# What kind of apple



## Wade E (Aug 16, 2007)

Okay all you fruit people, what kind of apple is this? It tastes like a
nice crisp apple but is nice and small that it fits in my hand. My
parents have crab apples and these are bigger and taste much better. I
just noticed a tree that is loaded with them and will ask if they will
part with some and I believe they will as they are all over a sidewalk
a town away. If you can identify them and ave used them, do you have a
recipe so that I have an idea as to how many to get.


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## NorthernWinos (Aug 16, 2007)

Looks like a Dolgo Crabapple to me....but there are so many varieties out there that it is really hard to tell. 


I use about 4-5 gallons of them per batch...I steam juice them. Maybe you could cook them up in a little water and strain them through a bag...or...extract the juice in some manner. Or, do a cold extraction, freeze them and thaw with sugar....I have never done that.


use Ascorbic Acid from the beginning to hold the color and Pectic Enzyme.*Edited by: Northern Winos *


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## grapeman (Aug 16, 2007)

In all liklihood Wade they are a crabapple- not a flowering crabapple. They are much more palatable than flowering crabs and will get a nice color when fully ripe. Are the seeds brown yet? If not wait until they change before picking if possible. Can't tell the variety from the picture(even if I knew the variety names



).


They should make a very good wine or at least addition to another wine. I've never made a crabapple wine so somebody else will have to help.


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## Wade E (Aug 16, 2007)

I gathered 12 lbs of them today, when you say 4-5 gallons NW about what would that be in lbs? I have only seen very small crab apples that tasted nasty where I live so when I seen these they were new to me. Had to climb the tree to get most of them and will have to wait a few more days to get some more as some most of the ones that I could reach were not ready but very close to it!


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## NorthernWinos (Aug 16, 2007)

They should fall when they are ripe...Just shake the tree to see if they are ready.


I would guess 20-25 pounds for a 5 gallon batch....some recipes call for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2# per gallon...... last two batches I added some frozen apple juice for a smoother flavor and body....have also used WinExpert White Grape Concentrate to a batch....that also gave it smoothness and body.


There are recipes in the book Winemaking by Anderson and Anderson and also in the little purple handbook....WINEMAKER'S Recipe Handbook recipe #30 &amp; #31.


Good Luck!!!!


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## Wade E (Aug 16, 2007)

4 to 5 lbs per gallon huh, I definitely need to grab some more as I really only do 6 gallon batches. I dont like buying small crboys or having a lot of gallon jugs going any more but will if I have to. Appleman after reading your post I chomped on another crab apple and yrs the seeds were brown. NW, I was just picking the ones that were on the ground or came off the branches with no effort at all.


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## Wade E (Aug 18, 2007)

I retrieved another 16 lbs today, 28 lbs total,so thats enough for a 6 gallon batch so Ill be starting that tomorrow as Im freezing them first to help extract the juice a little easier. Dont know if 1 night frozen will help with those 16 lbs but will give it a run for its money. I'm going to put a bunch in a bucket with a piece of a counter top that I cut out a radius out that fits inside the bucket and Ill crush em manually. We had a lot of winds come through here last night and that helped drop all the good crab apples that I just could not reach the other day. That little storm worked to my advantage but had a lot of branches and Hickory nuts in my yard to pick up. Last year I *filled* the bed of my pick-up truck 4 times with Hickory nuts right to the top. Not fun trying to mow the lawn while walking on those big nuts&lt; almost broke my ankle last year and it looks like another good year for nuts. Anyone know the cycle for these trees as the first couple of years I lived here were not bad at all. 1 year we had almost no nuts but long strands of something that would just completely cover the yard, the stuff looked like a what a weeping willow would give off.


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## grapeman (Aug 18, 2007)

That will make a lot of crabapple wine Wade. You can probably mix it with other fruit wines when it is done.


Not sure how well the countertop crusher will work- it might if they are real mushy after freezing. It usually takes about 30-40 pounds per square inch to get the juice out well. Assuming you weighed 175 pounds and the piece of round countertop was 100 square inches, thats less than 2 pounds per square inch even if you stood on it. Let us know how it works and maybe we can suggest something else between us if it doesn't work out.


We have acorns at my house not hickory and they can be a real pain on the feet too.Be glad if all you got were your nuts dropping on the ground from the storms(although that can be painful like you say). We were right on the edge of the storms-literally. If you went a couple hundred yards away it rained like heck and all we got was a qucik couple showers. The next town over had a small tornado or two go through. One of Cindy's co-workers was in her home when it struck them and split the roof in two and dropped wood all over them.


