Home winemaking has long taken a well-deserved place in the preparation of stocks, along with canning, making jams and pickles. Recipes for all kinds of drinks from a variety of, sometimes unexpected, fruits abound in cookbooks and notebooks with notes from zealous owners. For many, making wine from a hobby develops into an activity for the soul and for life. Apples are not an exotic raw material for preparing a drink; however, homemade apple wine requires a lot of attention, patience, and a careful approach to following all the rules of preparation. But the result is excellent apple wine that will delight the most fastidious connoisseurs of wine drinks.

Paradise Fruit

You can grow an apple tree almost anywhere except the Far North. There are a great many varieties of this fruit. For each region, you can choose the optimal variety of apple trees. Apples help effectively reduce blood cholesterol levels, are low in calories, and are rich in pectin. The high content of pectins has made them one of the favorites for dietary and therapeutic nutrition. It is pectins that tend to bind and remove from the body salts of heavy metals (strontium, cobalt, cesium), various toxins, poisons, apple juice with pulp - an integral ingredient in the diet of people engaged in hazardous production. Due to the presence of malic and citric acid in their composition, they help improve metabolic processes in people suffering from diabetes. Including apples in the menu helps combat gastrointestinal problems (constipation, irregular bowel movements). The high potassium content has a beneficial effect on the conductivity of electrical impulses of the heart muscle and prevents the occurrence of arrhythmia. The ability to have a beneficial effect on digestion is also manifested in the normalization of the removal of excess fluid from the body. This property is especially valuable for people suffering from cardiovascular and kidney diseases, and pregnant women. The rich content of fibers and fruit acids have a beneficial effect on the condition of the gums, teeth, and microflora of the oral cavity by stimulating natural cleansing processes. Even apple seeds are valuable in terms of iodine content, vitamin K, which is necessary for participation in the process of normal blood clotting.

Features of making wine from apples

Not all varieties are suitable for making apple wine.

You should only use pressed live yeast; dry yeast is absolutely not suitable for this purpose. Apple wine may turn out acidic.

Finishing touches

It is important to properly prepare the raw materials for making apple wine. To do this, you need to take only high-quality fruits, not broken, without flaws, since the presence of defects in apples can give apple wine an unpleasant taste and smell. Peel the apples as carefully as possible from the core. It is also important to thoroughly grind the taken raw materials. This can be done using a meat grinder or food processor. If the wine is prepared using juice, it can be obtained using a juicer. A small amount of pulp will even have a beneficial effect on the process of making wine. Fermentation reactions will take place faster and better. Apple wine will taste softer.

Recipe 4d6

Ingredients:

• We take different varieties of apples: 4 parts sour, 6 parts sweet.
• Granulated sugar – ratio to apples 1:4, i.e. for 10 kg of fruit 2.5 kg of sugar.
• Prepared water – amount equal to apple juice.

Preparing wine:

The recipe for such apple wine is simple in composition, but requires scrupulousness and accuracy. The result will be a fairly strong alcoholic drink, slightly opalescent, yellow to light brown in color. The taste and aroma are of ripe, sweet apples.

Recipe with honey

Components:

• Sweet apples, prepared 15 kg.
• Granulated sugar 4 kg.
• Prepared water – 7 liters.
• Honey – 2 kg.

How to make honey-apple wine:

This recipe makes apple wine opaque, with a rich honey taste and aroma. The combination of the taste of apples and honey leaves a unique sensation.

Recipe with yeast

This time we bring to your attention a recipe for apple wine with the addition of yeast.

What to take:

• Apples 15 kg.
• Water 8 liters.
• Granulated sugar 6 kg.
• Yeast - 150 grams.

Step-by-step instruction:

Wine made with yeast will ferment faster, so its taste will be more reminiscent of fresh apples. The aroma is more intense and more pronounced if the wine is prepared according to this recipe.

Recipe with yeast and citrus

Apple-citrus wine. Here it is necessary to make a reservation that adding citrus fruits to wine drinks is rather an acquired taste. But well-made wines with a variety of fruity flavors are undoubtedly some of the most beloved on our table.

What you need:

• Apples 10 kg.
• Water 5 liters.
• Granulated sugar 5 kg.
• Lemons or oranges, you can mix - 1 kg.
• Yeast - 100 grams.

Step-by-step instruction:

It must be said that the combination of apples and sour or sweet and sour citrus fruits is always advantageous.

A wine with such a bouquet of taste, of course, cannot but surprise fans of alcoholic drinks made from apples. Once you try to make apple wine following this recipe, you will keep it in your culinary repertoire forever.

