# Apple Wine Q



## wildhair (Jul 26, 2017)

I am in the process of harvesting a LOT of Yellow Transparent apples. I have been coring them, grinding them up, then freezing them before putting them in the fruit press later this fall. 

BUTT - that's labor intensive = time intensive. I freeze most of my other fruit before fermenting it - *has anyone tried freezing apples whole, then just pressing them after thawing? * I have more freezer space than I do time. Even if I just froze them for a few days and then pressed them - it could eliminate the coring & chopping that would save HUGE amounts of time AND clean-up.

thoughts?


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## Scooter68 (Jul 26, 2017)

The issue is the seeds. You really don't want any part of the seeds in your wine subject to fermenting and splitting open. Same goes for Cherry pits and Apricot and peach stones. They all contain substances that will not do your wine or you any good. 

I'm going through the same thing with my apples which suffer from numerous peck marks and spots. The majority of the apple is good but I have to cut them up by hand. Coring them doesn't do any good and a lot of my apples would lose a lot of good fruit through a one-size-fits all coring process. 

And to make things worse for me.... I spilled about 3 cups of finely cut up apples on floor last night. All of that time wasted but the deer and critters had a good feast last night.

*DON'T neglect to use your pectic enzyme on your apples as you crush them*. As soon as they are crushed and even before freezing. Give the pectic enzyme as much time on those apples to break them down. Someone posted a link to a foreign story about someone who compared different ways to get the most from the apples. Essentially it came down to Core, Crush, Pectic Enzyme, Freeze, wait at least 3 days , Thaw, then press the juice. His results were a LOT more juice from the apples and the left over pulp was more like dry fiber than moist pulp.


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## bkisel (Jul 26, 2017)

I'd guess that, after freezing the apples, if you could successfully separate the juice from the majority of the pulp, as is done in making apple cider, you'd have a good must from which to make apple wine. [I've made three 6 gallon batches of apple wine, made from fresh pressed apple cider, that has been well received by family and friends.] Good luck!


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## wildhair (Jul 26, 2017)

How much pectic enzyme do you use...per gallon of chopped fruit, say? Or do you just sprinkle some on & mix it in? And should I sprinkle some Fruit Fresh (citric acid) on the fruit to keep it from browning?


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## bkisel (Jul 26, 2017)

wildhair said:


> How much pectic enzyme do you use...per gallon of chopped fruit, say? Or do you just sprinkle some on & mix it in? And should I sprinkle some Fruit Fresh (citric acid) on the fruit to keep it from browning?



Hmm... I've been using 3 tsp. pectic enzyme (stir) for the *must* of my fruit wines. I've made 6 gallon batches of fruit wine with as little as 6 lbs. of fruit (this was my early DB batches) up to 30 lbs. of fruit for 6 gallons for my peach and banana (first try is still batch aging) wines. My peach wines have sometimes needed a second hit of enzyme to aid clearing the haze.

Don't know how to figure lbs. apple as all 3 batches have been made from apple cider.


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## Mismost (Jul 26, 2017)

wildhair....I have no experience with what you suggest. However, I can find no fault with it either. I suspect after freezing you may not even need to grind before you press....they are going to be pretty mushy.

Try it and see.


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## wildhair (Jul 26, 2017)

> I suspect after freezing you may not even need to grind before you press....they are going to be pretty mushy.


That was my thought. These apples go soft pretty easy anyway. Plus - freezing breaks down the cell walls and should release more juice. I believe I will try it because I have no more room to refrigerate them. I think I'll wash them, check for worms and freeze a batch. And see what happens.


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## Scooter68 (Jul 26, 2017)

I've looked and can't find anything other than a Jack Keller recipe that calls for 1 tsp of pectic enzyme for two different recipes. One has 34lbs of apples the other 12 lbs. 

Also nobody seems to know of what is 'too much' pectic enzyme. Since it has no flavor I'm going to add about 1/2 tsp for every 1 gallon freezer bag of chopped apples. (I'm calling them chopped because the pieces are mostly between 1/2" chunks to maybe 3/4" chunks. Then I'm putting the full bags in the fridge overnight and into the freezer then next day. I want to give the pectic enzyme as much time as possible on the apples. 

I too am hoping for a nice mush when I thaw them out so the press doesn't have to be worked quite as hard. 

Keep us posted on your progress. I'm still collected and cutting up apples as they are ready from our two apple trees. Hoping for one to two gallons of juice.


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## Julie (Jul 26, 2017)

I cut the apples in half and then freeze, after they are frozen I take them out and put them in a paint strainer bag, then press. You won't have a problem with the seeds doing it this way, don't grind them because now you are crushing the seeds.


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## wildhair (Jul 26, 2017)

Well, if I freeze them whole, there's no point in putting in pectic enzyme since it won;t penetrate the skin of the apples. My understanding is pectic enzyme is the one additive that it's hard to add too much. I had a 2 gal. batch of melon wine that refused to clear and added several tsp. of pectic enzyme several times.

Will let ya'll know if it works or doesn't.


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

I have an apple tree and make apple
Wine as well, i core and juice my apples before making wine mainly because someone told me apple seeds contain arsenic or cyanides, correct me if im wrong, ive done quit a bit of research ( on google ) and found apple seeds to be one of those seeds u dont want in ypur wine


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

Quick google picture

I also juice ginger/apple/wheatgrass every morning for breakfast and i always make sure no apple seeds get into the juicer, i dont know about you but i juice alot more than 20 apples for a batch of wine and i dont want to ingest any cyanide, ive made quite a few batches of apple wine with my dad and quite a few with my wife, use a apple corer, then freeze the wedges, make sure not to get any seeds in there.


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## Julie (Jul 26, 2017)

The seeds need to be cracked open to get to the cyanide and they are pretty hard. Smok1 thanks for that post!


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

Heres a picture off the first batch off our apple tree, i always make a batch off the slightly unripe ones first, and to be honest every year thats the one people like the most. It has a slight green tinge too it, and taste wonderful.

Edit: picture didnt post


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

Try this one more time


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## Scooter68 (Jul 26, 2017)

As Julie says don't freeze them whole. They will take longer to freeze and forever to thaw out and by the time the core is thawed the outside will be turning brown. At least quarter them up. If you bag them before pressing seeds should be captured in the bag. As for the pectic enzyme perhaps dissolve it in a cup or two of water and pour that over the quartered apples before freezing.


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## Scooter68 (Jul 26, 2017)

As far as a "Lethal Dose" Who cares? Are apple seeds good for you? Do they add a desirable flavor to the wine?

Why taint the wine even if it doesn't make you sick. Why leave them in and possibly impart a bitter or off flavor? A little too much K-Meta isn't going to kill you either, but it sure ruins the flavor of the wine at a certain point.