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## Wade E (Aug 18, 2007)

Some recipes call for it this way and I know it is not the best way. I will call my local wine store as they have a little baby press but dont know how much they want for it and I really dont have room for a big 1 nor do I want to pay that much for 1 so if its cheap enough Ill get it but if not the bucket and board will have to do. Ill throw the rest into a fermenting bag and hope the pectic enzyme does its thing with a little help from the sanitized hands.






*Edited by: wade *


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## Wade E (Aug 18, 2007)

Just checked on the 1st batch thats thawing out as I dont have room for all of them so I took the frozen 1's out and they are very soft almost like a mushy cherry so I guess I wont be needing that press after all and thats good cause I was gonna have to do some very smooth talking to get this by my wife!


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## grapeman (Aug 19, 2007)

That's great Wade. You really don't want to buy a press if not needed. They aren't very cheap. 





You must have hit the motherlode of animated icons. You seem to have one for every mood now.


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## Wade E (Aug 19, 2007)

Smiley Central!


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## Wade E (Aug 19, 2007)

After freezing and thawing they squish like a grape, still waiting for last nights batch to thaw out a little and have them in warm water to help. The first 12 lbs are squished and in the fermenter with the crushed campden to help preserve them from browning and get rid of any natural yeasts.


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## Bert (Aug 19, 2007)

Wade; some recipes I have found said you can just chop up the apples and put in a straining bag....I did a batch with apples and crabapple mix that I put through a meat grinder on a very course grind.....That's still in the carboy,but the samples have been very nice...a tart apple flavor....Good luck..


P.S. I think there are many ways to get some nice apple wine or any other flavor wine for that matter..


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## grapeman (Aug 19, 2007)

Wade like NW said, a little ascorbic acid helps to keep the apples and juice from browning. If you don't add it, the wine just ends up a little redder with a brown tint. With ascorbic acid it ends up golden, unless those crabs tint it red. Like Bert says, there are millions of ways to make Apple Wine/Cider/Juice, etc.


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## Wade E (Aug 19, 2007)

I have the Ascorbic acid in the bucket already as I bought some earlier this year due to NW's recommendations. Thanks Bert and what did you do cut up all the apples without the cores before grinding them? Ive heard not to cut into the seeds as they will give off a not wanted flavor. How well does the pectic enzyme break down apples?

*Edited by: wade *


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## Wade E (Aug 19, 2007)




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## Wade E (Aug 19, 2007)




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## Wade E (Aug 20, 2007)

Okay I added 8 lbs. of sugar, 1 gallon of apple juice from the nature store, and 2 cans of Dole Orange-Strawberry-Banana frozen concentrate and the SG is at 1.083. The PH is 3.4 and the TA is .80. I decided that Im gonna make sparkling wine out of this.It has a nice pinkish color to it now and the pectic enzyme is doing its job as the crab apples are pretty mushy and starting to disintegrate. Had to split it into 2 buckets as after the sugar and add ins went in and I went to put the apples back she would have overflowed so broke out another bucket, divided the batch into 2 added a fermenting bag in each bucket and added 1 packet of Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast in each primary.


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## grapeman (Aug 20, 2007)

Sounds like it will be a winner Wade!


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## Wade E (Aug 20, 2007)




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## Wade E (Aug 21, 2007)

This morning I have 2 airlocks bubbling in harmony. Waldo, theyre a little young and hard to understand but I think they wated to be serenaded by you!
*Edited by: wade *


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## Wade E (Aug 25, 2007)

Racked my Crab Apple wine @ an SG of 1.014 and even though I had it in fermenting bags a lot of sediment is in there and Im gonna have some serious settling in my glass.


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## Wade E (Oct 21, 2007)

I racked and fined the Crabapple today and it isnt very tart as I thought it would be but Im going to sparkle 1/2 of this so Ill add more acid blend to taste after I split it up to sparkle cause I dont want the sparkling to be that tart. Im not sure if it browned a little from oxidizing as it looks a little dark but I did add the right a mount of Ascorbic acid in the beginning. It looks like a nice color and tastes pretty darn good though so who cares as long as its good right. Just thought it wuld be a little lighter.


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## NorthernWinos (Oct 21, 2007)

Looks nice Wade....Nice color....crabapple is going to be one of the next wines we start...so many wines...too few carboys...[and space]


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