# Apple wine w/out a press



## daveklick (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm making Apple wine, I have all the necessities/ingredients besides a press.

Is there an easy way to do this without a press?

Thanks,

Dave


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## Julie (Aug 8, 2010)

daveklick said:


> I'm making Apple wine, I have all the necessities/ingredients besides a press.
> 
> Is there an easy way to do this without a press?
> 
> ...



Yes, freeze them for a few days. When you take them out and they are defrosted add peptic enzyme. I put my apples into some fermenting bags and then squeeze them.


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## PPBart (Aug 8, 2010)

Julie said:


> Yes, freeze them for a few days. When you take them out and they are defrosted add peptic enzyme. I put my apples into some fermenting bags and then squeeze them.



At what rate do you add the PE? I've made apple wine a few times, but never done the freeze+PE approach, but it does seem to be a very efficient method.


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## Wade E (Aug 8, 2010)

Pectic enzyme should be added to any fruit wine to help extract color and flavor and aso help break up the fruit.


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## daveklick (Aug 8, 2010)

Thanks Julie, should I cut the apples up or just put them in whole in the bag?


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## Goodfella (Aug 8, 2010)

Depending on how big of a batch you are doing.... A blender may be an option?


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## Luc (Aug 9, 2010)

I wrote a story on my web-log about making apple wine without a press.

I tested several ways to pulp apple and examine which way would gain the most and best juice.

You can find it here:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2008/09/appeltje-voor-de-dorst-apple-day.html

Just read it and choose what suits you best.

Luc


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## Julie (Aug 9, 2010)

daveklick said:


> Thanks Julie, should I cut the apples up or just put them in whole in the bag?



I quartered mine and that seemed to work well. Also, I added a couple of cinnamon sticks to give it a faint cinnamon taste.


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## ffemt128 (Aug 9, 2010)

My first apple batch I quartered the apples then ran them through the food processor. It worked out well, took some time though. You can buy one of those apple corers that cut the apple into 8 pieces, those work well and you start with smaller pieces.


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## daveklick (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks all, I'm very excited to start this! (enoyed the reading Luc)

A few more questions I would like to make a five gallon batch...I'm pretty much using the recipe that St. Allie posted in previous post. 

So starting from the beginning, after I freeze and squeeze the apples, what do I do then??

Do I put them in a primary fermenter with the water and other ingredients? Does just the squeezed juice go into the primary or do the remaining apples go in as well. Thanks for all the help, I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions. 

Dave


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## winemaker_3352 (Aug 9, 2010)

These are the steps i used: 

View attachment Apple Spice Recipe - 1 gallon.doc


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## froeschli (Sep 28, 2013)

For apple wine I chop up apples (Thin slices) freeze them, then defrost and cover with boiling water. After the initial ferment is done, I squeeze them (using a potato masher for small batches). Worked for me so far.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Sep 29, 2013)

As always pretty thourough experiment, except Luc didnt try the freeze then pulp that people like to use over here on crabs. Also I think these guys see poison everywhere, apples have been scratted forever crushing some of the pips, but I think the only people to expire from the effects of excessive cider drinking did some in a rather acute fashion from falling off cliffs or getting run over by horses instead of being poisoned  It would have also been nice to see the results of pulping and pressing to compare the efficiences of all the methods, but it looks like it was a very busy season during the run of the experiment. I enjoy Lucs documentaries very much, looking forward to more. WVMJ


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