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

Scooter68 said:


> As far as a "Lethal Dose" Who cares? Are apple seeds good for you? Do they add a desirable flavor to the wine?
> 
> Why taint the wine even if it doesn't make you sick. Why leave them in and possibly impart a bitter or off flavor? A little too much K-Meta isn't going to kill you either, but it sure ruins the flavor of the wine at a certain point.



Well i juice apples from my tree often for wine and mixing every morning with my wheatgrass and ginger juice, so i care. I was just making sure everyone else had the knowledge of the health effects on apple seeds as they are bad for you and i wouldnt want anyone trying to juice apple seeds without knowing the health effects it can have. A chemical which occurs in cyanide can be extracted from apple seed by crushing the seeds in a juicer as well as being extracted by using alcohol, so fermenting seeds is not a practice i choose to take on either.


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## Forager (Jul 26, 2017)

Wildhair, I tried what you're suggesting last fall and it honestly wasn't the greatest. I've got a press, but no crusher. I cut the apples (and crabapples) in half, froze them, thawed them out, then tried to smash them up in a bucket with a blunt object (baseball bat). It worked kinda, but even thawed out, the apples were still pretty resilient (and slippery). It ended up being a huge amount of work. However I'm not sure if I would've gotten much juice if I'd just tried to press them from halves... 

Let us know your results though, maybe it comes down to the apple variety.


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

I use an apple corer, cores the apple and slices it into 6 wedges. Then i freeze, thaw, and run through an Omega slow press juicer, id say it extracts 90% of the juice and rejects a dry pulp. I use the juice in the primary and put the pulp into a fruit bag and drop that into the primary for the first 5 days or so or until it sg gets to 1.02 to try and extract any remainder juices and color from the skins


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## wildhair (Jul 26, 2017)

I have a manual corer that cuts out the core and slices them into wedges, too. Don't have the fancy juicer, tho - just the old fashioned manual fruit press. I'd been throwing the wedges on the Ninja and chopping them, but it gets time consuming and adds to the clean-up time, too. Not sure how the seed issue got going ~ I was going to press the apples and just use the juice - not the pulp w/ seeds. I knew about the small amount of cyanide in the seeds. 

These are a soft apple - when fully ripe (and max. sweet), they bruise if you give them a dirty look. I think I will core some and use the pectic enzyme dissolved in water idea. They'll take less space in the freezer like that, I think. And I'll freeze some whole and see how that works. Lord, knows I got enough to try a few different things. 

btw - doesn't a chopper chop the entire apple - skin, core, seeds and all? You toss them in whole, no?


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

My apple tree is more like a granny smith apple tree, still firm and only slightly sweet when ripe and green. I juice everything but the core/seed, skins get put into a fruit bag and tossed in the primary to extract the color, wine has a nice green tint. Hard to see in the picture but of i shine a light through it the green tint comes through. I do understand the time consuming aspect though, i picked over 100 lbs of apricots today, over 200 lbs this week, already pitted/halfed/froze 75 lbs so far, still another few hundred pounds to harvest, then the peaches will be next. I just look at this labour as my ingredients to make my wine all winter long. Between a apple/apricot/peach/cherry tree and a few patches of rhubard fetch me 1000 bottles or more a year depending on the harvest.


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## wildhair (Jul 26, 2017)

These are tart like a granny smith when green, but thinner skinned and softer. They get a yellow coloration with a light pink blush (sometimes) when fully ripe and a nice sweetness. But they are VERY fragile when they are yellow.


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

wildhair said:


> These are tart like a granny smith when green, but thinner skinned and softer. They get a yellow coloration with a light pink blush (sometimes) when fully ripe and a nice sweetness. But they are VERY fragile when they are yellow.



Those look great, i dont have pictures of my apples right now because the apple tree is on my parents property. We have apricots and peaches on our property. Heres a picture of what i picked today, just waiting for wife to get home to pit and freeze. Peaches wont be ready for another 3-4 weeks.


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## Scooter68 (Jul 26, 2017)

Smok1 said:


> I use an apple corer, cores the apple and slices it into 6 wedges. Then i freeze, thaw, and run through an Omega slow press juicer, id say it extracts 90% of the juice and rejects a dry pulp. I use the juice in the primary and put the pulp into a fruit bag and drop that into the primary for the first 5 days or so or until it sg gets to 1.02 to try and extract any remainder juices and color from the skins



I'd use that method if I had a juicer - as it is I am force to cut them up by hand. Tonight in about 45 mins time I ended up with 6 cups of very small apple pieces none over 1/4 thick and maybe an inch long in some cases. I tried chopping and using a food processer to chop them up but that's a slow go too. I may have to resort to a juicer after these are all cut up, frozen and then thawed out. I have a press but it's performance has not been impressive. 

I just picked another couple of gallons of apples this evening in addition to about 1 1/2 gallons already waiting to be cut up. 
We also have an apple slicer-corer - great for store bought very ripe apples, Not much fun with these firmer apples. AND for the final challenge, the birds and bugs have peppered every apple somewhere. So about half of my cutting job is to cut away their work. Definitely a not project to make money on base on work required.


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## Smok1 (Jul 26, 2017)

Scooter68 said:


> I'd use that method if I had a juicer - as it is I am force to cut them up by hand. Tonight in about 45 mins time I ended up with 6 cups of very small apple pieces none over 1/4 thick and maybe an inch long in some cases. I tried chopping and using a food processer to chop them up but that's a slow go too. I may have to resort to a juicer after these are all cut up, frozen and then thawed out. I have a press but it's performance has not been impressive.
> 
> I just picked another couple of gallons of apples this evening in addition to about 1 1/2 gallons already waiting to be cut up.
> We also have an apple slicer-corer - great for store bought very ripe apples, Not much fun with these firmer apples. AND for the final challenge, the birds and bugs have peppered every apple somewhere. So about half of my cutting job is to cut away their work. Definitely a not project to make money on base on work required.




I bought one of these cold press omega juicers, has a slow auger that presses the juice without oxidizing too much, its been a champ, ive put thousands of pounds of fruit through it and its never failed. Its no doubt time consuming but i enjoy making wine so its more/less a hobby aside from a chore.


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## wildhair (Jul 26, 2017)

[/QUOTE]I'd use that method if I had a juicer - as it is I am force to cut them up by hand. Tonight in about 45 mins time I ended up with 6 cups of very small apple pieces none over 1/4 thick and maybe an inch long in some cases. I tried chopping and using a food processer to chop them up but that's a slow go too[/QUOTE]

I did a 3 gal bucket all chopped to about 1/2" pieces in less time than that with my manual corer/slicer and the Ninja! The Ninja will chop about 6-10 apples (cored & wedges) in about 15 seconds. Only 4 boxes in the fridge and another couple boxes still on the tree to go.................


