2014 Apple Crush

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the_rayway

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We did our (now) annual apple crush on the weekend! Approx 250 Lbs of crabs - unknown variety. I did not have the freezer space to freeze many before hand so they went in raw this year.

We rented an electric crusher, and press this year, total cost was $70 incl tax for the weekend-long rental. Wish I had picked more apples!! The total output was 9 gal UK, so plenty for me to work with.

After processing 12 Litres to make them shelf-stable for the kids to drink, and plonking a gallon in the freezer, I was left with exactly enough to make two 11.5L batches (port kit sized).

An old friend from the site gave me his apple cider recipe, here's where I started with one batch. I changed a couple of things by accident/on purpose:

Batch #1 Pumpkinman's Cider
- 11L Crab Apple juice
- White sugar to S.G. 1.080
- 2 vanilla beans, split
- 1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
- 1Pkg 71B yeast (to reduce malic acid)
- 1/3 cup medium french toast oak chips
- 1/4 tsp FermK
- 1/4 tsp Kmeta

1. I added the Kmeta to the juice and sugar on day one
2. Day two I added the pectic, oak chips and vanilla bean
3. Day three I added the yeast. Realized the next morning I pitched the wrong one. Ah well, it will still do the job!
4. Day four a small foaming was starting, so I left it till the evening then popped in the first dose of FermK. Stirred the heck out of it.
*Hopefully by tonight there will be more of an active ferment happening, it's lagging behind the other one in terms of activity.

As to the second batch, I want to do something that will warm me up when it's -40Celcius in the winter and to drink when the autumn days become long and cool. With the option to drink it warm or cool.

Batch #2 - Ray's Apple...Something
- 11L Crab Apple juice
- Golden Brown sugar to S.G. 1.095
- 2 vanilla beans, split
- 1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
- 1pkg Nottingham Ale yeast (see accident above)
- 1Pkg 71B yeast (to reduce malic acid)
- 1/3 cup medium french toast oak chips
- 1/4 tsp FermK
- 1/4 tsp Kmeta

Same as above, only I ended up re-pitching with the 71B. Nottingham Ale wouldn't have gotten going with that high a starting SG!

The Cider I would like to end up sweet and sparkling, so once it's fermented down and cleared, I'll use Tom's method of adding brown sugar and honey to backsweeten/secondary ferment and check a bottle each week until the ideal carbonation is achieved. Then I will pasteurize the bottles to stop fermentation. I'm going to leave it fairly simple, possibly adding some American Oak during clearing for more vanilla/toffee flavours.

The Apple Something is still in the thought-adjustment phase. Likely there will end up being a touch of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and peppercorn added at some point. Also will keep my options open regarding the addition of further oak types and toast levels (American, French, untoasted, heavy toast, etc.), and more vanilla. I'm considering the addition of a few coffee beans as well, but nothing too overpowering. I want to backsweeten this one with honey, preferably with one I purchased from a co-worker, if I can get my hands on some more.

Pics to come!
 
Sweeten with a Bochet, balanced with the acid and tannins from your crabs its crazy good:) How long did it take you to pick 250 pounds of crabs? WVMJ
 
Hey Jack!
In fact, it took me no time at all. My neighbour loves his apple tree dearly and will not allow anyone else to climb into it to pick. So he picks them all (even though we offer) and just puts the boxes in my yard. :)

Huh. Wonder if my Banana Bochet "top up" would go well?

The Apple Something appears to be doing well, with lots of gas and some bubbles of krausen. However, my Apple Cider is barely fizzing, and when I read the SG it's still dead on where it started at! If it doesn't have a change by tomorrow morning I'll re-pitch with another packet of yeast.
 
Racked both today to glass.
Cider: 1.020
Wine: 1.010

The wine, with brown sugar, is only slightly darker than the cider. I thought it would be much darker. I ended up with 1L of top up from each, which are in the fridge with all my other top ups.

Realized after I racked them that I don't have any free airlocks. I'll have to bottle a couple of things tonight. Thinking my Pure Pear Mead and my Lilac Mead. I'll only need 9 bottles because one is a 1/2 and the other a 1 gal batch.
 
Pictures!
You can see the 'type' of crabs I was working with, the electric crusher, and the carboys where they currently are in secondary. The colour is more pronounced now that it was a racking, I'm assuming because of the sediment dropping out.

The crabs you see are ones that I picked that morning from a friend's tree, and they are bruised from my rough handling. I knew they were headed for the crusher within the hour. The ones from my neighbour's tree were in perfect condition, no bruising to be seen.

IMG_20140809_110713.jpg

IMG_20140809_110718.jpg

IMG_20140819_064244.jpg
 
Is that an apple crusher or a grape crusher, can you guys take a picture of the teeth or rollers? There is an apple crusher that looks like that but from their poor pictures it looked to me that it would make the pieces much to large to press effectively, especially for something like crabs, what brand etc. thanks, WVMJ
 
Actually, it's a rented unit from the LHBS. It seems to crush the apples well enough. I think it would be too big for grapes though. Pieces are at biggest 1" across and 1/2" wide. Does that help? We rented it for the weekend for $45. They have a non-electric for $25 as well.

Sorry I don't know more! Here is their website: www.brewersdirect.com
 
THanks Ray, a little to big for us, wife says if I sell one of the boats I can use that money to get a real crusher. Maybe I could rig up something where they fall through a shut down onto the spinning blades and and instantly pulverized, might make a good youtube! WVMJ
 
Racked these guys again this weekend.

Cider 1.000
Wine 1.004

I'm pretty sure they're just about finished. There was a lot of sediment in the carboys, and I lost about 1L each to that. Good thing I kept a litre each in the fridge from the first racking! I added 30G medium toast American Oak Cubes to both.

Had a small amount of sulfur smell, so I racked them through my copper pipe and it cleared right up. That 71B can be a touchy thing, even with proper nutrient additions! You need to get it off the lees quickly too I've found.

Cider tastes like Strongbow right now, and I'm hoping the oak will bring a little extra to it to fill it out. Thinking I may not be able to do the pasteurizing like I wanted because I have PET bottles, not glass, so I may add some lactose as well for a bit of sweetness and creaminess.
 
Updated pics. Still pretty cloudy, but you sure can tell the colour difference.
Light: apple cider
Dark: Brown Sugar Apple Wine

Will rack these off the oak cubes soon.

IMG_20141021_132912.jpg

IMG_20141021_132920.jpg
 
Rayway, I would add about 3-4x the amount of enzymes then what you originally did. That should assist a lot in clearing your wine. The crab apples are tough stuff.
 
Rayway, I would add about 3-4x the amount of enzymes then what you originally did. That should assist a lot in clearing your wine. The crab apples are tough stuff.

Ah! Thanks Dan. I'll give it a shot!

I appear to be having issues in general with my wines clearing this year. I've got a traditional mead, a pumpkin hazelnut mead, and my apricot port which all just refuse to clear.

I've been following the rules with pectic because I read (somewhere) that it gives an off flavour if you use too much.
 
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