Conclusion

Apples are an inexhaustible storehouse of all kinds of delicious recipes not only for culinary masters, but also for home winemaking enthusiasts. You can diversify homemade apple wine recipes with a huge number of ingredients. It’s rare that apple flavor and aroma don’t go well with anything. When making wine from apples, you can add not only honey and lemons, but also cinnamon, vanilla, raspberries, and pears. The list can be endless. For all their apparent simplicity, apples are a bonanza for those who like to experiment and surprise family and friends with amazing recipes.

Surplus apple harvests are often used for cooking. This is especially practical in areas where not enough grapes grow. Not all varieties of apples can be stored for a long time. Then the recipe for a very healthy drink with a strength of up to 12 degrees will come in handy. Making homemade wine from apples is quite simple - any varieties of fruits that have reached maturity are suitable.

Making homemade wine from apples is not only practical, but also healthy. Popular fruit processed into drink:

• helps with fatigue;
• relieves tension;
• relaxes muscles;
• improves digestion;
• stabilizes the amount of sugar in the blood;
• normalizes blood pressure;
• used for cosmetic procedures, improving the condition of hair and skin;
• favorable for the hormonal background of women;
• burns fat, improves metabolism;
• has an anti-carcinogenic effect on the body.

This is interesting! During the wine making process, fruits retain their beneficial properties, vitamins A, B, C, minerals and trace elements.

Moderate consumption of the drink is very beneficial for health.

Types of apple wine

According to your preferences, you can make wine from apples in the following varieties:

• low alcohol cider;
• dining room;
• dry (low sugar content);
• semi-sweet;
• sweet;
• fortified (with the addition of alcohol or strong alcohol).

Original recipes are obtained with the addition of spices, berries, and fruits.

How to make apple wine?

When preparing apple wine at home, you can mix varieties. The end result is an amber-colored drink with a significant shelf life (up to 3 years) under the following conditions:

• cool temperatures;
• lack of light;
• tightness.

Apple wine at home is prepared from the following ingredients. Compound:

• 20 kg apples;
• from 150 to 400 g of sugar per liter.

How to make apple wine? The fruit is turned into juice, which is then undiluted for better quality.

Stages

Homemade apple wine is prepared according to the following steps:

1. Using fruits from the garden, they do not wash to preserve natural yeast on the peel. Remove damaged areas and remove the core.

2. Get juice juicer or grate the fruits and then squeeze them out.

3. Juice or liquid with pulp keep for 3 days c, covering the top with gauze. The contents will be divided into pulp (remnants of pulp) located on the surface and juice. In the first two days you need all this mix for the penetration of yeast into the future drink. On the third day, the pulp is removed from the surface, leaving only the juice.

4. Add sugar to the fermented contents, the less, the sweeter the fruits used. At first it is a small portion (up to 150 grams/l). When the sugar content is more than 20%, it worsens until it stops. Therefore, granulated sugar is added in parts. The quantity depends on the type of final product:

• dry wine requires from 150 to 200 grams per liter;
• sweet and dessert - from 300 to 400 grams/l.

The second portion of sugar (up to 100 grams) is added after 5 days, for which the installed water seal is removed from the container. Part of the liquid is poured (2 times less than the portion of sugar), mixed with sand, poured back, and set again. After 5 days, you can add up to 80 grams/l.

5. Further preparation of apple wine - fermentation in a hermetically sealed container. Contact of wort with air produces vinegar, but not wine. A water seal with a carbon dioxide removal tube placed in the glass will help prevent this.

Or a rubber glove with a puncture is put on the throat. The container should be 4/5 filled with wort to leave room for gas and foam, and kept in the dark at a temperature of about 22 degrees C (18 to 25). The process lasts from 1 to 2 months and ends with the absence of bubbles in the glass. In this case, sediment appears at the bottom.

Important! When fermenting for more than 55 days, you need to pour the wine, separate it from the sediment and leave it again under a water seal, otherwise the taste will become bitter.

6. Maturation or aging will improve the quality of the drink. The wine must be poured through the water seal tube into a clean glass container without sediment. You can once again add sugar or alcohol 40%, vodka in a ratio of 2 to 15% of the total volume. Fortified wine stores better, although it changes the taste. The container should be filled to the very top and sealed tightly. If sugar is added, it is preferable to keep the wine for another 7 days under a water seal for re-fermentation.

7. Wine storage produced from 2 months to 120 days in a dark place at 6 - 16 degrees C. At first, every 15 days you need to pour the drink into another container, getting rid of sediment. Then filtration is required less and less. When sediment stops appearing, the wine is considered ready; it is bottled, sealed tightly.

These are the basic steps of the instructions: how to make wine from apple juice - a simple recipe.

Original recipes at home

Based on the described method, you can make other apple wines, including additives. These are spices, citrus, raisins, alcohol, everything that makes the product unique. A recipe for apple wine can differ in strength, aroma and flavor bouquet. Additives and varying amounts of sugar make the recipe original.