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## Scooter68 (Jul 27, 2017)

Bullet biting time - Well sort of. Ordered a juicer today. Not the auger type - Not prepared to spend that much right now. Got the one CR rated tops (Yeah I dont always trust CR but...) Anyway the newer model available for under $100. Should get me what I need. And the wife can now make her own 'tasty' drinks out of whatever she wants. (I will not be her taste tester - no way)

So Now I can cut these up a little less tiny and the press can be saved for something a little less challenging than Apples. Still going to freeze and thaw the apples to get them as soft as possible and avoid the severe browning that is going to happen as slow as I am cutting them up. And still going to use pectic enzyme before I take them to the juicer.


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## wildhair (Jul 27, 2017)

> Ordered a juicer today. Not the auger type - Not prepared to spend that much right now



Yeah - I looked them up on E-bay and AmaKong - cost more than my truck payment!! Not this year! I'm gonna try and freeze some whole, probably 10#, then thaw and press. No pectic, nada. Then I'll core/slice another 10# bag, dip them in a Fruit Fresh bath, add 1/2 t pectic enzyme to 2 pints H2O, pour that over the apples, let 'em sit in the fridge overnight- then freeze.
Then I can thaw them both and compare how much juice I get (minus the added water). 
One more night of picking, then processing. yah!


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## Smok1 (Jul 28, 2017)

Careful when picking out a juicer, if you buy the top feed ones that spins really fast (centrifigul)the oxidize the crap out of the juice. Most centrifigal juicers cap out around 3000rpm and spin the fruit so fast it extracts the juice from the pulp but inturn creates heat which damages the nutritrional content and spins juice so fast it oxidizes very quickly. Auger juicers run only about 40 rpm, pressing the juice from the pulp maintaining nutritional value without oxidization. I own 2 centrifigul juicers and one auger style, the auger was more expensive but outperforms the two centrifigul style juicers hands down. The high speed centrifiguls have a high failure rate due to being high rpm machines, there harder to clean up and they dont extract juice as well as an auger, the pulp will be slightly moist outta the extractor whereas the auger is dry pulp.


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## wildhair (Jul 29, 2017)

Yes, but I can also use the centrifugal juicer to refine uranium - so there's that.  LOL 

No juicer this year - good advice, tho ~ I'll remember that. Should I decide to spend $400 on a juicer instead of an accessory for one of my motorcycles - I'll go slow auger cold press!


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## mikewatkins727 (Jul 29, 2017)

wildhair said:


> Yes, but I can also use the centrifugal juicer to refine uranium - so there's that.  LOL
> .
> .
> .



Go for U-232, it's half life is only 68.9 years


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## Scooter68 (Jul 29, 2017)

Yeah Thanks for that advice NOW.  I've already ordered a centrifugal juicer. Sigh. Well Amazon will let me send it back at my expense. 

NOW I've ordered an auger type. Omega 8008 Refurbished with 12 warranty. 

NOW are you happy Smok1 ? 

So I have a little more time to cut up apples. Up to about 11 lbs cut and treated with Pectic enzyme. Now into the freezer with them Still short of a gallon so I have to keep cutting. My fingers are all orange from the juice oxidizing on my skin. Think I'm through about 1/2 of the apple crop from the 2 trees we have. (1 McIntosh and 1 Stayman Winesap.) Both tart so guess I need to get a few Sweet apples to offset a little. Meanwhile the crabapple tree decided to produce this year but not anywhere enough to really contribute. I could tap it for a few but that would really skew this juice to the tart side.

Meanwhile I had to pull 14 pounds of frozen peaches out to make room for the apples. Soooooo Another batch of Peach wine will be getting started this week. This will be a "Vanilla Peach" Inspired by the fresh peaches on Vanilla Bean Cream I had a couple of weeks ago.


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## Smok1 (Jul 29, 2017)

Its not me thats gonna be happy, its you thats gonna be happy when that omega juicer arrives. Im a little jelouse, the 8008 looks like a powerhouse im sure you will be happy with, my omega is 3 years old now and i have run thousands of pounds of fruit through it and still works as good as day 1. My centrifiguls both havent had 1/4 amount the fruit run through them and the motors are bagged on them. If the centrifugul wasnt too much money keep it, there good for juicing the softer fruits like berries for smoothies and stuff.


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## wildhair (Jul 29, 2017)

Just finished picking the last of the apples off my tree this morning. Now - to process the apples. I'm gonna try & freeze the small ones whole because 
1. I lose too much then I core/slice them anyway
2. They'll thaw faster
3. They'll be less bulky in the freezer.
That's my theory at least............

I've only got the one tree ripe this year, but the early picked ones are tarter than these last batches I picked - so hopefully they balance out. 

To paraphrase Don Rumsfield - "You make wine with the fruit you have, not the fruit you might want or wish to have at a later date."


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## Scooter68 (Jul 29, 2017)

deleted and replaced


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## Scooter68 (Jul 29, 2017)

wildhair said:


> Just finished picking the last of the apples off my tree this morning. Now - to process the apples. I'm gonna try & freeze the small ones whole because
> 1. I lose too much then I core/slice them anyway
> 2. They'll thaw faster
> 3. They'll be less bulky in the freezer.
> ...





wildhair said:


> Just finished picking the last of the apples off my tree this morning. Now - to process the apples. I'm gonna try & freeze the small ones whole because
> 1. I lose too much then I core/slice them anyway
> 2. They'll thaw faster
> 3. They'll be less bulky in the freezer.
> ...


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## wildhair (Jul 29, 2017)

I typically spray right after blossom drop, then again in about 3 weeks. That's USUALLY enough - I never spray for a month before picking. My apples actually look pretty good this year - skin damage is superficial & very few worms. I'm also not fond of chemicals - but I hate wasting the apples & feeding the worms even more. I prune all my fruit trees & shrubs pretty regular - March is the best time to do it in WI. 
Lunch break now - I just cored / "wedge cut", dipped in Fruit Fresh, poured 2 cups of water w/ pectic enzyme and bagged 4 ~ 10# of apples. Took about an hour. Still 4 boxes to go!
FYI - a 2 gal. Ziploc freezer bag holds 10# of apple wedges.


