Crab Apple & Strawberry Wine 2013 - The Making Of ...

November is a month beyond ideal for picking crab apples. I have spent this morning, Sunday 3rd November, getting my hands covered in rotten apple pulp as over-ripe crab apples exploded on contact. I'm not great with slime. Anything that oozes over my fingers must be wiped off immediately. Therefore, picking four pounds of crab apples today took about the same amount of time as picking twelve pounds a fortnight ago. I examined the apples before I picked them, often unsuccessfully, and then again afterwards. Even with this attention to detail I am certain some over-ripe fruit has ended up in my wine.

The raw ingredients

Other than bursting crab apples with a mere touch, it was pleasant half hour or so, picking fruit in the sunshine and bluster, while my pound of strawberries sat in a bowl, defrosting. (This wine takes some forward planning - from about July!)

I did not think the strawberries would stand either washing or hulling - they were not the firmest of specimens - so I just put them into the bucket and mashed them, ignoring the bits of straw I could see. I sliced the crab apples with the food processor and put these in, and then covered the fruit with three pounds of sugar. Over this I have poured six and a half pints of boiling water, and the mixture smells more of strawberries than apples.

I added the yeast (a Chablis) and a teaspoon each of nutrient and pectolase after returning from a bonfire party on Sunday night, and then left it until Thursday evening, when I put the liquid into its demijohn. I now have every demijohn I possess in use, which I think is 27, and must get on with bottling some wine. Anyway, crab apple & strawberry wine is baby-girl pink, though I anticipate the colour will fade.

If you want to see how this wine turned out, including a photo of how it looks in its bottles, click here