Apple wine

[Pistol Bill]

I would like others' opinion on this:
I am new to wine making and did a 2 gallon batch of apple wine from homemade cider (a tree in our yard). Sweetened with combo of sugar, brown sugar and honey.
Hydro reading SG 1.120 (28 brix)
Lalvin EC-1118 yeast.
I also really wanted to go with no chemicals etc. Unfortunately I boiled my cider to kill natural yeast which caused a release of pectin. So I had a cloud issue. I did not use fining agents. When all said and done, I used potassium sorbate then back sweetened with a bit of honey and sugar. After bottling and letting it sit for a month, I opened a bottle to taste about 1 oz. It was better than expected. I refrigerated the rest of the bottle and left on a business trip for a week. When I came back it had cleared completely. I had a beautiful golden elixer... And it was delicious. I then refrigerated all the other bottles, let them clear then rebottled because of all the sediment.
My question are: Is this a legitimate way to clear wine? Would this work for other wines? Was I just lucky? Any other comments would be great too.

What was your finished SG? I started a 6 gallon batch several days ago. Starting SG was 1.082. I am going to add 2lb more sugar when my SG hits 1.040 to get the PA around 14%. By the way, I started a "super charger" with my yeast before pitching. Within 8 hours of pitching, very active fermentation began. Almost cannot contain the expansion. Making a super charger to pitch is now my S.O.P. for all wines. Historically,too many slow fermenters with berry wine. I still have 4 more batches of berry wine to go.

 

[StevenD55]

Clearing could have been from cold stabilization. I put carboys in the garage a lot to clear wine a little better when I can.

 

[Tinwakr]

What was your finished SG? I started a 6 gallon batch several days ago. Starting SG was 1.082. I am going to add 2lb more sugar when my SG hits 1.040 to get the PA around 14%. By the way, I started a "super charger" with my yeast before pitching. Within 8 hours of pitching, very active fermentation began. Almost cannot contain the expansion. Making a super charger to pitch is now my S.O.P. for all wines. Historically,too many slow fermenters with berry wine. I still have 4 more batches of berry wine to go.

My starting SG was 1.080 and I stopped the fermentation early (SG 1.020) to give me an ABV of 7.88%.

I wanted the sweetness without having to back-sweeten. I wanted a drink that didn’t have an overpowering alcohol taste that would take away from the flavours I expected. I certainly do taste the apple and cinnamon!
I bottled tonight and got 9 375ml bottles.

This one is a “cozy up by the fire” drink me tinks.

This tastes great! Next time a 6 gallon batch!

I almost forgot, next time I will let the SG go to 1.010-1.005, a little sweet at 1.020 for me but it is still a nice drink.

 

[Scooter68]

Might want to note that shelf life of a wine at that low an ABV may be closer to beer than wine. Months rather than years.

 

[Tinwakr]

Might want to note that shelf life of a wine at that low an ABV may be closer to beer than wine. Months rather than years.

I only have 9 bottles and I plan on having them gone over the holidays.

What should I shoot for as far as ABV in my next batch so that I can increase shelf life. I thought adding Campden tabs would increase shelf life?

 

[Scooter68]

Basic wine making:
1) 10% or higher ABV,
2) K-meta
3) K-Sorbate (Only if you have residual sugar or back-sweeten)
4) pH at bottling of no higher than 3.5-3.6 (Lower, being more acidic is OK)

2 & 3 are best added a few days before back-sweetening, Then Back-Sweeten, Then wait about 1 week before bottling.

Keep an eye on those remaining bottles until consumed. If you did not add K-Meta (Campden Tablet) and K-Sorbate to it. Fermentation could restart and either pop the corks or bust the bottles. (Bottle bomb is the term) As long as you are consuming before the New Year you shouldn't have too much problem. (Note: Next bottle you open notice if there is a vacuum release sound or a pop of pressure being released. The latter being a warning that the yeast may have started fermenting again.)
That last bit is not to scare you just to give you a heads up. As a child my dad did a batch of home-made root-beer that we never got to enjoy. One or more of the bottles exploded a few days after he bottled it and took out all the other bottles. It was our first and last attempt at that

 

[sour_grapes]

Re-emphasizing what @Scooter68 said. What exactly did you mean when you said you "stopped the fermentation early (SG 1.020) to give me an ABV of 7.88%." Did you add chemicals, did you filter with a sterile filter?

 

[ASR]

My starting SG was 1.080 and I stopped the fermentation early (SG 1.020) to give me an ABV of 7.88%.

I wanted the sweetness without having to back-sweeten. I wanted a drink that didn’t have an overpowering alcohol taste that would take away from the flavours I expected. I certainly do taste the apple and cinnamon!
I bottled tonight and got 9 375ml bottles.