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## Scooter68 (Jul 29, 2017)

Our problem in NW Arkansas is the heat. Low to Mid 90s common for the last month. 
Worms, I don't seem to find but doggone between the squirrels, birds and japanese bettles.....
The Neem oil spray is considered organic and usable up to day of harvest. One thing I have found - *NOT* good for peaches, apricots or nectarines They will drop their leaves pronto. So we lost all but one poor nectarine that keeps hanging on. After 11 years it's still only about 3 1/2 feet diameter and one lopsided branch. Yet it will produce a couple of nectarines each year. Probably should take my chances and move it closer to the house where I can keep a better eye on it and fertilize it better. Probably a good fall project for me.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 2, 2017)

NOT looking good for apple wine this year. My juicer arrived today and I had thawed out some of the apples I cut up and froze. Ran a 1 gallon bag and 1/3 of another gallon bag of apple pieces through my new juicer (Omega 8008) Result was 1 quart and 1 pint jar of juice. THICK JUICE. 
Sorry to have to report that the outlook for apple wine no longer looks so good. However, I will be drinking some awesome apple juice now. This stuff is so rich. The apples were really ugly wormy looking things but this juice is unbelievable. Wife won't drink it straight - She has to water it down - says it's too concentrated. 

So I guess I'll see what happens with 6 bags of frozen apple pieces but the prospects of makng wine with it, just doesn't look likely.


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## wildhair (Aug 3, 2017)

So far I've cored and frozen 80# + 10# I froze whole. Still got another 30+ # to go. Not sure when I can get around to pressing them, not sure how much juice I'll get, but I think I'll get enough to ferment.


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## Johnd (Aug 3, 2017)

Scooter68 said:


> NOT looking good for apple wine this year. My juicer arrived today and I had thawed out some of the apples I cut up and froze. Ran a 1 gallon bag and 1/3 of another gallon bag of apple pieces through my new juicer (Omega 8008) Result was 1 quart and 1 pint jar of juice. THICK JUICE.
> Sorry to have to report that the outlook for apple wine no longer looks so good. However, I will be drinking some awesome apple juice now. This stuff is so rich. The apples were really ugly wormy looking things but this juice is unbelievable. Wife won't drink it straight - She has to water it down - says it's too concentrated.
> 
> So I guess I'll see what happens with 6 bags of frozen apple pieces but the prospects of makng wine with it, just doesn't look likely.



Buck up and put that goop into a fermenter with some enzymes and yeast a day later, you know how to separate solids when it's time. I can't imagine passing on winemaking with fruit that is "unbelievable" or "too concentrated"!!!!!


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## Scooter68 (Aug 3, 2017)

Hopefully today I can juice the rest of the apples cut up. Still some more apples on the tree, perhaps another gallon bag after cutting up. As long as I have at least a quart or more beyond my gallon for wine - THEN wine becomes a player. I removed the foam and juice filter because it was filling up and when I tasted that stuff it was like applesauce. I was not about to leave that out. 

I can see if I ever get a really good crop of apples, that I will be making Apple Juice, Applesauce, and Apple wine. And if I can ever conquer the bugs eating the daylights out of the apples, maybe even a few worth eating. Do have to say, I'd rather drink an apple worth of juice than eat one after last night - the results of that juicer on those apples was something incredible.

So OK OK. I won't give up an apple wine just yet. At least I know if I start with a gallon of pure juice like this, it will be plenty strong. Not sure how much sugar will be needed.

Side light - Waste not wife is going to look into making something edible from the pulp the juicer kicked out. Apparently there is a way to turn that into some sort of wafer/cracker time things. I'd try that.


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## wildhair (Aug 3, 2017)

> Side light - Waste not wife is going to look into making something edible from the pulp the juicer kicked out. Apparently there is a way to turn that into some sort of wafer/cracker time things. I'd try that.



I've whizzed applesauce up in the Ninja and poured it on wax paper lines cookie sheet and dried it into fruit leather. Dry it beyond that (or cut the leather in strips and bake it) and you could get "Apple Crackers". Good luck. 

Try pruning the tree A LOT this winter, opening the middle up to sunlight - make sure you put a tree wound dressing on the cuts. Then before the tree buds begin to swell - spray with dormant oil. If you have that much problem with bugs - you'll need to get at least a 2 gal. pump sprayer and a GOOD insecticide. I try to spray as little as possible, only 2 times this year. You gotta hit the tree right after blossom drop, then again about 2-3 weeks later. I use Bonide Fruit Tree concentrate. It's not organic - but it's effective.
A lot of your bug problem might be that the wormy apples fall off (or the bugs hatch) and then the bugs overwinter in your soil or under the bark. Be sure to pick up all the windfalls and toss them on the compost heap. Hopefully, after a couple years of religious spraying & pruning and cleaning up - you don't have to spray much at all to get good apples.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 3, 2017)

Did exactly that pruning process on a challenging Blueberry bush last year. This year it was the top producer of blueberries. (15-20lbs) Have a plum tree I've done that to as well. 

We've been fighting Fire Blight on the apples so they got pruned well last year. Much better that way this year but you are correct. Pruning properly is not for the faint of heart. 

The spray process is just as you say something you do as little as possible but at the right time and right stuff it should do well. I prefer 70% Neem, 0.25% Pyrethrins, Fertilome Triple Action. Just have to apply at the right time. Of course never when the bees are out and about the trees and plants. Have dormant oil but again at the right time or you wasting your time. 

Thanks for the good words and encouragement. (I was told by the wife not to worry about a recipe - SHE will handle it. Backing off that now.)


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## Scooter68 (Aug 4, 2017)

Well the apples are all picked. Second tree produced almost 2 bushels the first about 1/2 bushel. 
The juicer is doing great. Slow but the results are fantastic. I'm getting about 1 quart of apple juice from each 1 gallon bag of apple pieces. (3.5 lbs per bag) The taste of the juice is great. 

But, this is a bit of work. Cutting, bagging freeziing, thawing THEN to the juicer. On the up side I still have 4 bags of apple pieces to juice plus another bushel from the last tree that haven't been cut up yet. The second tree is a McIntosh. The first was a Stayman Winesap. So the question is should I be mixing in a 3rd variety for a better flavor? The McIntosh is going to make up at least 75 percent of the juice I get and the Winesap about 25 percent. From all the reading I've done it is considered best to add in some Sweeter apples as well. To do this I would have to go to a fruit stand or the grocery store - is it really worth it?