Juice wine with raisins

Homemade apple juice wine is made from fresh garden fruits, just squeezed in a juicer. For better fermentation without yeast, add raisin. Components needed:

• 5 liters of juice;
• 1 kg sugar;
• 100 grams of raisins;
• water for fermenting raisins.

First we make the starter by chopping the raisins and pouring warm water over them. After 3 days of fermentation, squeeze the juice out of the apples, mix it with sugar, add raisin starter. We keep the wort for 5 days, then the mixture ferments under the seal for another 2 weeks. Next, drain the drink from the sediment and distribute it into bottles, letting the wine ripen in a cool place.

With spices

Homemade apple wine turns out delicious if you add aromatic spices to it. Ingredients to try:

• 2 kg apples;
• 0.5 kg sugar;
• 2 liters of water;
• a pinch of ground cinnamon;
• a little vanilla (or a pinch of vanillin).

Prepare according to the following steps:

1. Cut the fruit into pieces, add water in a saucepan and add vanilla and cinnamon.
2. After softening the fruits, rub them through a sieve.
3. Place the puree in a fermentation bottle.
4. At the end of the process, we free the liquid from sediment.
5. When fermentation is completely over, add sugar, removing the sediment again.
6. Store in a cool, dark place. Orange juice or lemon zest can be successfully added to this wine.

Cinnamon Recipe

Making spiced apple wine uses cinnamon, a popular additive loved by many. Required:

• 4 kg apple slices;
• 4 liters of water;
• 40 grams of ground cinnamon;
• 1 kg sugar.

The raw materials need to be boiled with cinnamon and water in a basin over medium heat. After softening the slices, rub them through a sieve and keep them in an enamel pan for 3 days at a temperature of about 22 degrees, covered with a cloth. Further actions are as follows:

1. After the pulp has risen, stir it once every 12 hours.
2. After 3 days, the pulp is removed, except for a thin layer. Sugar is added to the wort and everything is poured into a glass fermentation container, covered with a seal.
3. The wine ferments for 7 days. The container is rotated to mix, and then the seal is replaced with a lid and left for another week.
4. The liquid is drained from the sediment and placed in bottles.

Now you can store the drink, it is ready to drink.

Cider

Making low-alcohol wine from apples, called cider, is simple.

Light drink requires ingredients:

• 6 kg apples;
• water - 2 times more (12 liters);
• 3.5 kg of sugar.

The cooking recipe is as follows:

1. Chop and place fruit in a pan, place a press on top (lid with a stone).
2. Prepare syrup from 1/2 sugar and 1/2 water and pour over apples. Keep the container cool for 40 days.
3. Pour the liquid into another bowl, cook and add the remaining syrup, keep the same amount.
4. We store the cider for 6 months in the dark, then remove the sediment and put it in the refrigerator for 1 month.

The strength will not exceed 7 degrees.

Fortified

Making fortified homemade wine from apples requires:

• 3 kg of sweet and 3 kg of sour apples;
• 2 kg sugar;
• up to 7 liters of water;
• 1 liter .

1. Squeeze the juice from the apples and place it in a large container.
2. Cook the syrup from water and sugar for 1 hour, cool to 35 degrees, add it to the juice.
3. Close the container tightly and keep it cool for 8 days.
4. Add vodka and keep it cool for 3 months.
5. Remove sediment and bottle for storage.

From dried apples

Wine made from dried apples at home uses aromatic raw materials that enrich the taste of the drink. Compound:

• 2 kg of dried raw materials;
• 5 kg sugar;
• 15 liters of water;
• 30 grams of yeast.

The preparation steps are as follows:

1. Rinse the dried fruit, put it in a saucepan and add warm water, leaving for 3 hours.
2. After draining the water, grind the raw materials in a meat grinder or blender.
3. Add sugar, hot water.
4. Let cool to 22 degrees C and add pre-diluted yeast.
5. Place a water seal on the container and leave it in a warm place to ferment for 2 weeks.
6. Drain off the sediment and pour, sealing.

After 3 days you can try. The wine is ready.

Making wine from apples following the recipe is not that difficult. At the same time, its safe preservation includes a cool temperature regime, a horizontal arrangement of sealed bottles, which are not exposed to sunlight. Vibrations also need to be eliminated.

Important! Under such conditions, the taste of the drink may even improve.

Apple wine is not only tasty, but also healthy

Not every gardener still knows how to make homemade wine from apples from their own harvest. This information is especially useful for beginners. There are several winemaking secrets that make the original product more tasty and aromatic. You should definitely familiarize yourself with them so as not to make major mistakes.

Do not wash fruits before sending them for processing. The fact is that the skin contains a lot of beneficial bacteria (yeast) that promote natural fermentation. Under no circumstances should they be washed off. If the apples are too dirty, wipe them with a dry, clean cloth. Before preparing wine, rotten parts of the fruit are cut off and the center is removed.

