Apple Wine Recipes

APPLE WINE

Steps:

• Start by removing about 1 quart of juice (4 cups) from the gallon, and then pour the other 3 quarts into a fermentation vessel.
• Place 2 cups of the removed juice in a small saucepan, and set the other 2 cups aside for topping off the fermentation vessel later.
• Gently warm the juice in the saucepan. Add all the ingredients (except yeast) and stir to dissolve. Turn off heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
• Pour the sweetened juice mixture into the fermentation vessel with the other apple juice.
• Dissolve the winemaking yeast in a small amount of unchlorinated water (about 1/4 cup). A packet is sufficient to start fermentation in 5 gallons of juice, so only use roughly 1/5 to 1/2 the packet. Allow the yeast to sit for about 10 minutes to rehydrate.
• Add the wine yeast to the fermentation vessel with the juice.
• Top off the fermentation vessel with some of the apple juice you set aside at the beginning until the level of the juice is at the base of the neck of the fermentation vessel. Be sure to leave 2-3 inches of headspace to allow the mixture to bubble.
• Cap with a rubber bung and waterlock (filled with water) and allow the mixture to ferment in primary for about 7 to 10 days. Fermentation will be very active, and may bubble up into the water lock. If so, clean out the water lock and re-attach it as necessary.
• After primary fermentation, use a brewing siphon to move the ferment to a clean fermentation vessel, leaving any sediment behind.
• Re-cap with a water lock and allow the mixture to ferment in a cool, dark place in "secondary" for at least 6 weeks, but preferably longer, like 6 months.
• When fermentation is complete, bottle the wine in wine bottles and allow it to bottle age for at least a month but preferably longer before drinking. If you'd like sweet wine, back sweetening may be necessary at this point. See notes for instructions.

RHUBARB WINE RECIPE

Steps:

• Wash the rhubarb sticks and cut them into half-inch, or thinner slices. Place these pieces in a clean, sterilized tub and pour in the sugar. Stir it well, and then cover the bucket with a clean towel or plastic wrap and leave for at least 24 hours but up to three days.
• After that time, the sugar will have pulled the moisture out of the rhubarb, creating a rich pink syrup.
• Bring four quarts of water to a boil, hold it there for five minutes, and then allow it to cool to lukewarm. While it's cooling, make a large mug of strong black tea with some of the water and allow that to cool too.
• Pour the lukewarm water over the rhubarb and sugar. Stir well to dissolve any of the sugar at the bottom of the tub. Pour the liquid through a strainer* into another clean tub. Discard the rhubarb pieces (or use them to make rhubarb pie).
• Pour the tea into the rhubarb liquid.
• If you want to know exactly what percentage of alcohol your wine is at the end, take a reading with a hydrometer. This is optional but will give you a better idea of what your wine is like in the end. You'll probably get a reading of about 1.1.
• Next, add yeast and yeast nutrient to the rhubarb liquid. Stir well then cover the tub with a clean towel and allow it to sit undisturbed for five days. If you want to be more professional in this step, you can use a primary fermenting bucket with an airlock. Fermentation will be pretty violent in this stage though so it can get messy with one.
• At the end of the five days, rack the liquid through a sterilized hose from the tub into your clean demi-john. The way I do it is to set the tub on a kitchen counter and the demi-john on the floor. If you don't have an auto-siphoning tube, place one end of the siphoning tube in the tub, then suck on the other end until the liquid begins coming through. Hold the end of the tube over the demi-johns' opening so that it flows inside. You could put it inside too, but be careful to not let the outer surface of the tube touch the inside of your demi. There will be germs from your mouth on the end.
• As the liquid flows into the demi-john, make sure the tube doesn't suck up the mucky residue at the bottom of the tub. If a small amount gets in that's fine, but the less you get in the better. If the liquid doesn't come up to the bottom of the container's neck (and you're aiming for a dry wine) you can fill it up to this point with water that's been boiled and cooled.
• Once the liquid is in, fit your drilled cork into the demi-john. Pour a little boiled but cooled water into the airlock's chamber before fitting it into the cork.
• Leave the wine to ferment in a place that's at least room temperature, if not warmer. The temperature that the wine should be during its fermentation varies depending on the type of wine yeast you're using so look at the sachet for this information. You can purchase an LCD thermometer strip to put on your demi-john but I point the thermometer gun I use for soap making at it to take regular temperatures.
• When your wine gets fermenting, you'll know it by the blip, blip, blip, of the water in the airlock. It can get annoying when you're sleeping, so keep it out of earshot while you get your zzz's. Fermentation can take a few days to start, so keep an eye on the temperature of the room/wine and be patient.
• It will take about 4-8 weeks for fermentation to complete. By this time, the airlock may only be releasing a bubble of glass every minute or so or none at all.
• Rack the wine from the demi-john into a clean tub. Like before, avoid sucking up the sludge at the bottom. It's basically the remains of yeast and will make your wine look and taste horrible.
• Add a crushed Campden tablet to it. Campden tablets contain sodium or potassium metabisulfite which stops mold and bacteria from growing in your wine and spoiling it during the aging process. Adding it is not optional.
• Siphon the wine into another clean and sterilized demi-john. If the wine doesn't come up to the neck of the bottle, top it up with simple sugar syrup*. Too much oxygen touching the wine during aging can adversely affect the flavor of the wine. Make sure to add potassium sorbate too, so that any remaining yeast doesn't start fermenting the added sugar. If it does, you'll likely have a mess on your hands with the bung popping out during the aging process.
• Fit a cork and then allow it to age for about six months. During this time it should be kept in a dark place at a constant cool temperature and the demi-john stored upright.
• After six months, the wine will be pale golden in color, and probably quite dry (unless you added sugar syrup). If you use the hydrometer to measure the liquid's specific density again, you can now work out the alcohol content. It's likely that you'll get around 0.998 in this second reading, making the wine about 13.39% alcohol (if your initial reading was 1.1). If you want to leave it this way, you can skip the next section.
• Have a taste, and if the flavor of the wine is too dry for your liking, you can sweeten the wine with a rich simple sugar just before bottling it.
• Dissolve 1 cup sugar in 1/2 cup of boiling water. Boil for a few minutes to evaporate a little of the water. Allow this strong simple sugar syrup to cool to room temperature.
• Rack the wine into a clean tub then add the sugar syrup and the potassium sorbate* and stir well. The sugar will sweeten the wine, and the potassium sorbate will ensure that the yeast doesn't rise from the dead to devour the sugar. If you leave the potassium sorbate out, your bottles of wine could eventually explode. Take another hydrometer reading if you'd like to work out the alcohol content
• Siphon the wine into clean and sterilized wine bottles and cork. You could technically drink it immediately but it's better to let it age a month or longer.