This one is a “cozy up by the fire” drink me tinks.

This tastes great! Next time a 6 gallon batch!

I almost forgot, next time I will let the SG go to 1.010-1.005, a little sweet at 1.020 for me but it is still a nice drink.

At 7.8% ABV it is more like a hard cider than a wine. Did you add a stabilzer to help prevent fermentation restarting? At that low it might have been better to put them into beer bottles (16 ounce) as they are a bit stronger than a wine bottled should fermentation restart.

 

[Tinwakr]

I added meta and sorbate.

 

[sour_grapes]

It is difficult to stop an active fermentation by adding those chemicals. As Scooter says, beware the bottle bombs!

 

[StevenD55]

I added meta and sorbate.

Here is some good info on stopping fermentation.

https://eckraus.com/wine-making-stop-fermentation/

 

[Tinwakr]

Here is some good info on stopping fermentation.

https://eckraus.com/wine-making-stop-fermentation/

Thank you.

 

[Pistol Bill]

My starting SG was 1.080 and I stopped the fermentation early (SG 1.020) to give me an ABV of 7.88%.

I wanted the sweetness without having to back-sweeten. I wanted a drink that didn’t have an overpowering alcohol taste that would take away from the flavours I expected. I certainly do taste the apple and cinnamon!
I bottled tonight and got 9 375ml bottles.

This one is a “cozy up by the fire” drink me tinks.

This tastes great! Next time a 6 gallon batch!

I almost forgot, next time I will let the SG go to 1.010-1.005, a little sweet at 1.020 for me but it is still a nice drink.

Both Huckleberry and apple could be fished this weekend. Looks like my yeast held up great to 15% alcohol. Yes, high alcohol. However, I raised the concentration of juice vs. water. So it is my hopes I'll get an acceptable fruit flavor from both. As mentioned previously; I made a supercharger from K1-V116 yeast that kicked butt. About ready to start in on my berry blend wine. By the way, there is nothing wrong with back sweetening. Let your wine ferment out to 0, if you can. Then sweeten to taste. The flavors will be there. Anybody else to comment?

 

[Pistol Bill]

Both Huckleberry and apple could be fished this weekend. Looks like my yeast held up great to 15% alcohol. Yes, high alcohol. However, I raised the concentration of juice vs. water. So it is my hopes I'll get an acceptable fruit flavor from both. As mentioned previously; I made a supercharger from K1-V116 yeast that kicked butt. About ready to start in on my berry blend wine. By the way, there is nothing wrong with back sweetening. Let your wine ferment out to 0, if you can. Then sweeten to taste. The flavors will be there. Anybody else to comment?

Quick update:
just took another SG. Huckleberry is at 1.014 (started at 1.112) Apple is at 1.002 the sg started at 1.082, I waited until 1.054 then pitched another 2lbs of sugar. Apple should be done in 2 more days (30 sec intervals on airlock). Started Apple 2 weeks after Huckleberry and it looks like it will finish a week earlier. Same yeast. I think the huckleberry is slower due to the 22lbs of berries vs 18lbs last year - too concentrated to allow the yeast to get air and multiply like it should. I am patient and will wait. The huckleberry airlock has been and is still at 13sec intervals

 

[Scooter68]

Quick update:
just took another SG. Huckleberry is at 1.014 (started at 1.112) Apple is at 1.002 the sg started at 1.082, I waited until 1.054 then pitched another 2lbs of sugar. Apple should be done in 2 more days (30 sec intervals on airlock). Started Apple 2 weeks after Huckleberry and it looks like it will finish a week earlier. Same yeast. I think the huckleberry is slower due to the 22lbs of berries vs 18lbs last year - too concentrated to allow the yeast to get air and multiply like it should. I am patient and will wait. The huckleberry airlock has been and is still at 13sec intervals

Might want to start your own thread on those batches instead of hi-jacking someone else's thread.

 

[Pistol Bill]

Might want to start your own thread on those batches instead of hi-jacking someone else's thread.

Will do

 

[Tinwakr]

Latest batch of apple wine. Letting it sit as I have no time to bottle.

 

[winemaker81]

The color looks beautiful! Bet that will look even better in the glass.

 

[Pistol Bill]

Looking great. I just bottled 5 gallons of Apple yesterday. turned and tastes great. Kind of like Chardonnay, little bit of oak and cinnamon. Started out very dry at15.25% abv. Added 2 tubes of apple concentrate at the end. Cleared for a few weeks and success. Firm believer using K1 v1116 yeast. Could not resist, downed 4 bottles yesterday with friends.

 

[Country]

I finished mine much the way you did with the apple concentrate. Bottled half but kegged and force carbonated the rest. The wine is aging as we drink the cider! Yum