Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Alcoholic beverages which are not classified as spirits.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
hotmaildotcom1
Novice
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:13 am

Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by hotmaildotcom1 »

Ended up with about ten gallons of apple juice from a buddy of a friend. Guy and his brothers run an orchard.
Turns out I don't drink apple juice nearly as fast as I thought and I was tired of letting this stuff eat up fridge space.

I threw five gallons into my stewpot, brought it to a boil, let it cool, and into the fermenter it went. Went to go hit it with the hydro and dropped it on the kitchen floor. Now a little red in the face, I pitched in some champagne yeast I had taking up another section of fridge and called it a day. Just redstar red package.

About 11 days till end of gas activity, another 3 to settle. On the recommendation of some other wine & beer recipes, I racked it into a secondary fermenter and let it clear a second time before bottling. Chilled for one additional week before consumption.

This was so ridiculously easy and I have to say it's good. It's real good. Bottles that chill longer have less of a sweetness and gain a dryness. No quantitative measurements could be taken but first hand experience says two pounders of this is significantly more truth serum than I expected when I sat down for a family dinner.

I was so excited I fired up a new batch, dumped the remaining 4 gallons or so in the boiler, stripped the packing out of my column, and ran it through. I'm only about a solid year into the craft, but this blows anything I've ever made out of the water as far as drinkability. Majority of the run was about 100 proof. Cut it off earlier because I had full blown tail flavor coming in at about 70-80 proof.

Didn't even worry about mixing. Lady friend approved. And she won't even touch the corn stuff unless it's been processed into the Tried&True panty dropper. The smell alone makes you want some.

I think it's an apple wine and not a cider, as the proof seems pretty high. Couple glasses of the old boxwine won't get me where this stuff gets for sure. I'm just blown away that it even worked it was so easy.

If this post would be better as a reply to someone's comments just lemme know and I'll get her moved. Just thought this was pretty cool.
User avatar
Truckinbutch
Angel's Share
Angel's Share
Posts: 8107
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:49 pm

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by Truckinbutch »

I'm good with it . Just want a sip :thumbup:
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
User avatar
hamshine
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 333
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:37 pm
Location: colorado high rockies

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by hamshine »

Juice + Yeast yea buddy!!!
ETOH.... yes plz
User avatar
hotmaildotcom1
Novice
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:13 am

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by hotmaildotcom1 »

Yeah buddy indeed! I've been looking around at suggestions on which kinda of yeast to throw in for the next round, if anyone has any ideas that I can find at the local brew store I'd be more than interested.

I made a batch a week or so ago where I only inverted half the five gallons of juice to try and keep some of the sugar in the final product. I'm not sure if they'll just chew everything up anyways but it was worth a shot. Had to resort to buying some at the store though so that'll likely skew any results I'll get passed learning anything useful.
User avatar
cranky
Master of Distillation
Posts: 6505
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:18 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by cranky »

I'm not sure I am following exactly what you did. If I understand it right you boiled fresh unpasteurized apple juice with no added sugar and used Champagne yeast. So simply apple juice and yeast, is that correct?

So assuming that is correct and you are happy with it keep dong that. If you want to play around a bit I have a few suggestions. Generally if you are going to drink it quickly you don't need to pasteurize and boiling isn't necessary at all. Boiling may set the pectin in the juice and create a cloudiness that won't settle out. I personally don't mind cider being cloudy. There is no need to boil it to invert the sugar unless you are adding extra sugar. Yeast love apple juice and the sugar in apple is already in the right state for the yeast. Even if you are adding sugar the yeast are going to eat it all up especially with a high alcohol tolerant yeast like Champagne yeast. My preferences for yeast for anything that isn't going to be distilled is Wyeast sweet mead yeast, D-47 and 71B-1122. A lot of people swear by Nottingham and Safale S-04 for cider. I have never used Nottingham and had a problem with the S-04 being very slow to start. I usually use the D-47 and 1122 for cider since it is less than $1 a pack and the Sweet Mead is used for more special stuff since it is $6 a pack. All of these yeasts are available at my local brew shop. Store bought apple juice will likely give you much different results since they balance sweetness down to around 1.045 SG which gives about 6% alcohol, whereas some apple trees can produce much sweeter juice. They also add citric acid which makes the store bought juice slightly more acidic.
Last edited by cranky on Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
hamshine
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 333
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:37 pm
Location: colorado high rockies

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by hamshine »

hotmaildotcom1 wrote:Yeah buddy indeed! I've been looking around at suggestions on which kinda of yeast to throw in for the next round, if anyone has any ideas that I can find at the local brew store I'd be more than interested.

I made a batch a week or so ago where I only inverted half the five gallons of juice to try and keep some of the sugar in the final product. I'm not sure if they'll just chew everything up anyways but it was worth a shot. Had to resort to buying some at the store though so that'll likely skew any results I'll get passed learning anything useful.
I always role ec1113 for juice. Order it off amazon prime, get er in 2 days.
ETOH.... yes plz
User avatar
Desvio
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 296
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:35 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by Desvio »

For whatever reason (usually I find good deals) I am always fermenting fruits from apples, mango, pears, plums and whatever. Sometimes it stays as a fruit wine, other times it's gets run through the still, and I generally pitch a London Ale yeast (1028 or WLP013) since I always have a running colony of it for brewing, and have great luck with the finished product turning out nice.
People say that I'm a bad influence. I say the world's already f#cked -- I'm just adding to it.
User avatar
hotmaildotcom1
Novice
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:13 am

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by hotmaildotcom1 »

I'm not sure I am following exactly what you did. If I understand it right you boiled fresh unpasteurized apple juice with no added sugar and used Champagne yeast. So simply apple juice and yeast, is that correct?

