Apple Wine

For 1 gallon ...

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar 1 1/2 tsp acid blend 1/4 tsp tannin 1 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient sulphite (1 campden tablet or equivalent) packet of wine yeast (if you don't know which one, use premier cuvee)

Procedure:

1) Wash hands and sanitize everything. 2) Pour the juice into the fermenter. 3) Dissolve the acid, tannin, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient, and sulphite in a little (1/4 to 1/2 cup) of juice, then add it to the fermenter. 4) Bring 3 cups water to a boil, remove from heat, dissolve sugar, bring back to boil, cool (in an ice water bath until under 100 degrees F), and add to fermenter. 5) Draw off a sample and take a gravity reading (and any other measurements you plan to take). 6) Pitch yeast, stir daily, and when fermentation subsides, rack to a secondary. 7) Rack as necessary (when you notice 1/4" or more sediment) and add sulphite at every other racking. 8) Bottle when clear.

Notes:

You can scale the recipe by multiplying everything, except the yeast, by the number of gallons you plan to make (and making appropriate equipment substitutions).

The amount of pectic enzyme may seem high compared to other country wine recipes. I do this because the recipe is 100% juice, rather than a fruit and water mixture, and because apples are high in pectin.

Most recipes call for delays in adding the pectic enzyme and the yeast. I've never been able to find out why, so I started adding both of them right away along with everything else. I've made a lot of apple wine both ways, and haven't noticed a difference.

The "just dump it in" method usually works, but it's better to make a yeast starter.

If you make more than a gallon of must, lets say 1 1/2 gallons, and you're pretty good with a siphon, then you won't have to worry about what to top up with. You can rack into a 1-gallon jug and a 1/2 gallon jug. Later you can rack into a 1-gallon jug and a wine bottle. Can you see where this is going? Sometimes I decide to bottle based on when it just fits into a 1-gallon jug. Bakers have there 13-donut "dozen." I like to think of this as a "vintner's gallon."

If you have the patience, don't drink until it's at least a year old. I've noticed a benefit from aging two years.

Erroll

Google is your friend.

HTH