Homemade apple juice wine is prepared in several stages:

• preparation of future wort;
• fermentation process;
• bringing to the conditioning stage;
• excerpt.

Even a beginner can make homemade cider

But the utensils for preparing apple wine, on the contrary, are thoroughly washed and dried. If possible, sterilize the container. If third-party impurities are absent from the initial wort, the final product will be more tasty and with a bright aroma. During the fermentation process, the container is closed with a water seal or a medical glove is tightly put on, after first piercing one finger with a needle. This will prevent the wine from turning into vinegar and will serve as a kind of indicator of how fermentation is proceeding.

Review of homemade apple wine

The room in which the procedure for preparing homemade wine will take place must be protected from direct sunlight. The air temperature is maintained at +18…+24°C. It would be ideal to place the containers in the kitchen or pantry.

Step-by-step recipe for making homemade dry wine from apples

Before covering the preparation technology, it will be useful to know the name of apple wine. You've probably already heard about the concept of "cider". The preparation procedure is simple. Having mastered the theoretical material, even a beginner can experiment with preparing different types of product. The technology is no different from the classical one. The only thing is that dry wine should contain less sugar. For 1 liter of juice only 100-150 g of sugar is taken. The dose cannot be reduced, because in this case the fermentation process will not proceed.

Surplus harvest can be easily processed into delicious wine

If a bountiful harvest has ripened in the garden and it is not possible to process it in full, then it is advisable to make homemade wine from apples. We will give you a simple recipe now. The apples are pre-prepared, but not washed. If the fruits are dirty, you can wipe them with a dry, clean cloth.

Review of making homemade apple wine

More details at: http://forum.chzda.ru/forum22/topic191.html

To ensure that the final product is without bitterness, the seeds are immediately removed from the fruit. The prepared apples are passed through a meat grinder (grated, squeezed through a juicer). Ideally it should be puree. It is transferred to a suitable jar and covered with a cloth to prevent insects from getting in. The drink is kept in this state for 3 days. During this time, the pulp will separate from the juice and float to the top. Every day the juice is mixed with a wooden spoon, and on the fourth day the pulp is carefully collected.

Wine retains all the beneficial substances from fresh fruits

Sugar is added to the drink as needed. The first portion is poured immediately after removing the pulp, and then 2 more times every 5 days. For the process to proceed correctly, the wine is poured into an airtight container with a water seal. You can use a medical glove by making a hole in one of the fingers with a needle.

The temperature in the room where fermentation occurs must be maintained at +22...+25°C. The procedure lasts from 1 to 3 months. When the wine is finished, sediment will appear at the bottom. After this, the finished product is carefully poured into a clean container and sent for ripening in a cool, dark room. The container must be hermetically sealed. If sediment appears again, the liquid is poured again into a clean container. The wine is considered fully prepared only when no sediment is visible at the bottom for 2 weeks. The maximum shelf life of dry apple wine is 3 years.

Making semi-sweet apple wine at home

What sorts of apple wine have they gotten the hang of making? People came up with a name for it a long time ago, but the recipes continue to be improved even now. A very popular semi-sweet drink made from natural selected fruits at home. To make it, you will need to take about 300 g of sugar per 1 liter of juice. This is prepared as follows.

Semi-sweet apple wine is ideal for home feasts

The apples are carefully wiped, spoiled or rotten areas are cut out, and the seed pods are removed. The fruits are twisted through a meat grinder or ground on a grater, passed through a juicer. The resulting puree is poured into a container of the required volume and covered with a thick cloth. After a couple of days, pulp floats to the surface, which needs to be stirred regularly (several times a day). After 5 days, the pulp is collected.

Feedback from a novice winemaker on making apple wine

More details at: http://forum.chzda.ru/forum22/topic191.html

The total amount of sugar is divided into 9 equal portions. Every 5 days, another portion of sugar is added to the wort. Fermentation should take place in an airtight container, on top of which a water seal is installed, or a medical rubber glove is worn. You should make a small hole in it with a needle. The drink ferments for 45 days at a temperature of +20°C. After this period, the cider is carefully poured into a clean container and sent to a cool, dark room for six months to age. To ensure that there is no sediment in the finished product, it is poured into a clean container 2 times a month, leaving the grounds at the bottom.

