bottles that are sitting in the chair.  The carboy has to be higher than the bottles.  When I first started wine making, I had it the other way around and couldn't figure out why the wine wasn't coming out --LOL!  So....if you should make that mistake, just remember that dr momi has been there, done that first :-)





I waited until I had help.  It's really a two person
job.  Turns out this ended up being a 4 person
job :-).  One daughter held the siphon, one daughter filled the bottles,
my husband took the filled bottle and exchanged for an empty bottle.
....and I took pictures :-).
Here the siphon is in place, pumped, and the wine is flowing.



As the bottle fills up, Katie will raise it so
the flow stops.  Bottles are exchanged and then
she will lower it again to fill.
She only overflowed a bottle once :-)









The little boys were helping.
....who would have thought wine bottling could be family entertainment :-)











The bottle corker is easy to load with the cork. (Soak the corks in One Step
for a couple of minutes before loading.)  Pushing down with even
 pressure on both sides, Kristy corks a bottle.  You have to use a
little muscle, but, if I can do it -- anyone can.

The bottle on the left...the cork is too high.
The bottle on the right...the cork is too low.
Neither of these bottles will be fair entries :-)

Elderberry wine is just plain pretty.

15 bottles of elderberry wine that will get stored in the cool basement.
One will be a fair entry, some will be gifts, the rest to be enjoyed over winter.
(Especially when there are colds going around.)
....we sipped it -- my best effort ever :-)

.....dr momi

Getting Ready To Bottle Wine

     Today I thought "I'm going to bottle the elderberry wine", forgetting that there is a little preparation before hand.  Unless you buy brand new wine bottles, the used bottles need a little prepping.  Old labels need to come off, and they need to be sanitized and dried.  This really needs to be done before the day you want to bottle.  Once you really get going on this wine making thing, all the old labels will be off of your bottle supply, and it gets easier.

Soaking the labels off old wine bottles.  Some come off easier than others.
Sometimes I wonder if they use super glue! 
 On those I give up, and make sure that bottle won't be a gift or a fair entry. 
Next time round I'll work at it again.
I'm getting 15 bottles ready for 3 gallons of elderberry wine.

Next I fill up a sink full of One Step sanitizer.  1 TBL. to 1 gallon of water.
It says on the label that you don't have to rinse it......but I do.
Buy it at your wine supply store.

The bottles get soaked in the One Step for a bit.  I will turn them because there is always an
 air bubble inside.....just making sure it's all sanitized.  Notice the one bottle that
I struggled with the label.  As long as the inside is clean, I'm not too worried.

The bottle drying rack. 
Now this is one helpful gadget.
The bottles dry inside really easy and there's no clanking
around of bottles.  It cost about $30, but worth every penny.
I bought it at the wine supply store.

     The next post will be on bottling the wine.  Tomorrow I start 3 days of becoming a "Master Canner" through our extension office.  I'll get the post off as soon as I can :-).

.....dr momi

Finishing Up That Maple Wine

     Got my One Step out and sanitized my secondary fermentor (a gallon jug), my siphon, and the airlock.



Once the siphon gets going, it does it all by itself.





I always make sure to label it with
 the kind of wine and date started.
This has the stopper in with a hole in it
for the airlock.

 



The airlock lets the wine "bubble", but keeps
out stray yeast.  Here the airlock gets filled with water.
 Now, let it "do it's thing".  No worry about popping the stopper.



      The calendar has been marked "rack the maple wine" for 3 weeks down the road, and the maple wine has joined the elderberry wine on the top of the basement steps.  A place that is not too hot and not too cold.  ......and we wait.

.....dr momi

Maple Sap Wine

     Twenty-six quarts of maple syrup and Rick ran out of firewood.  It's all we need. (For friends, family, and ourselves.)  As he pulled the taps Tue., he collected 12 gallons of sap for me.  I want to try Maple Sap Wine.  I've never made it before.

12 gallons of maple sap cooked down to 1 gallon.  (What a mess in the house -- more wood next year!)
1 lemon sliced thin
1 campden tablet (I decided to use it this time, because they say this wine is better after 1 yr. -- it will help preserve it)
1 package of wine yeast

Put cooked down sap into primary fermentor.
(That has been rinsed with "One Step")
Add the sliced lemon and campden tablet.



Only "I" would pull out a fillet knife (for fish) to cut the lemon because
it's the sharpest knife in the house!
























It's a big bucket for 1 gallon of wine ( 5 bottles) :-)



















Cover with your plastic bag and rubber band string.
Let everything sit overnight.




























The next day, stir in the yeast.




This is the yeast the "wine shop guy" said to use for country wines.
I use his expertise.
















Stir daily for 5 -6 days.  Use a dishwasher sterilized wooden spoon.
(Your house now smells like a brewery :-)
Pull out the bag of fruit, and squeeze every bit of juice out.  Siphon into your secondary
fermentor - a gallon jug. (That has been rinsed in "One Step")
Add your airlock. (That has been rinsed in "One Step")

For a dry wine, rack it at 3 weeks, and every 3 months for one year.  Then bottle.

For a sweet wine, rack at 3 weeks.  Add 1/2 cup maple syrup mixed in
one cup of water, and add to the secondary fermentor.  Repeat the process every six
weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of maple syrup.  Rack
every 3 months until one year old.  Then bottle.

