Method:
1 - Core and grate the apples
2 - Put the blackberries in your fermenting bucket and smash with a potato masher
3 - Put the grated apples in with the blackberries
4 - Pour on 6 pints of boiling water
5 - Add the sugar and stir until dissolved
6 - Put the lid on and leave to cool to 24°C.
7 - Take a sample and a reading with your hydrometer and keep this safe
8 - Add the pectolase & malic acid and stir.
9 - Then sprinkle on the yeast and stir it in.
10 - Loosely put the lid on and put it into a warm cupboard (24°C) for 5-7 days.
11 - Check the fermentation is complete using a hydrometer. The reading should be around 0.996. If it's a little higher than this, pop the lid back on the fermenter and leave for another day or 2 to finish fermenting.
12 - Pour the wine through a straining bag into a sterilised bucket to catch all the apple and blackberry pulp.
13 - Squeeze the straining bag to extract as much of the wine trapped in the pulp as possible.
14 - Add the fermentation stopper (as per the instructions on the packet) and 1 crushed campden tablet.
15 - As we are going to use finings, we need to degas the wine of any dissolved CO2. You can stir it, or use a degasser. You will notice lots of bubbles and gas being released. This is trapped CO2. This needs to be removed to aid the clearing process. Stir the wine around 3 more times, Stirring for 30 seconds and then leaving to settle for 5 minutes in between stirrings.
16 - Now add the finings and stir
17 - Syphon the wine into a demijohn and put the airlock in and put somewhere cool for 48 hours to fully clear.
17 - Once clear, syphon the wine back into your clean sterilised fermenting bucket being careful not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the demijohn.
18 - Take 200ml of the wine and put into a milk saucepan and put on the hob
19 - Turn on the heat and pour in the lactose.
20 - Stir to dissolve, it will turn milky, but keep heating and stirring and suddenly it will turn clear.
21 - As soon as it turns clear, turn off the heat and add in another 200ml of wine and stir.
22 - Pour the saucepan wine and lactose mixture back into the wine in your bucket and stir to mix it all together.
23 - Add the Vanilla extract and stir.
24 - Bottle straight away and seal, then ideally leave for 3 months for its full flavour potential to be reached.
You can also watch us make it in our Video on How To Make Blackberry and Apple Crumble Wine on our Youtube Channel.I hope you like this wine. Something a little different and indulgent.
Cheers and Happy Brewing.
I hope you like this wine. Something a little different and indulgent.
Cheers and Happy Brewing.