A bottle of homemade cider will decorate the festive table

A simple recipe for making homemade fortified wine from apples

How to make apple wine at home so that it has increased strength? Yes, very simple. Only for this you will need to add alcohol-containing drinks (for example, vodka) to the final product. As a result, the cider should have a strength of 12-16°. The cooking technology is as follows:

1. Apples are wiped from dirt and dust, cut into pieces, and the core is removed.
2. Grind the fruits in a meat grinder.
3. Sugar and raisins are mixed with the resulting puree.
4. This mixture is poured into an airtight container and sealed with a water seal.
5. The container is left in a warm room for 21 days (until the fermentation process is completed).
6. After the characteristic sediment appears, the liquid is carefully poured into a clean container and a glass of sugar is added, mixing thoroughly.
7. The drink is again left under the water seal for another couple of weeks.
8. Again, separate the cider from the sediment and pour in vodka (at the rate of 200 g per 10 liters of liquid).
9. Mix the wine thoroughly, seal it tightly and send it to a cool room for 3 weeks.

Drinking wine in moderation is beneficial for the body.

The drink is completely ready to drink.

How to make wine at home from apple preparations - manufacturing nuances

You can make delicious homemade apple wine not only from freshly harvested apples. The video gives a hint that cider can also be made from derivative products, for example, jam, juice, wine and even compote. Of course, the taste characteristics will differ, but the quality of the original product remains at a high level. We invite you to familiarize yourself with some of the nuances of preparing apple wine from derivative products.

How to make homemade wine from apple juice

The juice makes excellent cider. This will require 6 kg of apples, 2 times more water and about 3.5 kg of sugar. The cooking technology is as follows:

1. Place the apples cut into pieces into a pan and press down with a heavy press.
2. Half of the sugar and water are used to cook the syrup, which is poured over the apples.
3. The container is placed in a cool room for 40 days.
4. After the specified period, the liquid is poured into a clean container, and a portion of syrup is again added to the remaining apples and left for the same period.
5. After 40 days, the liquid is drained again and mixed with the first portion, and then sent to a dark and cool room for six months.
6. After the specified time, the drink is drained from the sediment and sent to the refrigerator for a month.

Cider has not only excellent taste, but also a rich history

Homemade wine is ready, its strength will not exceed 7°.

How to make wine from apple compote at home

It often happens that compote preparations spoil or are stored for longer than two years. It is clear that you can no longer drink this drink, but wine made from apples (its name is cider) can turn out excellent. You will need to take a handful of raisins and about 300 g of sugar for 3 liters of compote. The preparation procedure is simple and looks like this:

1. Pour compote into a clean bowl, add sugar and raisins, mix thoroughly.
2. A water seal or medical glove is placed over the neck.
3. The container is sent to a dark room for fermentation for 2 weeks.
4. After 2 weeks, the pulp is carefully removed and the liquid is filtered through gauze.
5. The drink is poured into a clean container, covered with a lid and sent to a dark room for 2 months.

Properly prepared cider looks very beautiful in a glass.

You should regularly check for sediment in your wine. When it is detected, the liquid is drained and the grounds are left at the bottom. Such manipulations are carried out until the formation of sediment is noticed within 2 weeks. The wine will be clear and soft in taste.

Recipe for making wine from dried apples at home

How to make homemade wine from apples? It’s as simple as shelling pears, even if these same apples are not freshly picked, but dry. You will need to take 1 kg of dried bread, 3 kg of sugar and 8 liters of water, yeast. The dryings are crushed to a pulp using a blender or meat grinder. Thus, the fruit will release more nutrients into the drink.

Add sugar (half the prepared quantity) to the resulting slurry and pour boiling water over it. Nothing else is added until the vessel has completely cooled. Next, the liquid is filtered and the cloudy sediment is removed. The second half of the sugar is dissolved in warm water and mixed with the yeast until it is completely dissolved. This mass is poured into a vessel with apple juice and closed with a water seal (wear a medical glove). You must not allow air to get into the container, otherwise you will end up with sour vinegar instead of tasty wine.

To prepare a homemade drink, not only fresh but also dried fruits are used.

In principle, such a product is ready for use immediately after fermentation is complete. Only its taste qualities will not be fully revealed. To achieve maximum effect, the drink is kept in a cool room for several months.

How to make wine from apple jam at home

What is not used to make apple wine at home? A simple recipe for making it from jam (for example, old and unused). You will need to take jam and water in equal proportions, as well as seedless raisins (based on 100 g of raisins per 1 liter of jam). The drink is prepared as follows.

The jar is sterilized, and the boiled water is cooled. If the jam is unsweetened, then additionally prepare sugar syrup (a mixture of water and sugar in a 1:2 ratio). The jam and syrup are placed in a prepared container, and raisins are added there, which will act as yeast here. The vessel is covered and sent to a warm room for 10 days.

You can make great wine from old jam

When the pulp appears on the surface, it is carefully collected. At this point, another clean vessel is prepared. The liquid is filtered and poured into a clean jar. A water seal or medical glove is put on top. The product will ferment for about 40 days. The completion of the process will be indicated by a deflated glove or the absence of air bubbles in the water seal.

