July 18, 2016

Crabapple Wine

Recently, my neighbor Rita was telling me about this ancient old heritage crabapple tree in Batavia that she's been picking every other year since her boys were young (that's three decades!).  She described it as having more apples than we could ever pick and the apples as being larger than the modern crabapple and less tart.  I had to see this!  

She told me she wasn't sure she'd have time to pick this year, but when I called and asked, "Have you picked yet?!" she was easy to convince.  This is a tradition that should be maintained.

We set out Saturday morning for the tree...  


Man, she wasn't lying.  Check out these apples!


They were big and beautifully colored.  I started by eating one, of course, right off the tree.  It was tart but much more easily edible than any other crabapple I've ever tried.  We got work, each with our own basket.  Rita called out "I've got the low fruit!"  She said her husband had teased her that she better bring a ladder (if you've ever met Rita you know why) but she said she was bringing one on two legs - that's me!  I got the apples that were higher up.  We made a  great team.


They were so easy to pick and you could be really particular on quality control because of the abundance.



It didn't take long at all to fill a huge basket.


I decided to try Sweet and Sour Crabapples from Putting Food By but first, wine!  If you've been reading my blog or following me on Instagram (@phillipsfarmbatavia) you know that I'm becoming a bit of a fermentation addict.  It's so amazing to me to watch things transform through this simple process.

I looked online for a recipe and found one to sort of follow, but then kind of made it up based on my previous wine-making experiences.  Here goes...

First I cleaned about five pounds of apples and cut them in half.  I put them in a large stock pot then added about a cup of raisins and a teaspoon of lemon juice.  Then I filled the pot with filtered water so that it was almost full.


I turned on the heat to high and when it began to boil, I added six cups (3 pounds) of sugar.  I turned down the heat and let it simmer about ten minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  

Then I removed it from the heat, covered it with a clean dish towel and left it sit until morning.  In the morning, I added a pinch of bread yeast, stirred it again, re-covered and left it.  

For three days, I stirred the pot once each day the re-covered it with my clean towel.  You could see the bubbles forming at the top - the tell-tale sign that fermentation has begun.  


After this period, I strained out the solids - a nice treat for the ladies. 



Then I poured the remaining liquid into a sterilized carboy to ferment.  It smelled and tasted a lot like sweet apple juice.  



Now the long wait begins.  It will probably be two months (around mid-September) when it's ready to bottle.  

Crabapple Wine

  • 5 pounds of crabapples, washed and halved
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • filtered water to fill a large stockpot
  • 6 cups sugar
  • pinch of yeast
  1. Wash apples and cut them in half.  Put them in a large stock pot then add raisins and lemon juice.  Fill the pot with filtered water so that it was almost full.  
  2. Turned on the heat to high and when it begins to boil, add sugar.  Turn down the heat and let it simmer about ten minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  
  3. Remove from the heat, cover with a clean dish towel and leave overnight.  In the morning, I add yeast, stir, and re-cover the pot.  
  4. For three days, stir the pot once each day then re-covered it with the clean towel.  You should see bubbles forming at the top to show fermentation has begun.  
  5. After this period, strain out the solids and pour the remaining liquid into a sterilized carboy topped with an airlock to ferment for two months.
  6. When the liquid turns clear and the bubbling stops, you're ready to bottle it.  


Check out Rita's post about crabapple picking too!



26 comments:

  1. What kind of yeast did you use?

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    1. I used Red Star Cote des Blancs Wine Yeast after researching about fruit wine (crabapple to be exact.) I just put mine in the carboy this morning. Now the wait. If there is a lot of sentiment at the bottom in a month or so I will siphon from one carboy to another but not let the little tube touch the setiment. Hope this helps. Also, I used a pretty large pot and after all was said and done it filled one gallon. Google if it isn't quite full, you can add vodka. But you don't want a lot of head space.

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  2. How many gallon of WINE did this make? Do leaving seeds and core makes the WINE bitter?

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    1. I have all of the same questions....where do I find the answers?

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    2. If you have ever processed crabapples, you would understand why you leave in the core and peel...

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    3. If you have ever processed crabapples, you would understand why you leave in the core and peel...

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  3. Your recipe calls for a pinch of yeast. How much is this pinch in quantity? Grams or weight?
    Thank you

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    1. I googled a lot of information about this. It should be the whole packet. Even if it was for 5 gallons you would use the whole packet. The yeast knows how much reaction to give based on the volume of the liquid and size of container. That is just what I read. :) I did it as well this morning, added the yeast. I will come back and update.

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  4. I had the same question. On her blog she says she used bread yeast.

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    1. I googled the best yeast to use for fruit wine/ crab apple wind and it said Red Star Premier Cote des Blancs was the best. I used the whole packet in my gallon worth of mixture this morning.

