Apple Riesling

[tonyhibbett]

As there wasn't enough to make a gallon of pomace wine after pressing the grapes, I supplemented it with the juice of the last of the windfall apples, (5 kilos) plus the sugar, giving a gross total of 8 litres in all. The acidity was low at pH 3.8, so I added 5 g of tartaric acid and 5 of citric acid, the latter supposedly helping to reduce the browning from juicing the apples. Although the pomace alone could never produce anything like the quality of wine I expect from the pure riesling juice, it contains many of its characteristic elements, while the apple is there to supply body, as well as preventing more rotting fruit littering the garden!
I got the idea from a kit actually sold as 'Apple Riesling', as a well as a member who recommended combining white grapes with apples to produce a good wine.
As the pomace liquid was already fermenting, the typical thick layer of sediment after pressing the fruit is rapidly rising to the surface as brown scum, which leaves most of the liquid behind, so less wasteful.
I am not convinced about the citric acid effect, as the brew is getting steadily darker, but a similar brew without citric acid is now a light amber.
Even if the result is a fairly mediocre bland wine, pomace wine is very useful for topping up other superior brews to reduce air space when maturing in bulk, as it has little effect on the flavour. It costs very little to make, just the cost of the sugar, and makes good use of what would otherwise be waste, which can still be added as a valuable ingredient to the compost bin, or a heavy duty mulch.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I am pleased to report that the now familiar 'dark matter' is consolidating itself on the surface and the colour of the liquid is lightening, while the sediment is now minimal. Rock on!
Bit of a squeeze on fermenting capacity, with only 4 empty dj's left. Could this be the time to commit the large remaining apple harvest to the 9 gallon barrel and reduce it to 5 litres of what cannot be discussed here? Probably!

 

[oldjiver]

I have been called "a member" a few times, but it was usually referring to a cruder interpretation :sulk:

 

[tonyhibbett]

Sorry, I'm hopeless with names.
Meanwhile he citric acid appears to have done its job, as all trace of brown has gone. However the gallon of pure riesling has got well and truly stuck at 1040, and since the earlier brew of chardonnay and apple is very sluggish, I threw the whole lot together, which solved both problems. I mostly do 5 gallon batches and never have these problems with them.It threw up some brown scum, resembling a beer brew, which tastes unpleasant and bitter so I skimmed it with a sieve However, this lot is well short of that volume, so I juiced another bucketload of apples, mixed in enough sugar to bring it to 1090, and 5 g of citric acid and added it to the brew. It's still below 20 litres, so another batch of apple juice is required.
This addition resulted in a pH of 3.4, which is good. It also threw up another batch of scum, but this time light brown. It now consists of about 6 litres of grape, mostly riesling, and 11 of apple, the rest being sucrose syrup.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Having skimmed this second flush of scum, I sampled the must. Despite the considerable amount of apple juice in it, there is no apple flavour detectable. This riesling is powerful stuff. No wonder it is regarded as the king of white wine grapes!

 

[tonyhibbett]

I mixed up some bentonite and added it to the brew. This really should have been done at the outset. It reduces foaming, prevents protein hazes and produces a firmer sediment. I also added the yeast nutrient I should have added to the last batch of apple juice. I now have a thin layer of scum free white foam. Regular stirring of the oak chips on the surface has changed the pH from 3.4 to 3.6. The sg is now 1045. The last batch of apple juice has raised the tannin to a detectable level, possibly because some of the apples I picked were not fully ripe, even at this late stage.
I have unearthed an old polypin which is exactly 20 litre capacity, I will use that for storage, as the brew is now 19 litres, and would require little topping up.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Good job I tested the old polypin with water, as the tap joint leaks. Stood on its end, tap uppermost, is ok, so still useful for bulk maturing, with oak chips, and prevents any build up of gas, which will escape through the tap leak. It slightly simulates a wooden cask, which allows a small amount of breathing.
The bentonite does seem to make a smoother fermentation, without slowing it down. The brew also now has a smoother taste and an almost creamy feel, even though the acidity has not changed, although a malolactic fermentation would have the same effect.
I opened a bottle of 2011 apple wine, using a similar proportion of apple and grape, which is very nice indeed, but there is a very faint hint of possible oxidation and slight darkening, so I guess it's time to drink it before it declines.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I have only just realised 2 important facts about acids. Firstly that lactic acid is about a third less 'acidic', that is milder, than malic acid and will also give a significantly higher pH reading on the meter, as well as a lower total acid reading using titration.
Secondly, a fermenting must contains varying amounts of carbonic acid in the carbon dioxide, which is absent in a still, finished wine. I took a pH reading and got 3.3, then stirred the fermenting must to release as much gas as I could. The subsequent reading was 3.6, a significantly different result, although not critical, within this range.
Everything I have read so far suggests that malolactic fermentation takes place, if at all, after yeast fermentation is complete, unless sulphite and sorbate and then more sulphite has been added. Without these additions, I can see no reason why it cannot be taking place during normal fermentation, especially when fresh apples, rhubarb and grapes are involved.