So assuming that is correct and you are happy with it keep dong that
This is indeed what I did. I was just surprised it worked out with so little effort put it. If my experience with the hobby so far has taught me anything it's that not only is the easiest way not the best way, it's normally just a waste of ingredients. At least with me at the wheel that's been the case until this project.
There is no need to boil it to invert the sugar unless you are adding extra sugar. Yeast love apple juice and the sugar in apple is already in the right state for the yeast.
As soon as I read that I instantly remembered reading it on other threads. Thank you for the reminder. Just makes it that much easier! However, wouldn't it be a good idea to bring it up to temp because it's never been pasteurized before that? Just to kill off anything that might be floating around in it?
For whatever reason (usually I find good deals) I am always fermenting fruits from apples, mango, pears, plums and whatever.
I've definitely got my ear to the ground now for sure. Looking for anymore sweet deals of this nature. Unfortunately the only annual gig I get that would rival this one is pumpkins in the fall that seems like a lot of work for some nasty smellin mash. First time I've been lucky enough to stumble upon a good clutch of fruit for this purpose.
Store bought apple juice will likely give you much different results since they balance sweetness down to around 1.045 SG which gives about 6% alcohol, whereas some apple trees can produce much sweeter juice. They also add citric acid which makes the store bought juice slightly more acidic.
The juice itself was actually not nearly as sweet as I would have come to expect from other "homemade" apple juices. I would imagine though taste is probably a piss poor way to gauge that with any accuracy. I might have to end up giving it a try with the store bough juices though just cause I'm honestly chomping at the bit and I doubt I'll be getting anymore handouts. I would consider just buying bulk apples from one of the many orchards around here but I've no method currently for processing at all and I don't think I'm up to the task as of now.

Also thanks to everyone for all of the input regarding the yeast to use. I'm probably going to pick up some of the ec1113,D-47, and 1122 if I see them cheap online or at the brew store. I'm definitely doing more in the near future.
User avatar
Bushman
Admin
Posts: 17986
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:29 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by Bushman »

I am going to throw my thoughts with Cranky, if your worried about it not being pasteurized once you distill it problem solved. Also the flavor I believe is much better using only the natural sugars in the apple juice and not adding sugar thus boiling is not necessary.
User avatar
cranky
Master of Distillation
Posts: 6505
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:18 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by cranky »

hotmaildotcom1 wrote: However, wouldn't it be a good idea to bring it up to temp because it's never been pasteurized before that? Just to kill off anything that might be floating around in it?
Yes and no. Some people say pasteurizing changes the flavor and believe they get better cider by not pasteurizing it. Federal law now requires all apple juice/sweet cider not sold at the source to be pasteurized so unpasteurized juice is fairly uncommon. I myself may or may not pasteurize mainly depending on a couple things but mostly on whether or not the apples touched the ground. I've read where people say to pasteurize the juice by bringing it up to 160 F slowly and I've seen where a commercial producer says to bring the temp up as fast as possible hold it at temp for only a few seconds then cool it as fast as possible because every second the juice is hot it loses flavor. I've personally never noticed much difference between the pasteurized and unpasteurized.

Here is what the FDA says about pasteurization times and temps
http://extension.psu.edu/food/safety/co ... 20Time.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
That all came about in the 90s as the result of some apple cider producers using drops to make unpasteurized apple juice/sweet cider which had been contaminated because of the ground contact and animal droppings. It's also why producers are now no longer allowed to use drops for making juice/sweet cider.

So short story long, that's why I may or may not pasteurize. I will also say that I had a half gallon bottle of Motts apple juice ferment in the sealed bottle in spite of being pasteurized. I will also say that unpasteurized juice ferments a bit more vigorously than pasteurized juice. The only time I've ever had any real problem with unpasteurized cider going bad was when the lid on the ferementer was loose and that took a long time to turn to vinegar.
hotmaildotcom1 wrote:I'm probably going to pick up some of the ec1113
I'm pretty sure he meant EC-1118
User avatar
hamshine
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 333
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:37 pm
Location: colorado high rockies

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by hamshine »

EC-1118 indeed was what i meant
ETOH.... yes plz
User avatar
hotmaildotcom1
Novice
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:13 am

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by hotmaildotcom1 »

Bushman wrote:I am going to throw my thoughts with Cranky, if your worried about it not being pasteurized once you distill it problem solved.
I guess the comments regarding pasteurization were in regard to the stuff "catching something" as it's fermenting because of the other growth that might be occurring. I probably will skip that step though in the future as I would like to see more flavor come through in the end. Not too worried about an Odwalla Apple Juice issue in on such a small scale, though maybe I should be with the good ol' boys who I know are supplying the juice. I when I bring something up to temp I have been doing so for quite a period of time. I normally just stir it well during the process but I definitely could reduce the time it's on the heat. Once again I hadn't even thought of the fact that those sugars need not be inverted, so I figured the longer they were on the more complete the process would be.

I need to do some more reading on sugar inversion in general. I know that it breaks sucrose down into two simpler sugars but why then it is called inversion? I would imagine it has to do with conformer changes in the simpler sugars. I know that natural sugars only exhibit the L conformer while manufactured sugars have both L and D in a racemic mixture. I'll do some more reading then drop it into the right thread to discuss. I'm not sure how strict the site is on proper threads in proper categories.

Once again thanks all for the input. I'll post some more on this thread if I achieve better results using the better yeasts selected.
User avatar
cranky
Master of Distillation
Posts: 6505
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:18 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Apple Wine - Too Easy to be True?

Post by cranky »

I really don't know all that much about inverting other than it converts sucrose to glucose and fructose. The sugar in apples is mostly Fructose.
Post Reply