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  5. I can't begin to make this recipe, much as I want to, because there are no measurements given regarding the water, the size of your pot, or the amount of wine we will get (so I can purchase the correct size of carboy). Please advise.

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    1. Hello, so I have dabbled in wine making as a hobby. I think we forget if someone is new we need to be more specific. So we see the size of the carboy and we would like to have that as full as possible so that there is less air in the bottle once the liquids are poured in........................................................I had about 500 crab apples. Found a great tree to pick from. Examined them all for no invasion of worms or bird pecks etc. Cleaned them and put cut them in half and put them in a large pot, like really large cause I want as close to a gallon of liquid as possible.......then added the water, raisins and lemon juice. So the water is based on how much fruit you have. The more fruit the more water cause it need to cover the fruit. Brought it to a boil and then lowered the heat to a simmer and stirred in the six cups of sugar. Stirred till all dissolved, took it off the burner to another one and put the towel on.....I stirred it this morning and after googling how much yeast to use and what kind for fruit wine/crab apple wine all the articles said RED STAR Premier Cote de Blancs was the best. I used the whole packet. Stirred it in good and put the towel back over the pot. I will stir it for the next three days then I will strain with cheese cloth all the liquid into a container then pour into my carboy. I have the air lock thingy on the top and instead of water i put vodka in it (as a sterilization type thing) but you can use water. Then let it sit in a cool dark place (basement) or a closet that doesn't get much light and is cool, somewhere like that. I keep my house at 69 in the summer so I keep it in the shower of a bathroom that no one uses. (it's just me and my husband). After 2 months or it's clear you can bottle it. I purchased wine bottles over the internet and also the corks and the plastic things that go over the cork and neck of the bottle to make it look professional and all you do is hold a blow dryer on warn and it shrinks to form the top of the bottle. Then I ordered some labels I created cause I am not good with cricket or them printer machines. I called my brand SAIN'S (French for healthy but also an acronym for my husbands first letter of his name, my first letter of my name then I for in, and N for Nebraska. So this batch will be called "Sain's Crabapple wine" and can't wait for thanksgiving and christmas to drink it. Hope this helps. Google wine making and how much liquid goes into a gallon carboy and about how much air space is too little or just right. It will help visualize it.

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    2. You can't ferment in a metal pot! The wine could be poisonous. Use foos grade plastic for fermentation.

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    3. food grade' sorry

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  6. I found a different more specific crabapple wine recipe, for those looking for specifics.
    4 1/2 pounds of crabapples
    Handful of raisins
    7 pts of water
    1 3/4 lbs of sugar
    1/2 tsp peptic enzyme
    1 campden tablet
    1 package of 1118 wine yeast.
    This recipe will make 1 gallon. Just multiply if you desire a larger batch.

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    1. Thank you. I have never made wine but found this blog and wanted to try with the crabapples I have. Can you use them from being frozen?

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  7. I figure if prisoners can make wine from fruit, water and sugar and they get drunk as a skunk, I started doing without all the other items listed above cause I am just doing fruit wine. If I was trying for a grape wine the above would be needed and the wine would taste great.

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  8. I wonder if this would work with other fruit so as to use in season, cheap or free fruit. BTW, I followed her recipe and it came out great. I'm doing another batch but using wine yeast to see what ends up different, if at all.

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    1. Yes. You can make wine from pretty much any fruit or berry or whatever sweet plant product you have in abundance.

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  9. I have already processed my apples into juice and canned it. I would like to try to make wine from I but everything I find is from raw fruit. Any helpful hints on recipes and process would be appreciated

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  10. Can crabapples be cleaned,cut and frozen prior to cooking for wine?Or otherwise naturally preserved for about a week?I have aabout 85 gallons if fresh crabapples to process.And can stone crocks(20 gal.)be used for fermentation?

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    1. I knew ppl growing up who used stone crocks to make hooch, ya might be fine bc the alcohol will kill things but ya are running a risk without a way to vent that isnt one way. There are easy-ish dyi videos on homemade bubbles from old med bottles n such n ya can poke holes in old jars lid/bottles n put em on if coughing up the ridiculous wine making gear prices isnt for you. A note on crab apples their really is old ones n news ones n the sweetness of your really sweet ones can use a few green ones thrown 1/4 green of called for and vice versa if ya got sour ones mix in some sweet regular apples to get a balanced flavor.

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  11. I juice the crabapples in a juicer makes it much easier.

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  12. Has anyone cut down the amount of sugar

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  13. When you are done and have finished your processing, I use a chemical to stabilize the wine and prevent it from turning into vinegar

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  14. Potassium Sorbate

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