Winery got a delivery!

[jswordy]

Having arrived at the mystical 1.000, Arne's wine has been transferred today to the carboy. Very pink! A bit of settling will help that. I wish all the container manufacturers would get together on what "5 U.S. gallons" is. I had 5.5 gallons in the bucket, but came up shy of 5 gallons in the Mexican carboy, which clearly says "5 GALS" on the bottom. So I topped with some apple juice, which may start a minor ferment. The juice is 1.060, and I used less than a quart, so it should't be too much of a referment. We shall see!

 

[Arne]

Lookin good, Jim. Been so warm here hope all the fruit trees don't wake up. Do like last year, get em flowering and have it freeze. Hard on the crops. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[jswordy]

Lookin good, Jim. Been so warm here hope all the fruit trees don't wake up. Do like last year, get em flowering and have it freeze. Hard on the crops. Good luck with it, Arne.

Bradford pears are out here, peaches won't be far behind. My maples are budded out. We have one 32 degree night forecast, on Friday. But days are upper 60s-low 70s. I'm planting 700 pounds of grass seed in my pastures next weekend, about Sunday.

In the wine, I did get a slight referment, but as I expected, the diluted apple juice didn't raise SG enough to make it anything more than a bubble or two now and again. We'll let it rest now a few weeks and see what we have.

 

[jswordy]

A few days has made a difference. I can even see myself taking the pic.

 

[jswordy]

Well, the old scrumpie looked pretty good today while I adjusted flavors on the back end. Nice and clear. Wound up with 6 gallons. Will let it sit again a week or two, then it's time to add k meta and bottle.

 

[Arne]

If you could get all your carboy s to leave the headspace on the side like the top pic, you would never have to top up. Neat picture with the refraction. How does the wine taste? The crabapple come thru but not to heavy? Arne.

 

[jswordy]

If you could get all your carboy s to leave the headspace on the side like the top pic, you would never have to top up. Neat picture with the refraction. How does the wine taste? The crabapple come thru but not to heavy? Arne.

Stuff was tart on racking but I got it pretty good now! All juice recipe. It is just sitting around waiting for me to bottle it. Time is tight right now.

 

[Arne]

Get out your shotgun and watch for the wine gremlins. They tend to show up when the wine is just sitting in the carboy. Little buggers can put a big dent in your supply. Arne.

 

[nucjd]

Interesting thread as usual js! I happen to have a crab apple tree on my farm that makes super sweet and crisp hard crab apples.I wonder what type it is. They very similar to the ones you took a pic of. I have a second crab apple tree that has the type you described in an earlier post..soft tart and not sweet at all.

 

[jswordy]

Interesting thread as usual js! I happen to have a crab apple tree on my farm that makes super sweet and crisp hard crab apples.I wonder what type it is. They very similar to the ones you took a pic of. I have a second crab apple tree that has the type you described in an earlier post..soft tart and not sweet at all.

The mealy ones are not much good if you are after a tart wine.

 

[jswordy]

Well, I bottled the scrumpy today and I am absolutely delighted. At room temp, it tastes like you are drinking a mild SweeTart, just what I was after - and it looks gorgeous! Can't wait to try it chilled.

Thanks to Arne for the crabapples all that long time ago. I owe you some of these 30 bottles of goodness. This could be contest wine but it is so far out of the mainstream, I don't know if judges would like it or hate it. Besides, I want to keep it all.





Now I have to rebottle the last of that pesky blueberry while the equipment is set up.

 

[Arne]

Looks good,Jim. Glad it worked out for you. Not going to be a lot of the crabapples here this year. Late frost got a lot of my fruits. Crabapple tree got a haircut from the bottom up. Got tired of the low hanging branches trying to wipe me off the lawnmower. Still plenty left,tho. Arne.

 

[wrongway]

Jim, I know this thread is awhile ago but I just had to say how
delicious it looks!!! I am amazed at the color! Awesome!!!!!

 

[Venatorscribe]

I did a straight crab apple wine three years ago. You'll need to back sweeten before bottling. I also added an oaking. You need to bottle condition it for at least two years. It makes wonderful wine. When you go to drink it, don't over chill it otherwise the tartness will dominate.