Labeling night
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Great job! Is that your cow on the label?
Looking good! 
jswordy
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That's a young Charolais/Black Angus cross bull. Yes, it is mine. I found it so interesting how the color of the two wines in the bottles accentuated different colors in the same picture.
The apple at present is approachable but not yet good. It has come a long way in 3 months, and you can drink a couple glasses of it in a row now, but it is not done getting the usual cidery/vinegary young apple wine tastes out of it that I so dislike, and that limits my enjoyment at present. In my experience, apple wines made from sweet fruit ciders or juice require at least a year to be good. For this reason, I don't make apple wine very often. It just takes too long for my needs.
Some people actually like the Rhine-like cidery overtones, but I am not a hard cider fan and so I am forced to wait as loooooooong as it takes to mellow those away. I have heard that using all crabapples avoids this altogether, but I don't have a source for them.
I split my stabilized carboy.
The 2 1/2 gallons of straight apple was backed with two additional cans of frozen apple juice concentrate and 1-1/2 tsp. acid blend to bring the tartness to near the "oh my God, I've gone too far" level. It should all even out in the bottle for next spring's tasting.
The 2 1/2 gallons of "experimental" apple black cherry was backed with two jiggers of organic black cherry juice concentrate per bottle. I mixed 16 ounces of concentrate with 1/8 tsp. acid blend, then poured two jiggers of that plus another 1/8 tsp. of acid blend into each bottle to raise the total tartness high. (I did it this way because it is an experiment and I had to get to a certain level of tart without going over; if I do it again, I'll just add 1-1/2 tsp or so of acid blend to the 16 ounces of concentrate and be done with it). Then I filled each with apple wine just as it came from the carboy. This kills the clarity but it should clear back over time, leaving perhaps a small amount of black cherry residue in each bottle. Since I am not proposing this as a contest wine, I'm good with it.
I am told using all sour crabapples will make raising the acid to these really high levels for tartness unnecessary. I need to find a source for some and try it sometime.
BTW, my standard for apple wine is the Bavarian style made by Illinois Cellars. It's a $6 bottle and it tastes really smooth.
The apple at present is approachable but not yet good. It has come a long way in 3 months, and you can drink a couple glasses of it in a row now, but it is not done getting the usual cidery/vinegary young apple wine tastes out of it that I so dislike, and that limits my enjoyment at present. In my experience, apple wines made from sweet fruit ciders or juice require at least a year to be good. For this reason, I don't make apple wine very often. It just takes too long for my needs.
Some people actually like the Rhine-like cidery overtones, but I am not a hard cider fan and so I am forced to wait as loooooooong as it takes to mellow those away. I have heard that using all crabapples avoids this altogether, but I don't have a source for them.
I split my stabilized carboy.
The 2 1/2 gallons of straight apple was backed with two additional cans of frozen apple juice concentrate and 1-1/2 tsp. acid blend to bring the tartness to near the "oh my God, I've gone too far" level. It should all even out in the bottle for next spring's tasting.
The 2 1/2 gallons of "experimental" apple black cherry was backed with two jiggers of organic black cherry juice concentrate per bottle. I mixed 16 ounces of concentrate with 1/8 tsp. acid blend, then poured two jiggers of that plus another 1/8 tsp. of acid blend into each bottle to raise the total tartness high. (I did it this way because it is an experiment and I had to get to a certain level of tart without going over; if I do it again, I'll just add 1-1/2 tsp or so of acid blend to the 16 ounces of concentrate and be done with it). Then I filled each with apple wine just as it came from the carboy. This kills the clarity but it should clear back over time, leaving perhaps a small amount of black cherry residue in each bottle. Since I am not proposing this as a contest wine, I'm good with it.
I am told using all sour crabapples will make raising the acid to these really high levels for tartness unnecessary. I need to find a source for some and try it sometime.
BTW, my standard for apple wine is the Bavarian style made by Illinois Cellars. It's a $6 bottle and it tastes really smooth.
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THEY SOUND PROMISING GOOD LUCK AND THANKS FOR THE REPLY..LOOK FOR MY THREAD (WHEN GOOD WINES GONE BAD) THERE ARE SOME HELPFUL TIPS......................