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## wildhair (Aug 6, 2017)

Glad you're getting so much juice from your apples. I've cored/wedged about 130# now - still a 1/2 box to go. I've read that using the juice from different trees is best, but I'll make my wine with what I have. Some of the apples are tart, some are sweeter - that'll have to do for me.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 6, 2017)

Same Here. The taste is great. Think my tally so far is about 2 1/2 bushels but some have been tossed out of my electric fenced area for the deer or whatever critter comes along first. Finished juicing what I have already cut up for a total of almost 2 1/5 gallons. Still have a bushel left to cut up or eat. Will probably wind up juicing another gallon. For certain one gallon to wine and some for Apple juice/cider for the grandkids (Have to freeze it) May still have enough for a second gallon of wine. Possibly an Apple Cinnamon wine that could be heated for wintertime enjoyment. (I've had Hot wine (glühwein) from street vendors and Germany and it sure hits the spot on a cold day)
What's interesting is the technical "Differences" between Apple Juice and Apple Cider. Think I'll have some fun and start a thread on that her in a minute.


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## wildhair (Aug 6, 2017)

> What's interesting is the technical "Differences" between Apple Juice and Apple Cider.



I'm guessing that's like the topics - "What oil is Best" or "Which bike is Better" on the motorcycle forums. LOL


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## PandemoniumWines (Aug 6, 2017)

My apples aren't quite ready to be picked yet :/


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## Scooter68 (Aug 6, 2017)

wildhair said:


> I'm guessing that's like the topics - "What oil is Best" or "Which bike is Better" on the motorcycle forums. LOL



Understand Here's what funny - Martinelli's (Maker of Sparkliing Apple Cider - non-alcoholic) admits that they only difference between THEIR Apple Cider and their Apple Juice ..... The label.

So except in Mass. The differences can be nothing or something. Only thing I would be concerned about is the additives they use to keep it fresh.


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## wildhair (Aug 6, 2017)

PandemoniumWines said:


> My apples aren't quite ready to be picked yet :/


Most trees don't ripen this early. This is the off-year for my Wolf River apple tree - they ripen in late Sept and are best (sweetest) after a frost. I only have 2 trees and thankfully they alternate heavy production years. The problem with apples ripening this early is you HAVE to refrigerate them or they go bad FAST! With fall apples, at least up here, I can just leave them in the garage and process them at a more leisurely pace.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 6, 2017)

Our trees in NW Arkansas never get anywhere near a freeze before the apples are either dropping of the trees or birds and all the other critters launch a full scale attack. They are never as ripe as I'd like but the juice is turning out pretty good. Just tested some of the freshly processed juice and it's reading out with a SG 1.050 and pH of 3.44.

I agree, I thought all apples needed to have some good cool weather to ripen properly but they never get that chance here.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 10, 2017)

Well I started a 1 gallon batch of Apple Wine on the 6th - Pitched the yeast on the evening of the 7th and tonight the SG has dropped from 1.110 to 1.060.

This is a wild foam monster. I'm using k1-V1116 which I thought was a low foaming variety - NOPE! Everytime I uncover the bucket the foam is at least 1 1/2: thick. I stir and the dried foam dissolves but the foam is being generated so quickly the the surface is covered in seconds. The aroma is great. I've got a current volume of 1.5 gallons and shade more but I know I'm going to have a lot of lees since this was freshly juiced apples with all the pulp left in that came out of my Omega Juicer. 

Just racked a 2 gallon peach wine batch with the same yeast on Monday and it was at 1.010 still it foamed into the airlocks in about 5 mins. Took the airlock off for about 5 hours and it finally died down but I just used water in the airlock. SO with this Apple wine I'm probably going to wait until it's down to about 1.000 before I think about racking into a carboy. 

When I do rack into a carboy =- Think I will rack into another bucket initially and use a strainer to catch the pulp. THEN I'll rack that into a carboy. OPTION 2 is to rack from the top as normal and once my carboy is filled - Put the rest into a 1/2 gallon carboy to settle out the gross lee. I can see this wine taking a long time to clear, so I'll hit it with some bentonite after fermentation is over. My last apple wine took about 6-7 months before it was close to clear.

On the good side I have a 1/2 gallon jug of juice and about 15-20 lbs of uncut apples yet to process. Wife thinks we are going to eat those - We'll see how that goes. 

In any case this first gallon batch looks VERY promising right now.

So In the works now I have:
2 1/2 gallons Zinfandel
2 Gallons Blush Zinfandel
1 Gallon Loquat (Crystal Clear after 3 months!!
3 Gallons Black Currant
3 Gallons Tart Cherry
3 Gallons Blueberry
3 Gallons Peach
1 Gallon Peach with Vanilla Bean
1 Gallon Peach (For blending with Vanilla Bean gallon if the bean overcomes the peachs)
1 Gallon Apple wine from about 20% Winesap and 80% Mcintosh

Think I'm ready to give it a rest unless I "Find" some fruit begging to be made into wine. (More Apples maybe??)


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## wildhair (Aug 10, 2017)

You're way ahead of me. I'm in the middle of garden harvest season. Green beans, sweet corn, beets - all need to be canned. ALL the fruit is frozen until weather cools and snow flies - THEN I'll start pitching yeast. 

I've had very good results with Vintners Harvest SN9 yeast - low foam, higher alcohol tolerance (up to 18%) & recommended for fruit, cider and flower wines.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 10, 2017)

Our garden got neglected by me this year but the wife has done a great job with it. I had another project that ate my time this year - not the wine making. 

I am hoping that tart cherry wine turns out well because I've got 3 new tart cherry trees and a tart cherry bush that with good care and good seasons, should be producing in about 3 years and maybe in 5-6 years I'll be making a lot of cherry wine. That's if I don't eat most of them as I pick them. I have acquired a taste for tart cherries.


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## Smok1 (Aug 13, 2017)

Nice, heres what i have on the go for fruit wines:
6 gallon blueberry, clear and aging.
6 gallon green apple, clear and aging
6 gallon dark cherry, clear and aging
6 gallon strawberry/rhubarb, clear and again
7.5 gallon apricot in primary, will be transfered to secondary today
7.5 gallon peach in primary fermenting
Todays job is to rerack some carboys, put the apricot into a carboy for secondary ferment, start a new batch of apricot.

I have to make my wine as my fruit ripens because indont have enough room in the deep freeze for all the fruit, either i use it now or it goes to waste.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 13, 2017)

Smok1 said:


> I have to make my wine as my fruit ripens because indont have enough room in the deep freeze for all the fruit, either i use it now or it goes to waste.



I'm needing to look through my blueberries in the freezer - Not that I NEED more blueberry wine but I don't want them getting freezer burned or just plain lost in the fridge. 

Juiced 3 bags (2 cups/bag) and got 1 full quart of juice. The new juicer does a great job AND it gave me a chance to taste some seeds - NOT tasty so With that in mind I think I can separate out a lot of the seeds with the juicers help. Thinking of making a cloth bag out of muslin - not mesh but actual muslin cloth. That might let me capture the seeds away from lees and have a cleaner juice.


