crab apple wine

[pusskin]

made my first batch of wine in 21 yrs yesterday.
Made 5 gallon of med white + one gallon of strawberry wine.
All grape concentrated. Can hear it bubbling away now.

tomorrow, I attempt to make crab apple jelly.!!!!!!

any one got any advice on the crab apple jelly please?

p.s. knocked up 1 gall of crab apple wine today

[pusskin]

normally, we throw tons of crab apples away every year. we have massive tree in our front front garden.
so -- here goes , this is a new thing for us .
wish us luck, I think we'll need it ha ha

[glenis]

if i remember correctly , crab apples like all apples don't have enough pectin ( the stuff that makes the jam set ) so you have to combine the apples with other fruit that have lots of pectin ,that's why you see apple and blackcurrant or apple and blackberry but not apple on its own , but there again i'm sure my nan used to make crab apple jelly perhaps you can buy the pectin to make it set

[echokilo]

Thpught they were poisonous!

[ethandron]

pusskin, i've just bought myself 2 books on home wine making and intend to have a go after christmas when i have a bit more time. one question, where are you going to keep it while it's fermenting? i don't have room in the airing cupboard but we have an unheated utility room and an unheated conservatory - do you think they would be warm enough? any other little tips would be welcome too.

[pusskin]

hiya ethandron.

we keep our wine in the front room (lounge)
always nice and warm there, but I must admit , it really smells of a strong odour right now, haha.

must dash ---will get back later. (off to shops)

glennis, thanks so much for your reply too.

[pusskin]

I've been out today and cannot find the one ingredient that I'll need soon, called "pectic enzyne"
Tried several stores etc.

hi ethandron,--- did you put your wine in your living room?

It will ferment and get stronger much quicker in a nice warm room.

[ethandron]

i've not made any yet, just reading up all about it, i've never done it before so know absolutely nothing about it.
i imagine you tried boots for what you need, didn't they used to sell all the wine making stuff? we're fortunate in that we have two home brew shops relatively near to us so i'm going to pay them both a visit in the next few weeks to see what they have.
i'll be really interested to know how yours turns out, hope you let us know. we have a grape vine in the garden which produces loads of grapes so i'm hoping to make some out of them next year. thought i'd better practice with a few other things first though.

[pusskin]

sorry ethandron -- forgot your not making wine till after xmas ! silly me.
I bought my wine in wilkinsons,(cheaper) + yeast etc.
I tried boots for wine, but dont sell that any more.
but ---what I really want to make is ---rice and saltana wine.
it is absolutely scrumptious, and made in a big 5 gallon drum. my sons wine is superb. Must look into that if you really want to experiment.
i will make some over xmas when he is around, at our house, and let him guide me along the way.
There's so many wines, your spoilt for choice
bye for now , will post on ab how it all goes

[pusskin]

hi glenis -- I see what you mean about mixing crab apples with some other fruits. I thought the same as you.!!!!
But in my new wine book, it doesnt mention any other fruit to add to crab apple.
Fingers crossed on this wine, and hope its yummy.

your reply is much appreciated