Crab apple wine - thoughts, tips, suggestions please

[BigDaveK]

Read through the old posts but thought I'd ask anyway.

This wasn't on my list this year but while walking around I spotted one of my trees so heavy with fruit the branches are touching the ground. They are absolutely delicious. Sweet first then tart. I knew I couldn't ignore this unexpected bounty. In 10 minutes I picked a little over 4 gallons. Oh yeah, I'll get more today.

My preliminary idea was to use about 4 gallons of crabs for a 3 gallon batch. But I'm always open to suggestions.

Do they benefit from "aging" like regular apples?
Does freezing help like with most fruit?

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated as usual.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

I would let them sit for about a week after picking let them sugars set and add more

 

[Arne]

I made some years ago. Did not come out vvery drinkable. After several years on the shelf it became really good. You do not want to bite into our crab apples tho. They are very tart, when they fall in the fall nothing eats them. Something about the freezing and thawing and late in the winter the squirrels and birds clean them up. Good luck with yours Dave. Don't know if I can find my notes, will look. I know I probably just picked a number of pounds, crushed them a little, added water to x number of gallons, sugar to 1.085 or so. Then nutrients, ck ph, k-meta pectic enzime probably add bentonite, no tannins, pick a yeast and let er rip. Arne.

 

[Rice_Guy]

There is a lot of variation in the apple family! How do you like the taste? You are looking for smooth not bitter tannins.

*As a guide line in the university arborateum 20% of the crabs have interesting tannins. Using a high tannic I am putting in about 5% in cider.
*Samples of varieties as Kingston Black are low fresh and the feeling builds with eating more. Without any test numbers on polyphenols, Prairie Fire feels like about 5x the concentration of Kingston Black. Expect the flavor to get smoother/ less "spit it out" as the apple ripens.
*Many crabs and apple crabs are low moisture, I have taken to crushing then steeping in the apple juice with pectase.
* 1" and bigger will be easier to work with if you have access to a crusher/ you could cut in half then a chopper. I am still playing with best processing methods.
* Sugar will balance the wine if the tannins are too high
* It looks like the tannin is a magic ingredient which gives years of shelf life, I have started to put crabs in a lot of wines.

 

[Newlyretired]

This is the second year I have made Crabapple wine, last years was a combination Crabapple, raisins, rose-hips and pears. This year I am making a crabapple/saskatoon wine with raisins added. The recipe I used last year asked for some tannin, I believe 2 tsps per 23l/5 gals. Am using the same recipe this year, about 12litres of crabapples along with 12 cups of Saskatoons and a kg or so of raisins. Added enough sugar to make a 10% alcohol wine. Also added pectin enzyme and some citric acid. Fermented about 7 days and then transferred to a carboy for about a month and will transfer soon to a new carboy soon for sediment reduction. May have to add some clarifier before bottling if it does not clear up. In no hurry though.

 

[BigDaveK]

Thanks everybody!
@Rice_Guy I wish I knew what variety they are. Ripen yellow. Mother Nature's gardeners planted the seed. And fortunately my crusher will work!
The crabs are very sweet, almost like a dwarf honeycrisp. I also have about half a gallon of very tart crabs but they were a pain to get, branches not touching ground. Hopefully will be a nice mix.
The crabs soaked in kmeta overnight, rinsed, dried in the sun, bagged. I'll put them in the freezer in a couple days. Had to make room so I took out 43 lbs of pears for my 4th 3 gallon batch. Have enough for 2 more 3 gallon batches. Yikes.
Nice day so gathered another 4 1/2 gallons of crabs. Double yikes.

 

[Terryfirma]

Are they Paradise Apples? I found some Yellow tiny apples a couple months ago and identified with a plant App. The seeds are “ toxic” as with most apples and many pit fruits - so don’t crush them or ferment them (would be my suggestion) I had only 1/2 gallon so I pitted them individually and made a Wild Grape / Paradise Apple blend - its fermenting now.
You are busy! I’m out of carboys and Gallon jugs - frustrating- I have to slow down my ideas to keep pace with my supplies.

 

[Rice_Guy]

wish I knew what variety they are. Ripen yellow. Mother Nature's gardeners planted the seed. . . .
The crabs are very sweet, almost like a dwarf honeycrisp. I also have about half a gallon of very tart crabs but they were a pain to get,

You know what you need, the brix of sugar, TA/ pH for acid, if they taste tannic and most importantly if the aroma/ flavor is good.
There are thousands of named apple varieties which are not good enough to have folks plant them in quantity

 

[BigDaveK]

You know what you need, the brix of sugar, TA/ pH for acid, if they taste tannic and most importantly if the aroma/ flavor is good.
There are thousands of named apple varieties which are not good enough to have folks plant them in quantity

That's a darn good idea. I'm always curious but sometimes I need to be more curious. I have a refractometer somewhere...

 

[BigDaveK]

Are they Paradise Apples? I found some Yellow tiny apples a couple months ago and identified with a plant App. The seeds are “ toxic” as with most apples and many pit fruits - so don’t crush them or ferment them (would be my suggestion) I had only 1/2 gallon so I pitted them individually and made a Wild Grape / Paradise Apple blend - its fermenting now.
You are busy! I’m out of carboys and Gallon jugs - frustrating- I have to slow down my ideas to keep pace with my supplies.

I'm not too concerned about the seeds. The outer coating is strong for a reason and should be able to withstand fermenting for 4-5 days. Besides, they're small and there's billions of them!!! (Seems like billions, at least.)

I check prices now and then on multiple sites. Always seem to be drifting higher. Buy more carboys and jugs! My general philosophy is - prices don't go down.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

I check prices now and then on multiple sites. Always seem to be drifting higher. Buy more carboys and jugs! My general philosophy is - prices don't go down.

unless it’s stock I bought once

 

[BigDaveK]

You know what you need, the brix of sugar, TA/ pH for acid, if they taste tannic and most importantly if the aroma/ flavor is good.
There are thousands of named apple varieties which are not good enough to have folks plant them in quantity

Well that was fun!
It was bugging me so I had to get it out of my head - brix of 15, pH about 3.0 (using narrow range strips).

 

[winemaker81]

The differences between grapes can be amazing -- CS has small grapes, Mourvedre large, Grenache looks rose not red. Some bunches are tight, others are loose. The Durham group collectively purchased the following varieties (number in parenthesis indicates multiple AVA):

Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon (3), Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Montipulciano, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah (2), Petite Verdot, Pinot Noir, Primitivo, Sangiovese, Syrah, Tempranillo, Zinfandel (Old Vine)

I didn't get a lot of pictures this year -- during crush I was mostly up to my elbows in grape pulp. There were a few perfect clusters that would make a great background for labels.