The wine is decanted, bottled and sent to a dark, cool room for a couple of months. After the specified period, the drink is poured into a clean container, leaving sediment at the bottom, and sent for storage. The strength of the original product is about 13°.

Beautiful photos with glasses of homemade apple wine entice gardeners to prepare this amazing drink. However, after this, the question arises of how to properly preserve it so as not to lose its marketability and taste. There are certain tricks and features here.

Apple wine has a relatively short shelf life

As a general rule, wines are stored in special cellars. This room should not only be dry, but also protected from mold and any rot. Otherwise, not only the taste of the wine will suffer, but also its aroma (even if the bottle is tightly closed). It is recommended to maintain a constant temperature of +8°C throughout the year.

The container must be tightly sealed. When exposed to air, wine oxidizes and its taste is greatly reduced. In order for the product to be stored better, it should be pasteurized first. The protruding piece of cork is cut off, and the neck of the bottle is filled with paraffin, wax or sealing wax.

It is recommended to store wine bottles horizontally. This is done so that the inner edge of the cork is constantly wetted. In this case, the closure will maintain its density; air will in no way get into the bottle. If you plan to store the drink for a very long time for the purpose of aging, then the bottles should be buried in the ground in the basement to make it easier to maintain the required temperature regime and avoid temperature changes.

A homemade drink is ideal for welcoming guests

The taste of wine is influenced not only by the preparation technology and storage method, but also by the variety of apples from which it is made. To achieve a good result, you can mix several varieties, which together form a successful bouquet. In conclusion, it is worth saying that homemade apple wine retains all the beneficial substances and vitamins contained in fresh fruit. That is why in moderation this drink is very useful if there are no medical contraindications.

Apple wine is one of the cheapest at cost, but a well-chosen composition allows you to get a very good bouquet. You can make any wine from apples at home: from table wine to dessert and liqueur. Light sparkling apple wine called cider is also popular. All alcoholic drinks made from apple fruits are well clarified, have a golden color, and have a pleasant aroma, pronounced, but at the same time unobtrusive. The more successfully the composition is selected and the more accurately the preparation technology is followed, the more pleasant the organoleptic qualities of the drink.

Features of the technology

Producing apple wines at home has its own subtleties. If they are not taken into account, the finished drink is unlikely to meet the expectations of a novice winemaker.

• The main thing on which the result will depend is the raw material. Apples vary in degree of ripeness, ripening time, as well as the sugar content and acidity of the fruit. It must be borne in mind that carrion, that is, unripe fruits that have fallen to the ground, is suitable for the production of dry wines, but not for dessert ones. Wines made from overripe and summer apples do not last long. Autumn and winter varieties are best suited for winemaking. Sour but unsweetened apples (wild) are suitable for table wines, sweet apples with low acidity but high sugar content are ideal for making dessert ones, the most versatile are sweet and sour apples belonging to the so-called “kitchen” or “household” varieties. The bouquet will be as good as possible if you take 2–3 parts of sweet and tart apples and 1–2 parts of sour apples, respectively. Combinations are also popular: one part each of sweet, tart apples and two parts sour, sweet and tart in a ratio of 1: 3 or 2: 1. All this must be taken into account when selecting fruits for wine, then the result will be as predictable as possible.
• Unwashed apples are used for wine. You can wipe them with a napkin or brush off the dirt, but you can’t put them in water. This is done in order to preserve the living bacteria present on the surface of the apples: without their participation, it will be impossible to process sugar into alcohols during the fermentation process.
• You need to choose good apples, without rot, not wormy. All damaged areas during preparation of the fruit for extracting juice from them must be cut off with a knife. The core also needs to be removed.
• To extract the maximum amount of juice from raw materials, it is best to use a juicer. If you don’t have one at home, you will have to mince the apples or grate them by hand.
• Before separating the juice from the pulp, it is infused for three days. All this time, every 8–12 hours, the pulp is “drowned” in juice so that the yeast spreads evenly and souring does not occur.
• To make it easier to press the pulp, place the apple juice in a cold place 6 hours before, although this is not necessary. Squeeze the juice through cheesecloth with your hands or using a press. If there is a lot of pulp, you can simply remove the top layer before pressing with a wooden spoon.
• Sugar and other ingredients other than alcohol are added before the juice is placed in the fermentation vessel. Sugar should ideally be introduced in parts: half at once, a quarter on the fourth day, a quarter a week later. This is especially important in cases where sweet fruits serve as raw materials: excess sugar can stop fermentation, since there is not enough natural yeast for it.
• Apple wine, like other fruit and berry wines, should be fermented in a container with a lid that does not allow air to enter the wort, but allows the gas formed during fermentation to escape. Usually this is a homemade or purchased water seal, but many people use a rubber glove by piercing the finger with a needle.
• After fermentation is complete, the wine should be poured into a clean container to settle. At this stage, you can add alcohol and even sugar if you find the wine not sweet enough. A water seal is placed for a week, after which the container with wine is tightly sealed. When it becomes clear, it is time to drain it from the sediment and bottle it for further storage.

