Apple wine

[KarenE]

Hi

I have a ton of apples coming down off the tree, and am never able to give them all away as everyone in our village has their own trees, and we do get fed up with crumbles etc. I use them to make mincemeat for christmas, and will be making apple sauce and maybe apple chutney (which I don't like). Tried cider one year and really not very nice.

So my quesion - they are cooking apples, an old variety and are like Bramley in that they mush down really nicely (but older than bramley). So would they make decent apple wine? And is apple wine any good?

[fabindia]

Don't know anything about Apple wine but what was the problem with your cider, or is it you just don't like cider at all?

[KarenE]

Hi

It was very dry and didn't taste good at all. I don't mind cider. Also the pressing was a pain. Maybe I'll give it another go though, maybe mix different types of apples. I don't think my type of Apple is good for cider.

[p.penn]

Apple wine is good. I sill have a look through my wine books tomorrow and see what they say. Apple cake (mad with cookers) is good too.

Some people in my village have just invested in an apple press and are offering to press apples for a small fee. My neighbour took his cookers and amazingly they made a brilliant apple juice.

[Mo]

My daughters inlaws bought a barrel press, but the apples need to be chopped first - the smaller the better for a good yield - and the chopper in a bucket is useless, the efficient one is as dear as the press (and it doesn't remove any maggots and frass). Chopping by hand really is a pain.
Then you have to store the juice, so that takes up freezer space (unless you add chemicals maybe)

Apple cake sounds good - recipe please.

[Mo]

I put an offer on Freecycle Pick your own.
Three car boots have been filled and you'd never know it. A cider maker, someone who wants then for recovering alcoholics to make juice from (I laughed at the contrast), and just when I thought no-one wanted apples to eat, someone who wanted eaters, and cookers for cakes & crumbles.
If I take them to one dance club they disappear, but at the nearest club no-one wants them though the damsons go well on the charity bring & buy.

[KarenE]

I've got a great recipe for apple cake - I'll post it in another thread, maybe we could compile some good apple cake recipes

I will also google apple wine recipes. With the amount I have, an experimental demijohn won't do any harm

The chopping and pressing was a pain for cider, and the end results weren't work it