# Crabapple Wine



## geocorn (Mar 24, 2007)

I received this email today:



"I'm new to home wine making and I'm in need of your help
the crabapple wine recipe calls for 4 1/2 lbs of apples - approx how 
much juice does this yield?
This past fall I juiced the crabapple' s and froze the juice. How much 
juice should I use?"






I have never made crabapple wine, so any help would be appreciated.

*Edited by: geocorn *


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 24, 2007)

I have been making Crabapple wine for a few years and have been changing the recipes and getting better results each time....
I have been steam juicing the crabapples and have these facts in my notes.


The last batches that I juiced I did 20# of crabapples and got 6 1/2 quarts of juice.


My recipe for the last batch I bottled was as follows:


CRABAPPLE/APPLE WINE


- 9 1/2 quarts of juice....[so was likely 25# + or so of fruit]
- 5 cartons Old Orchard frozen Apple Juice concentrate
- 1 500 mil bottle of WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate [this was to insure a nice red color...and...it did] [this is optional]


ADD:
* 'The Usual Cast of Characters'


- 5 Campden Tablets [crushed]
- 3 tsp. Acid Blend
- 2 tsp. Liquid Tannin
- 5# sugar to bring S.G. to 1090 [or your desired alcohol content] and water to 5 gallons


Next day ADD:
- 2 1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
- 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
- 2 1/2 tsp Yeast energizer
- Lalvin EC 1118 Yeast 


Ferment in usual way and clear with SUPER- KLEER K-C...


This recipe was really nice, had a great Apple flavor. 


You can easily just use Crabapple juices and get a nice wine.


The firstbatch I made was from the book 'Winemaking' by Anderson &amp; Anderson...I used 


- 8 Quarts of juice [20#[ steam extracted juice]
- 2 - 500 mil bottles of WinExpert White Grape Concentrate 
and...the same additives...and madea 6 gallon batch....We preferred the last batch with the added frozen apple juice instead of the white grape juice concentrate.


Both wines were good...but we like the more robust apple flavor we got from the added apple juice.


I have another batch going right now....I used even more Crabapple juice [12 quarts...only because I had it on hand]and more frozen apple juice concentrate [7 cans] and the usual additives for a 6 gallon batch....
* This time I added a vanilla bean to the secondary for a few days...just racked it yesterday from the secondary and even tho it was such a baby it had aHUGE flavor...


I suggest you use what yo have on hand...keep track of what you do in a record book...Make the size of batch to accomadate you juice on hand....


Savor the fun of making it and then try another batch this fall....


Crabapples are usually pretty abundant...they juice easily and do make a really nice wine.....play around with it and enjoy the experience.


Keep us Posted on you experience...*Edited by: Northern Winos *


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 24, 2007)

This is what the Crabapples look like that we can get bushels of...neighbors and friends in the area have huge trees and no one does anything with them....


The trees just get loaded with them, really a pretty site.


The deer, bears and Yellow Jack Bees eat what they can...the rest rot on the ground....


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## Waldo (Mar 25, 2007)

Look like huge cherries NW. Do you remove those stems before you steam them?


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 25, 2007)

Yes Waldo....I just wash, de-stem and weigh them out.


I am not sure of the name of this variety, but there are many very old large trees of these in Minnesota...some on old abandoned homesteads...so it is an old variety. 


They make the best jelly, that's what most people make with them and the rest are a nuisance rotting under their trees. The trees just get weighed down with fruit, dark red, then the ground is red with them...really pretty. 


The deer love them, often on the abandoned trees all the lower ones are gone....use to drive by an old homestead and the yard was full of deer eating them, the deer would stand on their hind legs to reach higher ones.


Last year when we picked these they were falling out of the tree like hail stones, it was really windy that day...we had a ball getting them...fun to pick....think I will get a few more this year and play around with more recipes.


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 25, 2007)

Here is a photo of the last batch of wine as well as some jelly...









The flavor of Crabapples is very intense, they are crisp, tart yet a pucker sweet...