If all conditions are met, wine can be produced by novice winemakers. According to experienced winemakers, dessert and fortified apple wines are especially difficult to spoil.

Classic apple wine recipe

• commercial apples – 10 kg;
• water – 2 l;
• sugar – 1.6 kg.

Cooking method:

• Sort through the apples, remove rotten areas, grind thoroughly through a meat grinder or grate. If possible, use a juicer.
• Place the juice or puree in a container in a pan or bucket, securing gauze or thin cloth on top, for 3 days. During these days, stir the contents every 8–12 hours.
• Remove the pulp, leaving a layer of about 0.3–0.5 cm.
• Add water, add 0.8 kg of sugar, pour into a fermentation container with a water seal.
• After 4 days, open the water seal and drain 0.2 liters of wort through a straw, dilute 0.4 kg of sugar in it and drain it back, return the water seal to its place.
• After another 3-4 days, repeat the procedure.
• The optimal temperature for fermenting apple wort is 20–22 degrees, it may vary slightly, but should not be lower than 18 degrees or higher than 24 degrees. You will know the end of fermentation by the water seal: it will stop making gurgling sounds. If you use a glove instead, it will deflate and fall. There are times when this does not happen for a very long time. If after 50 days you have not yet waited for the end of fermentation, you will have to drain the wort from the sediment and pour it into another container with a water seal - the fermentation process will soon be completed.
• Pour the wine into a clean container, close it tightly and let it sit. Every two weeks, drain the wine from the sediment. When the wine becomes almost completely transparent, all that remains is to pour it off the sediment for the last time and fill the bottles with it.

This recipe produces table wine. Its strength is 10–12 degrees. The shelf life of wine will depend on the type of apple. Wine made from sweet and sour autumn varieties lasts the longest.

Apple cider

• apples of sour and sweet and sour varieties – 8 kg;
• water – 12 l;
• sugar – 3.2 kg.

Cooking method:

• Sort through the apples and cut into slices, striking the core. It is enough to cut small fruits into 4 parts, larger ones into 6–8 parts. For convenience, you can use an apple slicer.
• Place the apple slices in a linen bag or simply wrap them in a cloth that is not too thick. Place the bag on the bottom of a large pan, tank, barrel. Place a lid of a slightly smaller diameter on top or, even better, a lattice wooden disk, and any weight on it (for example, a 10-liter flask filled with water).
• Boil syrup from 1.6 kg of sugar and 6 liters of water and, after cooling it to room temperature, pour it into a container with apples on top of them.
• The container should be in a cool room, at a temperature of 18–20 degrees.
• After 5 weeks, pour the liquid from the container through a straw into a clean container. Pour the apples with exactly the same syrup as last time, in the same quantity.
• After 5 weeks, drain the second portion of cider, mix with the first and leave for six months in the same cool room.
• Drain off the sediment, pour into bottles, seal them well and keep in the cold for another month. After this, the cider is considered ready.

Apple cider is a very light drink (5–7 degrees) and pleasant in taste, a bit like lemonade.

Fortified apple wine

• sweet and sour apples – 6 kg;
• raisins – 200 g;
• vodka – 150 ml;
• granulated sugar – 2.2 kg.

Cooking method:

• Sort and chop the apples until puree.
• Steam and cut the raisins.
• Mix applesauce with 2 kg of sugar and raisins, pour the mixture through a funnel into a bottle with a narrow neck, and attach a rubber glove with a pierced finger or a water seal to it.
• After three weeks, carefully strain the wort. Add 0.2 kg of granulated sugar, place in another bottle, this time closing it tightly.
• After 10 days, pour in vodka, shake and bottle.

The resulting wine is a little stronger than table wine – 13–14 degrees.

Spiced apple wine

• “kitchen” apples – 2 kg;
• water – 2 l;
• sugar – 0.5 kg;
• ground cinnamon – 20 g.

Cooking method:

• Sort through and cut the apples into small slices and place in an enamel bowl. Add cinnamon and water and cook over low heat until the fruit is completely soft.
• Rub the apple mixture through a sieve and place in a fermentation container.
• After fermentation is complete, strain the liquid again and mix with sugar.
• Place in a fermentation bottle. In the first week, it is better to close it with a water seal, then replace it with a tight lid. So the wine should stand for two to 2 weeks. From time to time the bottle needs to be tilted and rotated to mix the contents.
• After the specified period, drain the wine from the sediment, strain and bottle.

The result is a delicate wine with a sweet-sour taste and a pleasant warm aroma with cinnamon notes.