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## ashleyasmith (Sep 8, 2017)

Smok1 said:


> Careful when picking out a juicer, if you buy the top feed ones that spins really fast (centrifigul)the oxidize the crap out of the juice. Most centrifigal juicers cap out around 3000rpm and spin the fruit so fast it extracts the juice from the pulp but inturn creates heat which damages the nutritrional content and spins juice so fast it oxidizes very quickly. Auger juicers run only about 40 rpm, pressing the juice from the pulp maintaining nutritional value without oxidization. I own 2 centrifigul juicers and one auger style, the auger was more expensive but outperforms the two centrifigul style juicers hands down. The high speed centrifiguls have a high failure rate due to being high rpm machines, there harder to clean up and they dont extract juice as well as an auger, the pulp will be slightly moist outta the extractor whereas the auger is dry pulp.



I concur. Best to buy a masticating or triturating juicer - they extract more juice and the juice doesn't separate so quickly. I own a centrifugal juicer which is fast and worked well for about 2 months but over time as the blade and the mesh become dull it's become super loud. The pulp is mostly not "pulp" - lots of big pieces of the fruits in the collector. Big waste. I'm thinking about upgrading to either the Omega 8006 or the Tribest Green Star (twin gear). They both receive very good reviews, but I'm thinking hard which one is more worth the price. The Tribest is like half a grand...


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## Scooter68 (Sep 8, 2017)

I bought an Omega 8008Cx (Refurebished) and it has done a great job on apples. Quiet and VERY efficient. A gallon bag of frozen then thawed apples 6 cups yeilds a quart (4 cups) of thick apple juice and just under 1 cup of dry pulp. Yeah I know that math is strange 6 cups becomes 5 cups but there is air and open spaces , and that juice fantastic.

Bottom line folks - Making wine and using some fruits is WORK - no way around it. I spent a lot of time with our apples cutting into small (Fingertip) sized pieces and freezing them. BUT when they went through that juicer the outcome was fantastic. We even made use of the pulp leftover to make crackers - yeah apple crackers. The flavor is pretty good, not raving over it but good. (Imagine plain wheat thins with apple flavor)


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## bkisel (Sep 8, 2017)

I make my apple wine from cider bought from Case's Mansfield Cider Mill. The mill opens tomorrow... YAHOO! 

Also... https://visitpa.com/pa-specialty-stores/mansfield-cider-mill


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## Smok1 (Sep 8, 2017)

Im sure there both good juicers, i can only vouch for the omega, we have owned it for 3 years, we juice wheatgrass ginger and apple every morning, and ive run thousands of pounds of apples cherrys blueberries rhubarb peaches apricots strawberries through it for wine and its still going strong, we owned 2 centrifigul juicers before we bought the omega and neither of them lasted more than a year, i believe because the motor is directly attached to the blade it turns fast but theres no torque, ( i ran some apple through it too fast one time and the motor seized and i didnt shut the power off in fast enough and it smoked the motor) so the windings in the motors heat up faster if your really working it, the omega has a gear box which highly decreases the rpm but in turn increases the torque and can handle alot more abuse.


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## Smok1 (Sep 8, 2017)

Scooter68 said:


> I bought an Omega 8008Cx (Refurebished) and it has done a great job on apples. Quiet and VERY efficient. A gallon bag of frozen then thawed apples 6 cups yeilds a quart (4 cups) of thick apple juice and just under 1 cup of dry pulp. Yeah I know that math is strange 6 cups becomes 5 cups but there is air and open spaces , and that juice fantastic.
> 
> Bottom line folks - Making wine and using some fruits is WORK - no way around it. I spent a lot of time with our apples cutting into small (Fingertip) sized pieces and freezing them. BUT when they went through that juicer the outcome was fantastic. We even made use of the pulp leftover to make crackers - yeah apple crackers. The flavor is pretty good, not raving over it but good. (Imagine plain wheat thins with apple flavor)



Just wondering if youve tryed the difference between running fresh cut firm apples vs frozen cut mushy apples through your omega? I find fresh cut apples run through my juicer alot nicer than the frozen mushy ones, extracts alot more juice and leaves alot dryer pulp.


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## Scooter68 (Sep 8, 2017)

Smok1 said:


> Just wondering if youve tryed the difference between running fresh cut firm apples vs frozen cut mushy apples through your omega? I find fresh cut apples run through my juicer alot nicer than the frozen mushy ones, extracts alot more juice and leaves alot dryer pulp.



Haven't tried fresh apples but the apples I've juiced weren't mushy at all. I put pectic enzyme in the bags with the apple pieces and about 1.4 cup water to dissolve it then mixed it well before freezing. I juiced them as soon as they thawed and most were frozen for 3-5 days before I thawed them.

As to the pulp left over - I can't imagine it being any drier than what I got out.

Only problem I had was with the stuff left in the auger area of the juicer - tough debate as to where to put it - with the dry pulp or in the juice to add a few skin pieces. Finally decided just to eat it right then and there.


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

Yours is probly better than mine, i have the 8006,it was the best one they had when i bought it 3 or 4 years ago, i find mine runs fresh cut firm apples better than the frozen and then thawed ones, it still works fine with the frozen ones i just run the pulp through one more time to extract more juice.


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## PandemoniumWines (Nov 13, 2017)

My apple wine is currently wine applesauce :/ Well, half wine applesauce, anyway. I racked off lees today so it's all mixed up again, but it is pretty freaking thick. I had to strain my pumpkin wine a couple times, I guess I'll do the same with the apple. Ugh. Next year I'm fermenting store bought cider!


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## Julie (Nov 13, 2017)

You need to put your fruit into bags instead of letting the fruit lay loose in the bucket


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## Scooter68 (Nov 13, 2017)

You might try racking the heavier 'juice' through a fine stainless steel strainer. I've done that with heavier portions (Bottom 1/2 to 1/3 of the carboy) and was able to reduce the loss considerably. Had to rock and roll the strainer but it didn't take all that long. Within about 1 minute a strainer full (about 2 cups) reduced to less than 1 cup. As long as you don't let it sit out long the oxygen exposure shouldn't be a problem. Did this with a couple of batches of peach wine as well as an apple wine batch. After doing that the lees in the next racking compacted nicely. A 3 1/2 gallon starting batch fit nicely into a 3 gallon carboy with about 1 pint to spare.


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## vacuumpumpman (Nov 13, 2017)

We have our own apple tree's and we freeze the apples first - then let them sit in a 5 gallon pail and we crush them using a normal crusher. We ferment and push down - after fermentation - we press - and we come out with great apple wine !


