Apple cider wine, first try

[lori]

Hello everyone

So I started my batch of apple cider wine, no kit this time.

6 gallons of apple cider from the apple orchard (pasteurized)
7 lbs brown sugar
2 tbsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp pectic
1 tsp tannin
Ec1118

SG 1.102

9 days later sg 1.001 i racked to carboy.

So now what next!!! I would like to add some flavor and have heard of apple pie wine and would like to try that.

Any suggestions would be great.


Lori & Rick

 

[saramc]

Once the SG has dropped by at least 2/3 from the starting O.G., rack off of the sediment, transfer to carboy/airlock (top up if necessary) but add your spices, preferably in a small bag: 6-3" cinnamon sticks, 12 whole allspice, 3 whole cloves and 3/4 tsp fresh ginger-chopped. Taste the wine after 2 weeks to see if you like the spice level, if so remove it, otherwise leave in place and taste weekly. The wine will finish clearing during this time. If it takes longer than 30 days to clear, Super Kleer KC can be used to accelerate the process. Follow the package directions. It will generally work in 7-10 days.

When wine has finished clearing, rack into a clean container, top up, and add 1 crushed campden tablet/gallon OR k-meta. At this stage you can also sorbate and sweeten if desired. Sweetening is a matter of personal taste. I prefer apple wine with residual sugar around 3%, but feel free to adjust it to your liking. To sweeten to 3% (increase S.G. by 0.010), mix 1/2 cup of sugar/gallon, AND 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate/gallon with 1/4 cup hot water. Always make sure that sorbate and k-meta are added at the same time, since they work with each other when you opt to backsweeten. Mix thoroughly and stir into finished wine. Allow to set two weeks after back-sweetening to ensure fermentation does not start again, then filter (preferred) and bottle.

 

[lori]

Thanks for the info, added the spice as listed.

I tried a taste after about a week and you can just taste the spices. Going to give it another week.

Thanks Again

 

[Kraffty]

I've got just about the same wine going for Christmas Presents but started about one month earlier. All I can offer in addition to Saramc is to be patient, keep tasting and tweeking. Ours has the same spices and in addition we've added frozen apple concentrate, honey, brown sugar and a fair amount of Pure vanilla extract during back sweetening. The flavors seem to mellow a few weeks after making additions so I'm thinking I'll do my last tweek late in October and bottle early in November so it can set about 2 full months before we start giving it away. Ours has an almost bourbon color now, how's your's look so far??
Post a Pic,
Mike