caramel apple wine

[intoxicating]

Early in November I started a three gallon batch of caramel apple wine. Used a 96 oz. can of apple base, 146 oz of canned and bottled apple juice, 20 oz of malt syrup for body, and a Tbsp of med toast French Oak. I fed it along the way with 16 oz of cane syrup.

It hasn't started clearing yet, and it is BITTER!

Is that just tannin from the oak? Will it age out?

The Mexican plum I make is bitter at the start, but that is because the fruit has lots of tannin. The wild plum wine calms down in a year or two.

Will the apple mellow too?

 

[vcasey]

I have noticed the apple anything tastes pretty harsh for a while and I don't think you used enough oak for it to have that effect. Another reason is that it could be dry and at least for me, dry apple wine can taste green/harsh/bitter. Did you sweeten this wine? What was your starting and ending SG? Did you use P/E, apple can be stubborn clearing on its own sometimes and the P/E can help if you used it at the beginning. Also the malt syrup could be making this hard to clear.

 

[xanxer82]

I'd pop on the brew belt and try degassing again. Rack to a clean carboy first.
Did you add Chitosan or Isinglass?

 

[grapeman]

My apple wine from 2005 is starting to come around and taste apple-ey again

.


It really does take a while to mellow out unless highly sweetened.

 

[vcasey]

Like appleman said apple anything takes a while ........... I would just leave it alone, don't even try to clear it unless you are in a hurry to bottle. My apple cyser is sweetened but even then I think it still needs time but its only a 2008 mead so its still a baby.

 

[hannabarn]

Rich, (Appleman), I still have some of your "nuclear apple wine" and I don't think it is ever going to come around and taste apple-ey again!! It sure is good inchili tho!!

 

[grapeman]

Nope barney, that one will never taste like apple. The peck of hot peppers had something to do with that!

 

[intoxicating]

Starting SG was 1.095, current SG is 1.004, with the addition in the meantime of 2 cups of cane syrup and 1 cup of sugar. I dissolved them in enough warmed wine to dissolve, and didn't add more water in the form of syrup. I used plenty of pectic enzyme, and haven't degassed yet. I haven't added any stabilizer or clarifier yet. I don't have a brew belt, just have it under a big sack in the kitchen.
Probably time to rack again. I am planning to battonage it, and I expect it is probably up high enough on the alcohol content for me to stop the fermentation.
I just taste tested a little with a pinch of sugar stirred in and allowed to breathe. I think the bitter from the other day may have been a combination of really green, not-degassed, and nearly dry. Tonight's sampling not as bitter.

 

[vcasey]

Just give it lots of time. How did it taste otherwise, did the caramel flavor come through. I am planning something similar this year but will use honey instead of sugar.

 

[intoxicating]

Only a little caramel flavor yet. The oak went into the primary, and it doesn't show up in the flavor at all yet. Mostly just green and yeasty. I am not in a hurry. I will oak it again when I think it is about ready to clear.

I have two (three gallon) carboys of Mexican Plum and one of "brandywine" to play with, and three 1 gallon jugs of blueberry. I am thinking about bottling one gallon of the blueberry as dry, and oaking one after I sweeten it. The Mexican Plum wineshine is starting to clear on its own. That is another one with enough natural pectin to require pectinaise.