Here is the batch I have going now...








With the Vanilla bean...racked it off the beans a couple days ago, it was pleasantly nice....really too soon to tell...Will keep you Posted.


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## jobe05 (Mar 25, 2007)

NW, both Jelly and wine look wonderful, nice color.


My wife likes crabapple jelly and is always asking me to make her some if we ever find any crab apples.


I was thinking of planting one and waitin a couple of years, but as you have said, they are a messy tree and from child hood, I remember a lot of bees being attrached to those that fell on the ground.


Now the questions:


Why add apple to the crabapple?


What kind of apple juice do you, have you used? What do you recommend?


How much apple juice do you add to the crabapple juice (ratio)?


Thanks


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 25, 2007)

jobe05 said:


> NW, both Jelly and wine look wonderful, nice color.
> 
> 
> My wife likes crabapple jelly and is always asking me to make her some if we ever find any crab apples.
> ...


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 25, 2007)

As for having a messy tree.....these big old trees seem to be the messy ones....At my age [don't know how old you are] I will be happy to use all the fruits off my trees as they grow...if they grow old before me..that will be a good thing.


I love watching a tree grow...We have been planting trees for years...fun to drive by the old place and see how big the trees are that we planted 30 years ago.


Plant your tree...someone will enjoy it...and as all these old ones in the neighborhood die..there will be new ones to take their places.


Hope you can locate a crabapple tree....ask the old people...seems the old timers planted crabapple trees or know where there are some...I always ask the old people where the wild fruits are.


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## geocorn (Mar 26, 2007)

Thank you for all of the wonderful feedback. I have passed on the link to this thread. You all are great!


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## redderthebetter (Apr 1, 2007)

I just sweetened and bottled my Crabapple/apple yesterday. I had used crabs from my boss's house. They were aromatic and larger than normal crabapples. I sweetened with wine conditioner, filtered and bottled. The leftover was very tart. I could taste some of the normal young wine flavor that I expect to mellow, but this wine is going to hold on to its tartness. I could taste the sweetnes thatI put in, but did not want to much and over power, the natural wine. It also still has the nice aroma of the raw apples. I'm giving the first bottle to my boss tommorow. I'll let him be my canary.


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## NorthernWinos (Apr 1, 2007)

We just racked our Crabapple/Apple Wine that had the Vanilla Beans in it....WOW!!!! I was afraid that I had too many Vanilla Beans in it...but it is going to be wonderful.


The Crabapples have a very BIG flavor on their own, the frozen Apple Concentrate mellowed out that tartness and the Vanilla adds a really nice complex flavor to it.


Have the first package [D-1] of SUPER-KLEER K-C in the carboy now and waiting to add the second part [D-2]....wonder why they have changed those instructions...looks like the same old stuff...following the instructions this time.


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## OGrav (Apr 12, 2007)

NW, got me thinking, my Grandparents had a crabapple tree that was about 12 feet tall 20 years ago, I wonder if it is still there, up in NY. My Grandmother used to make jelly from that. Twenty feet away there was a peach tree that produced huge, beautiful peaches.


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## NorthernWinos (May 25, 2007)

Our Crabapples appear to have pollinated well....these produce a yellow Crabapple that I usually use for drinking juice...








I get some nice red Crabapples from a neighbor, but these are for sure sweeter.....


Looks like there was no shortage of bees on this tree for pollination.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 7, 2007)

From these wonderful fruits...






To the carboy...with Vanilla beans...








To the bottle...








This turned out to be a really nice wine...a nice Rosé color and interesting flavor...


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## Waldo (Jun 7, 2007)

If it's half as good as it looks NW you have a winner there


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## Wade E (Jun 7, 2007)

How is it NW, I have not tried one ever though my parents have on in their front yard. How do they taste if you were to eat 1?


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## swillologist (Jun 7, 2007)

NW whatdo you thinkabout putting part of a cinnamon stick in the secondary.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 7, 2007)

Cinnamon sticks would be good too...Try it all...


The wine is very full flavored...I like it!!!!


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