Apple cysar question

[LaughingWaterWine]

In october I started a batch of apple honey wine. recently I read an article that stated not to use a blender or juicer as it would add bitter skin and seed flavors to the wine. If this is true is there anything I can do correct this? It is now basically done fermenting and aging in a 6 gal carboy.

 

[Arne]

If it is done, how does it taste? If it is bitter, try giving it some sweetener. Don't try it on the whole batch all at once to start with, start with a glass and if you find something you like, you can do the rest of the batch. Hard to take ingredients out, easy to put em in. It is going to be young, so time will get rid of some off flavors. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Did you blend it up and ferment on the pulp or press out the juice after you blenderized it? As Arne asks, what does it taste like? WVMJ

In october I started a batch of apple honey wine. recently I read an article that stated not to use a blender or juicer as it would add bitter skin and seed flavors to the wine. If this is true is there anything I can do correct this? It is now basically done fermenting and aging in a 6 gal carboy.

 

[LaughingWaterWine]

thank you for the reply... what I did was core the apples and put them thru a jucier so there was very little pulp, but there was some. I have not tried it yet I thought I would when I fine it again to clarify and age. I think I will do that in a week or two.
I ll let you know when I do. thhanks again.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Then why are you worried about seeds??? You should be fine, some people even crush their apples and let them set overnight on the skins with pectinases to draw out some of the flavors from the skins and break down the pectins in the flesh. Tasting as you go is always fun to see where it is going, what problems might be popping up and how good it can potentially be. WVMJ

thank you for the reply... what I did was core the apples and put them thru a jucier so there was very little pulp, but there was some. I have not tried it yet I thought I would when I fine it again to clarify and age. I think I will do that in a week or two.
I ll let you know when I do. thhanks again.

 

[Arne]

Sounds like if you cored them there are no worries about the seeds. The skins are always there when I make my juice for cider, and the cores are in there too. I only run them thru a grinder, then put them in the press. If they are wormy, will quarter them, then run em thru the grinder. So far no bitterness from the skins, and the seeds are too small to be ground up in my course grinder. Arne.

 

[LaughingWaterWine]

Thanks for the reply guys. As I might have mentioned I have been gone and left the apple cyser to age. I think I have a problem as my daughter was back and took these pictures. I am guessing that this batch got contaminated, there should be no yeast at this point should there?

 

[MilesDavis]

Rack that off into a smaller carboy and leave the scum layer behind.

 

[LaughingWaterWine]

Thanks I will try that. So is this normal?

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Have you added any sulfites? YOu got a lot of airspace there. WVMJ

 

[LaughingWaterWine]

no sulfites added. there was still good fermentation when I moved it to the carboy and I have an airlock on it so I thought it would be pretty much co2. It had appeared that the fermentation had stopped and judging from how clear it is I would think it has but apparently not. It does smell good but have not sampled. Will yeast form a scum like this? This should be kind of sweet as the gravity was 1.120 at the onset. gravity was about 1 when I moved it to secondary. There seemed to be pretty active fermentation after moving and it was cloudy. It has been keep at the 70 degree mark. So How would I tell if this is a bacteria growth?

 

[LaughingWaterWine]

Thanks for all the feedback. We racked it into a smaller carboy as suggested and left for a few days sg at about 1.000. Nothing more happened to decided to ad sorbate day later added Camden. Then waited a day and back sweetened to taste. Turned out great but seems to be a little short on alcohol. I must have read the starting gravity wrong. Thanks again for the input.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

No sulfites in the begining, so you could also get a MLF going, and with the sorbate might potentially have problems, I have not had this happen but if you get a gerainum smell later it might be the MLB eating your sorbate. WVMJ

 

[LaughingWaterWine]

No sulfites in the begining, so you could also get a MLF going, and with the sorbate might potentially have problems, I have not had this happen but if you get a gerainum smell later it might be the MLB eating your sorbate. WVMJ

Thanks WVMJ ... We tried a bottle on New Year's Eve and all agreed it tasted great just need time to get the apple flavors more roboust. So I left most of it at my second home and transported a couple home to try in the next month or two. For some reason I now have precipitate in the two bottles I brought back. I did use super-klear and the bottles got cold (40 degree F) during transportation. Any Idea why and what this is? I don't detect any geranium.

 

[ckvchestnut]

This happened to me on a few bottles from my dragon blood batch I think if you look at the dragon blood wine recipe thread you'll see the chat we had about that problem. It was suggested that possibly the sorbate was not mixed into the wine properly. In my case just dumped it into the wine and stirred vigorously in fact I degassed after that but still... The suggestion was to mix the sorbate thoroughly in 1/2 cup water first and then into the wine... As it dissolves better in water than alcohol... Not sure if that was your problem or not... Just a thought!

 

[BernardSmith]

If you started the mead three months ago I think that you can expect particles to still drop out of suspension for several more months. That's the nature of the beast. Additionally, you wrote that you recently transported the wine and that the ambient temperature was about 40 deg. That could result in tartrates forming crystals and dropping out. Not sure how much tartaric acid would be in your cyser but if you added acid blend I think the largest percentage of acid in the blend is tartaric but the potassium might come from the K-meta and, if you stabilized the wine, from K-sorbate.

http://www.jordanwinery.com/files/FlexibleFile/289/Wine_Tartrates_FAQ.pdf

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

First, those are NOT wine crystals, in a cyser we have much more malic acid than tartaric, that guess isnt even on the map.
Second, if you didnt dissolve the sorbate it shows up immediately. (easy to dissolve in a quarter cup of warm tap water and then add to wine) So its not sorbate floating around.

We also made a cyser in Oct and bottled some of it in Dec, it was crystal clear. If you fined yours was it due to it not being clear yet? How long between fining and bottling? I think you guys just pushed it a little, might be the proteins from the honey are precipitating out with the temp changes. It will be interesting to see what the bottles look like in home #1 vs the ones you traveled with. It could also be the fining agent setting out if you disturbed any while racking off before bottling (you guys did rack before you bottled right?) ps. this is a good excuse to get a filter

The good news - none of this matters if it tastes good and you like it, the little bit of fluff on the bottom wont hurt anything but if you like you can use a coffee filter to get rid of it or just learn to pour easily and leave it behind. Beermaking cidermakers are not bothered by a little stuff fluffing around on the bottom, mostly its the winemaker types who insist everything must be crystal clear.

WVMJ

In october I started a batch of apple honey wine. recently I read an article that stated not to use a blender or juicer as it would add bitter skin and seed flavors to the wine. If this is true is there anything I can do correct this? It is now basically done fermenting and aging in a 6 gal carboy.