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY WINE RECIPE

Steps:

• Wash all your tools and sterilize to your desired level of cleanliness. Maintain this level of cleanliness throughout the process.
• In a big bucket, a large jar, or specifically designed fermenter, add the frozen fruit, cane sugar, and pectic enzyme (if using). Cover and let sit out until the berries are defrosted and the entire mixture is quite juicy-at least four hours, up to 24 hours.
• Using a potato masher or clean hands, mash the berries to crush them. No need for it to be a smooth puree.
• In a small bowl, combine about a cup of water with the yeast, set aside to wake up for 10 minutes.
• Add the wine tannin or black tea and acid blend or lemon juice to the strawberry mixture. Add in enough water to bring the total volume of the mixture to about 1 1/3 gallons-no need to be perfectly accurate.
• Pitch the yeast water into the mixture, and stir well to agitate. Close the lid on the fermenter and fit with an airlock.
• Place the fermenter in a spot out of direct light, but where you can keep an eye on it. Agitate the mixture well at least once per day by stirring or swirling.
• The fermentation should start within 1-3 days. Continue to stir or swirl thoroughly throughout the entire primary fermentation stage.
• When the bubbles slow down considerably in the airlock (usually around the 10 day mark for us with this wine, but it'll vary based on the heat of your house), your primary fermentation is done.
• Fit a funnel with a mesh sieve into the neck of a sterilized carboy. You can also use a special brewing funnel with a strainer if you choose.
• Using a large ladle, scoop out the whole and mashed strawberries and pour them through the sieve and funnel.
• Press the berry puree into the sieve to get as much of the early wine out as possible.
• When the sieve fills up, dump the spent must into the compost, and replace. Keep repeating until the majority of the fruit is out of the wine.
• Pour the remainder of the wine through the sieve and funnel.
• You want the wine to come to the bottom of the neck of the carboy. If you have too much, you can pour yourself a glass of not-yet-finished-but-still-delicious wine. If you have too little, you can top it off with more non-chlorinated water.
• Fit the carboy with an airlock. All this agitation will restart any sluggish fermentation quite actively, so I recommend placing the carboy in a place where you can keep an eye on it easily (but still out of direct sunlight).
• Once you know it's not going to geyser wine everywhere, you can then move the carboy to a dark, out-of-the-way spot to do the longer secondary fermentation.
• Secondary fermentation is complete when the wine is "still," meaning there is no carbonation in the wine, no bubbling in the airlock, and the wine has cleared. This can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to months, depending on a number of factors. Do not bottle until the wine is still.
• Using a siphon, transfer the finished strawberry wine-leaving behind the sediment-from the carboy to the bottling bucket (or the primary fermenter if it has a spigot).
• Fit the bottling container spigot with a bottle filler, if using.
• Fill clean, sanitized bottles using the bottle filler or just the spigot.
• Cap, cork, or close the top of the bottles. Label the bottles.
• Store in a cool dark spot (if using corks, turn the bottles on their sides to keep the corks wet) and age for at least 30 days, but preferably 6-12 months for the best flavor.

APPLE WINE RECIPE - SIMPLE & RICH APPLE WINE

Steps:

• 1. Begin by heating half the water with the sugar in a large pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.
• 2.Take the prepared apples and place in the fine straining bag. Put this in the bottom of the fermenter and pour over the boiling water. Add the remaining half of the water and this will bring the temperature down so it is lukewarm. Add the tannin, yeast nutrient and acid and stir thoroughly.
• 3. A few hours later when the must has cooled even further add the crushed campden tablet and stir through the must. Cover and leave the wine for at least 12 hours.
• 4. 12 hours after adding the campden tablet add the pectic enzyme, stir thoroughly and leave for 24 hours.
• 5. After 24 hours add the yeast by sprinkling onto the surface of the must, no need to stir. The yeast will now ferment the wine. Stir the must daily with a sanitised spoon to ensure all the apples are broken down.
• 6. After a week lift out the straining bag with what remains of the apples. Let the bag drip dry but avoid the temptation to squeeze the straining bag. Leave the wine to settle for at least 24 hours.
• 7. After the wine has settled for around 24 hours you can syphon the wine into a demijohn. The wine now needs time to condition and to clear. Rack again after a couple of months to aid clearing. Condition for at least 4 months before bottling.
• 8. Should you wish, you can back sweeten the wine following this method. If you prefer a sweeter, richer wine then this is a good option.