 

[tonyhibbett]

The sg is now down to 1000. I threw in a handful of dried elderflowers to give a bit of aroma. The taste is quite similar to an Alsace riesling, dry and sharp and no hint of apple. As it also contains some chardonnay, I was thinking of calling it Chappling or Chapple Riesling!

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

What about "Chapple Elderling"?

 

[tonyhibbett]

Quite nice, although the elderflower is not detectable. The riesling flavour dominates, which is good news.
I racked it today and was surprised to find very little sediment. I added no stabiliser, but degassed it. The bentonite seems to be doing its stuff as it is now 10% clear in just a few hours. The sg is 094, pH 3.9, TA 6 ppt as tartaric, although the actual tartaric acid content is probably only 20% of the total acid, the rest being possibly all lactic by now, but a few bubbles continue to rise and I doubt this is due to yeast, because the sg has not changed for 3 days.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Left out in the cold, it's now 40% clear, so I tasted a sample from the top and was very pleased to find it very similar to Alsace riesling. It's not crystal clear, so I may polish it with the filter.
Apparently, bentonite also acts as a stabiliser. The final pH is 3.9.

 

[tonyhibbett]

All signs of any kind of fermentation have ceased and the brew is now 50% clear. Bentonite is remarkable stuff, particularly for white wine where fresh fruit ingredients are involved.

 

[tonyhibbett]

The amount of bentonite added, 5 g per gallon, was not enough to a complete fining job, so I used Clear It at medium dose, which rapidly caused lots more yeast to drop out, but there is still a haze, which I doubt filtering will clear. As I used some unripe apples, I tested for starch, which proved negative, as did a test for pectin, while bentonite is supposed to prevent protein hazes. Clear It is supposed to be used within 1 month of opening, and since it's a year old, it may have lost much of it's effectiveness!

 

[tonyhibbett]

Actually the old Clear It still works ok, but differently. It initially clears out the 'heavy' stuff quickly and then goes into a much slower phase to clear most of the remaining haze, leaving the wine clear enough to be presentable, although filtering could give a final polish.

 

[tonyhibbett]

After another cold night, the wine has completely cleared, so no need to filter. I took quite a while to gather together the 22 clear glass screw top bottles required, which I cleaned, filled and sealed with heat shrink capsules as insurance against leakage. The next step is to clear the 'bin' of the 2011 chardonnay vintage from the shed and replace it with this riesling and left to mature. Inevitably, there were a couple of glassfuls left over, which went down nicely with lunch. The acidity is nicely balanced and the flavour is good, although there is a slight earthy taint which may have something to do with the bentonite, which, after all, is refined clay.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I removed the 11 bottles of the 2011 chardonnay vintage from the 'bin' in the shed. Lots of cobwebs and dust. I then laid down the riesling, covered it with a bin liner (no pun intended) and put the chardonnay on top.
I hoped this big bottling effort would significantly reduce the number of empty bottles occupying my living space, waiting to be filled. 25% is a significant reduction, but that still leaves a large number to deal with.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Out of interest, I opened a bottle. Fine riesling it is not, as yet and probably will never be, but certainly a superior apple wine. There is some sediment but no evidence of mlf, which is frankly a relief, but it pays to be vigilant!

 

[tonyhibbett]

Having been opened and put back in the fridge, it's excellent stuff. The best white wine I ever made, probably...