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## wildhair (Nov 13, 2017)

So you bag and ferment the frozen apple chunks, THEN you press? I cored and cut, soaked in citric acid bath (Fruit Fresh), added some pectin water then froze. I have about 150+# in the freezer. I was going to thaw, press, strain then ferment the juice. I froze some apples whole, just to compare how much juice I got from whole apples compared to the chopped ones. I made my apple wine from just apple juice last year, no added water - that turned out fine. I just used a strainer to filter out the "applesauce" before fermenting.


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## vacuumpumpman (Nov 13, 2017)

We just freeze the apples whole - with and without bruises 

I have an adapter that can pull most of the first run using a vacuum set-up = saves alot of time to pressing


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## Scooter68 (Nov 14, 2017)

Wildhairs process of filtering before fermentation should work great. IF you are already in the process - using a strainer now will accomplish the same thing. Just don't let it sit out in the open any longer than necessary. You can use a strainer over a large funnel dropped into the carboy to minimize exposure to the air .


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## Zog (Nov 20, 2017)

I make a lot of apple and pear cider wine from fruit. All I do is wash the fruit and let it air dry, trim out any bad spots, then freeze them whole. After a couple weeks in the freezer, I thaw them and press them in a bladder press. Any press will do I imagine. The freezing totally breaks down the structure of the fruit. I get about 3 gallons per bushel. There is less oxidation of the fruit using this method as opposed to grinding fresh unfrozen fruit. So, the color is a little lighter, which I like. By the way, if they aren't completely thawed before pressing, then the brix of the juice will be higher.


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## wildhair (Nov 20, 2017)

I'm anxious to try pressing the fruit - been a hectic fall. The only problem with freezing the whole fruit is it takes more space in the freezer. I bought a small chest freezer for my various fruits for wine, but it doesn't even hold all the apples I cored and froze. LOL 150#+ of apples takes a LOT of freezer space. The "Fruit Fresh" bath seemed to have kept them from oxidizing in the freezer so far.


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## Scooter68 (Nov 20, 2017)

It's not a fast process but an auger type juicer would definitely get the most out of any fruit, unless you want it to sit on the skins but even then you could simply freeze some of the auger residue with the skins. With my apples once they come through that juicer they are more than ready for fermentation (Or freezing) and of course that juice will take up a lot less space than whole or even apples cored and cut. Again pretty slow process but auger juicers will certainly get the most out of your fruit.


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## wildhair (Nov 21, 2017)

From the looks of of the feeder tube on the juicers I saw - I'd still have to cut up the apples to feed them into the auger. I wonder how long it would take to run over 150# of apples thru it? I'm thinkin' - more time than I got probably. 
I bagged 10# of whole apples and I took another 10# of whole apples, cored them, dipped them in Fruit Fresh - then froze both bags. I'll press them later with my old-timey fruit press and which works better & gives more juice. But from a "freezer space" perspective - using the corer-slicer and freezing them in 10# bags takes a lot less space than 10# of whole, round apples. And I was able to prep & freeze about 50# per hour using the old manual corer-slicer.


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## Scooter68 (Nov 21, 2017)

I agree with you on the time perspective. It would take hours of time to juice them that way. For 1-5 gallon batches it's workable but beyond that.... If you could chop them up with a large chopper that would help with storage space.

The big advantage of the juicer is that it does get more juice out of the fruit than any other method. What's left is like damp cardboard. 

Some fruit just presents some challenges regardless of the equipment at hand. With apples I believe that coring, to remove the seeds is a must do. The cyanide in the seeds is not a big issue but the bitterness from them and hard shells around seeds make pressing and processing more difficult.


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## NDengineer (Nov 28, 2017)

I made some pear wine and pear cider (perry) about a month ago. I cut out the worms and rotten spots, crushed the fruit, and then attempted to press, but the pears were too soft, causing a mesh in the basket press. I ended up just putting all the crushed pieces/pulp in large straining bags, and removing the bags after primary fermentation.

the pear wine and perry have a stark difference in color, even though they have identical composition (aside from a little bit different concentration of juice). See the picture. The pear wine is the 5 gallon green/yellow carboy, and the perry is the partially full 3 gallon one. The perry came out brown out of the primary fermenter (5 gallon pail), even though both were handled the same. 

Is the brown color oxidation in the perry? I know there's too much headspace for the perry in secondary right now, but it was brown beforehand.


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## sour_grapes (Nov 28, 2017)

Forgive my ignorance if the answer to this should be obvious: What you did do differently between them that is making you call one a wine, and one a cider?


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## wildhair (Nov 28, 2017)

And forgive my ignorance as well - what would make you post a Q on problems with a pear wine/cider in a thread called *Apple Wine Q* instead of starting a new thread? LOL Not to be the "thread police" - but you might have a better shot at getting answers from someone who may NOT be following this thread on apples.

Actually - wish I could help you out, but as a newly minted vintner myself - I can't add anything constructive to "clarify" your issue. ;-) Let's see what bigger brains have to say.............


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## NDengineer (Nov 29, 2017)

Good question sour_grapes. The wine has sugar added to target about 11% ABV, and the cider to hit about 5%. In addition, I plan to stabilize the cider and then make it sparkling.


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## wildhair (Dec 24, 2017)

OK - finally got around to pressing the apples. Had 170# total - mostly in 2.5 gal zipper bags @ 10# each. That takes up some freezer space! I have an antique manual fruit press - looks just about like the pic, but the frame on mine is heavy steel, not wood. And mine is not as pretty.
I pressed about 10# at a time, give or take. I put the chopped apples in mesh bags, then strained the juice before putting it in the fermenter. Still took about 7 hours to get it all pressed and everything cleaned up. But it's cold and snowy outside, so............
Here's my test -
#1 - 10# whole, no peptic enzyme water - just washed, air dried & froze. Yield was 12 cups (3 qt) of juice. Was very light in color - almost clear. I put them straight in the press w/ screen liner - no chopping.
#2 - 10# apples = 8# cored & sliced. Soaked in Fruit Fresh, no peptic enzyme water. Yield was 10.5 cups - 1.5 cups less than the same ORIGINAL WT. of whole apples. Color was more amber.

The rest of the bags were 10# of cored/sliced apples, soaked in citric acid water, then 1 cup of peptic enzyme water added to the bag - then frozen. (2 t peptic enzyme to 1 gal water).




Total yield was 15+ gallons of juice. SG was 1.030 raw.

None of the apples oxidized too bad while frozen - but they "browned up" during the thaw (which takes over 24 hrs. btw). I put them all in plastic tubs to thaw to catch any leaks - which they did. I did try chopping some up, but it did not increase the juice output.

Freezing the apples whole was definitely easier, I didn't have a reduction in juice output and the juice was lighter in color since the apples didn't oxidize during thawing. If I have the freezer space - I'll definitely freeze them whole.