Apple dessert wine

• sweet apples – 10.8 kg;
• pears – 1.2 kg;
• raisins – 0.2 kg;
• sugar – 1 kg.

Cooking method:

• Extract juice from apples and pears.
• Steam the raisins, cut each raisin in half, mix with fruit juice.
• Leave to start fermentation in a container with a wide neck (it needs to be tied with gauze). Stir 3-4 times a day.
• Strain, add 0.5 kg of sugar, place in a fermentation bottle, install a water seal.
• After 4 days, add another 0.3 kg of sugar, mixing it with the wort poured through a straw.
• After another 3 days, add the remaining sugar and wait for the end of fermentation.
• Drain off the sediment, strain, place in a clean bottle, sealing it well.
• When the wine has cleared, pour it off the sediment again, filter and bottle.

This dessert wine with a strength of about 15-16 degrees will surely appeal to the ladies. If you store it for more than a year, it will acquire a taste somewhat reminiscent of port wine.

You can make table and dessert wine, as well as cider from apples at home. The strength, taste and aroma of the drink depend on the chosen recipe and raw materials. If you do not violate the preparation technology, even a novice winemaker will produce good wine.

This fall in our village, all the corridors and storerooms were filled with apples. The smell was amazing! Antonovka is one of the most aromatic varieties. You can’t put much into storage; it’s impossible to recycle everything. So, after a short argument with me, my husband decided to take up winemaking again.

We argued about the feasibility of this rather labor-intensive process - we have had wine since last year. But since it’s a pity to throw away apples, the husband won.

For about a month and a half, a steady gurgling sound was heard in our warm corner - the wine was flowing well. And since this is the case, I decided to tell Alimero’s readers about how to make this delicious low-alcohol drink, which is also called cider. This is not entirely correct, since cider is a carbonated drink, and making it at home is problematic. But their composition is the same - apple juice.

I once tried to make my own apple wine. A friend provided me with a bunch of apples and the corresponding recipe. I got busy. Squeezed 3 liters of juice manually, since I didn’t have a juicer then, I added the required amount of sugar to the jar and started stirring. For this I took a stainless steel spoon. Girls, don't repeat my mistake! One gentle blow to the side of the jar - and apple juice began to gush out in my kitchen. I poured out the rest, threw away the jar, and cleaned up for half an hour. This is where my experiments with making cider ended. Now I'm just my husband's help.

To make apple wine you will need

Apples, or rather, freshly squeezed apple juice

The quantity can be completely different, but the final proportions are as follows:

For 1 liter of apple juice, 280 grams of granulated sugar and 100 milliliters of water. Just don’t rush to mix everything - let’s talk about everything in order.

Cooking time

The wine is prepared in several stages.

From the moment the juice is squeezed until the sweet amber drink appears on the table, it takes from 2.5 to 6 months (depending on how long you age the wine).

Complexity

If you have a juicer, it’s not difficult, but you’ll have to tinker.

Progress

We pass the apples through a juicer, pour the resulting juice along with the remaining pulp into one container and leave in a warm place to ferment for 3 days.

During this time, stir the wort several times.

After 3 days, strain the juice from the pulp and measure the amount of pure juice. Add 100 g of water for each liter of juice.

Pour into bottles or jars, leaving room for fermentation and counting on adding sugar.

Add sugar at the rate of 1 liter of pure juice (we do not take into account water) in 4 doses:

1 day - 100 g.

Day 4 - 30 g.

Day 7 - 30 g.

We close the bottles with corks (this is done on the first day), insert a PVC hose (you can buy it by the meter) so that the carbon dioxide formed during the fermentation process escapes. If your wine ferments in jars, you will have to ruin the nylon lid: punch a hole in it, insert a hose and cover it around, for example, with plasticine.

To prevent oxidation of the juice, which could result in vinegar instead of wine, we make a water seal: gas will escape, but oxygen will not enter.

In a month and a half, fermentation will end, that is:

gurgling stops;

the juice becomes slightly clearer;

pulp particles stop moving;

Carefully drain the fermented juice from the sediment using the same PVC hose. Discard the sediment.

We pour it into bottles or jars (now there is no need to leave room for fermentation), close with corks or lids. We leave the wine material for another month, preferably in a cool place. During this time, it will become transparent and acquire an amber color.

After this, we drain it again from the sediment - bottle it, add sugar to each liter of wine material:

100-160 g for dessert wine,
- 200 g to obtain liqueur.

Homemade apple wine is ready. Unfortunately, we don't have a wine meter to measure the strength of the drink, but of course it's not strong. If you want the wine to acquire a fuller and more harmonious taste, cork it and put it away for 2-4 months to age.

This type of wine is well stored in a cool place and does not turn sour or mold. So in the apple year you can make this healthy (if you follow the moderation) drink for the whole year.

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