I usually like a dry wine, but, I think this one might be good sweet.
(I'm thinking maplely...not sure....we'll find out!)

                                                                      .....dr Momi

Getting Ready To Make Wine

This is the product I start with.  One Step makes sure that all of your equipment is sanitized.
1 TBL. to a gallon of water.  Everything gets rinsed in it. 
 The package says you don't have to rinse it off,  but I do anyway.
Find it at your wine supply store.



    

The bag that my fruit will go in gets sanitized.
.....and the string with rubber band that will keep the plastic cover on my fermentor.
(Don't laugh that my string is binder twine :-)

This is the string and rubber band.  It will stretch to hold the plastic (I use a clean garbage bag)
on your primary fermentor.  This keeps unwanted yeasts out, but lets the fermentor "breathe".
Cut your string about 5 inches too short for the circumference of your fermentor.
Tie the ends to a rubber band.  Works like a charm.



My primary fermentor is a 5 gallon pail.  The inside gets rinsed with One Step.  
I have it labeled "wine" so that is the only use this bucket gets.
 I don't know about your house, but here, if it doesn't have a label on it
it could get used for any odd job......and some of those jobs are not things
I want in my fermentor!!

     Yesterday and today my house is like a sauna.  There is moisture on the windows because I am reducing 12 gallons of maple sap down to one gallon --- in the house.  Tomorrow.........the recipe for Maple Sap Wine.

Elderberry Wine Recipe

Elderberry

Spiced Elderberry Wine

 Makes 1 gallon of wine ( 5 bottles)

                        2 lbs. elderberries

                                    1 organic lemon

                                    2 campden tablets (I don't use these)

                                    1 tsp. nutrients

                                    1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme

                                    water

Crush the elderberries and place in primary fermentor.  Add 12

cups cold water, lemon juice and rind, campden tablets if you

use them, nutrients and pectic enzymes.  Let sit overnight.        

                                                                     The next day add

                                                                                                          packet of wine yeast (I use Lalvin K1-V1116)

                                                                                                         1/2 ounce thinly sliced ginger root

                                                                                                         2 inch cinnamon stick

                                                                                                         1 cup chopped organic raisins

                                                                     Stir daily until frothing stops -- about 3 days.  Then add:

                                                                                                         3 lbs. brown sugar. (this all turns into alcohol)

                                                                    

                                                                     In a couple of days, place in secondary fermentor (add some oak chips if 
                                                                     you like - I do) and attach airlock.

For a dry wine: rack in 1 month, and every 2-3 months about 3 more times.  Bottle

For a sweet wine: rack in 1 month.  Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine.  Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every 6 weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar.  Rack every 2-3 months until one year old.  Bottle

     I'm going to walk you through all this again in the fall when I am making it.  In the mean time, find yourself a beer/wine making supply shop.  Let the store owner help you with your selections, including a little basic book on getting started.  Do your homework now, before the garden chores set in.  At the same time the elderberries are ready to be picked, the tomatoes will be going crazy :-)  You won't have time then :-)           

     Why is elderberry high on my list of medicinal herbs?  The elderberry's berries have ingredients in them that stop the replication of viruses.  This is one of my "go to" herbs when I feel a cold coming on.  I start it right away.  I have personally known it to knock out that cold over and over.  I don't care if it is juice, tincture, or wine, it all has medicinal value.  Just one elderberry bush in your backyard can give you a good supply, or if you are like me, you plant half the orchard in elderberries to supply yourself and all of your friends :-) 

Racking the Elderberry Wine

We always try to eat as "close to the land" as possible. Two years ago I found out I could drink "close to the land" also :-). We rarely drink alcohol, but a couple glasses of wine on Sun. night when all the kids are here, goes really good with supper. When we are talking medicinal herbs, elderberry is right up there on the top of the list.  I made 3 gallons of elderberry wine this year, a really fun way to preserve your harvest. Freezing elderberry juice takes up too much space in the freezer, though I do make the grandkids some elderberry syrup that they take home and freeze in their own freezer. The grandkids call it their "black ice cream vitamins". It does look black because of the deep, deep, purple color. :-) (think of all the antioxidants!) I did can some elderberry juice this year too. I will be doing more of that again next year.
     Three gallons of wine is 15 bottles of wine. When it is finished, this is what we will bring out if there are a lot of colds/flu bothering the adults. What a fun way to take your medicine :-). More on the medicinal value of elderberry, and the elderberry wine recipe, next time.

See all the "gunk" at the bottom?

     So, for now let's rack the wine. This wine has already been in the primary fermentor (a 5 gal. pail) for about a week, and in this 3 gallon jar called the secondary fermentor for a couple of months. All that racking is, is siphoning off the wine into a new container and leaving all the gunk (dead yeast -- I'm pretty sure "gunk" is not a real wine term
:-) .  You may have to rack your wine 3 or 4 times, with a couple of months in between each one, before you bottle it. This will make sure it's nice and clear in the bottle. Learned that the hard way with my dandelion and rhubarb wine this year. I bottled it too soon. It will still taste great, just not that pretty in the bottle. Tomorrow more on elderberry.