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## Jennifer Patterson (Aug 22, 2018)

Interesting thread as I attempt to process 90 pounds of apples from just 2 of my 12+ apple trees! I haven't done much with them in the past few years but decided to try apple wine. I do have a press, although I haven't used it in ages. I do NOT have any freezer space right now. So I am coring my apples, then processing them in the food processor, and plan to press them tomorrow. I know they will oxidize, I thought I read somewhere that it wasn't a bad thing......now I am questioning that decision. I am new to all of this and am sure I will learn. (really wish another freezer would fit in both my budget and my house!)


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2018)

With 12 trees, You sound like a candidate for a real apple crusher. 

Something along this line: 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XB5UHE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## Jennifer Patterson (Aug 23, 2018)

Scooter68 said:


> With 12 trees, You sound like a candidate for a real apple crusher.
> 
> Something along this line:
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XB5UHE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Lol! I actually have one of those! It hasn’t been used in years, I pulled it out yesterday but it needs a through cleaning. I remember the last time I used it I wasn’t happy with it and used the food processor, which is one of the reasons I decided to use the processor again. I remember it didn’t seem to do a good job macerating the apples, but that was at least 12 years ago! When my kids were home we made apple juice with it and the press, it sure went a lot faster back then! I would process the juice into jars, it never lasted long.

I only got through half the apples today, so I might just clean it up and try it tomorrow.


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## meadmaker1 (Aug 23, 2018)

@Jennifer Patterson 
Ive read that the oxidized portion will fall out during fermintation.
Ive also seen posts suggesting that kmeta will prevent this fall out.
I have no sites to post but, wine maker mag. had an artical about it a few issues back. 
Hopefully someone with more insight will respond.
Otherwise ive not worried about it and get wine the color of apple juice.
And ive worried about it and get wine the color of apple juice.


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## Jennifer Patterson (Aug 23, 2018)

meadmaker1 said:


> @Jennifer Patterson
> Ive read that the oxidized portion will fall out during fermintation.
> Ive also seen posts suggesting that kmeta will prevent this fall out.
> I have no sites to post but, wine maker mag. had an artical about it a few issues back.
> ...


Thank you! That makes me feel better! As a newbie winemaker, I am afraid I am doing it wrong....but I am seasoned at food preservation, so I think I sorta know what I am doing........LOL!


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2018)

Oxidation of apples is really hard to prevent in large quantities without virtually a commercial process. I just accept it and do what I can to minimize. Last time I had apples to work with I only had about a bushel and they were so badly pocked and picked at that I had to hand cut them all up to remove the bad spots. I suppose in a proper apple orchard they would have been dumped. BUT I got about 1 1/2 gallons of juice as I remember. Point of all that is that I cut them into a bowl and every time I had enough for a one gallon freezer bag, I dumped in about 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme in a 1/2 cup of water and put them right into the fridge. Still a lot of browning but not as bad. (I also sucked out as much air as I could before I closed the bags. NOT a high tech approach but for me for that time around it worked.


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## Jennifer Patterson (Aug 23, 2018)

Just for fun, as I am looking for information on the best way to clean and sanitize my cider press, I thought I would share which one I have. Purchased 20+ years ago, but in storage in the barn for the last 12, PLUS the cover I had on it disappeared over the years! When the last helper (kid) moved away we stopped making juice. 
https://www.happyvalleyranch.com/Homesteader-Cider-Press-Grinder-_p_9.html


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2018)

Perhaps One Step - It's no-rinse cleaner/sanitizer. It's not long lasting once mixed (About one week) but for big job like you have it should be fine. I used to use it but since my needs were small, a mixed gallon bottle would lose it's effectiveness way before I used it up.

Here's their corporate line on the product:
*One Step Removes:* The residues of home fermentation hobbies on glass, metal, and plastic surfaces. Use One Step to clean mash tuns, boiling vessels, fermenters, chillers, spoons,rakes, fermentation locks, and any other equipment that is used in the brewing,winemaking, or fermentation process.

*How It Works:* One Step consists of a buffered alkalinity and active oxygen. When dissolved in water, the result is an alkaline solution (approximately pH 9.5) presenting 0.1 percent free oxygen and 1000 ppm alkalinity (as Na2O). The following modes of action are represented in the resulting aqueous solution:


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## wildhair (Aug 23, 2018)

I tried to minimize oxidation by placing the cut apples in a bowl with Fruit Fresh & then then freezing - it helped. They didn't oxidize too bad in the freezer. But when I thawed them - they browned up anyway. The ones that didn't oxidize at all were the ones I froze whole. That juice was much lighter in color than the juice from the chopped apples. 

So far, I have around 100# in the freezer & a full box in the fridge ~ and that was from an "off" year on my Yellow Transparent tree. I may have to press them to make room for the Wolf River apples which ripen in late Sept.


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## Jennifer Patterson (Aug 23, 2018)

So today I did a little experiment, after talking it over with my hubby I realized that the reason I used the food processor to macerate my apples all those years ago, (instead of the grinder on the cider press), was because I didn't think I was getting all the juice I could from them. 

Yesterday I cored and processed 45 pounds of McIntosh apples in the food processor. Took hours! I don't know how many but my back was killing me when I stopped. Today I ran them through the press and extracted about one gallon of juice per 15 pounds of apples. 

Then I used the grinder on the rest of the apples (another 60 pounds 18lbs of Hazen, 14lbs of Dolgo crab, and about 30lbs of McIntosh) and pressed them, again I got about one gallon of juice per 15 pounds of apples. I then took some of the pulp from the batch from the grinder and tried running it through my juicer (25-year-old Champion) After about the first quart of pulp I gave up, I put the works into a straining bag and let it sit, there was maybe 1/4 cup of juice and 3/4 cup of pulp that looked like thick applesauce. I decided that just using the apple grinder and the press is a whole lot easier for about the same results as the more labor-intensive methods. 

I then went out and picked more apples! 19lbs chestnut Crab, 13lbs Hazen, 18lbs State Fair, 16lbs Zestar, 9 lbs McIntosh........I will press them tomorrow, then mix everything together and start my wine. My goal is 3 gallons of Apple wine, and 3 gallons of Apfelwein with some extra of both for topping off. 

I do plan to pick more chestnut crab apples and freeze them then mix them with some Dolgo crab already frozen for crabapple wine at a later date. 

IF I can find more freezer space I "might" pick more apples and freeze the juice for later......but at this point I think I am done. The deer will like the treats when the apples left on the trees fall to the ground. 

All my apples are cold hardy varieties, I never spray and don't have disease or insect troubles on them. Birds, deer, other critters and neighbors are my biggest threats to my harvest.


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