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| there are lots of apples around at this time of the year |
Of all the drinks I made, this one caused me the most doubt during the brewing process. The fermenting grated apple looked awful, and I couldn't imagine ever wanting to drink it... I really had to just have faith in the recipe and hope that everything would turn out well in the end. And it did turn out well, it's my favourite (...after the ginger beer)!
SPARKLING APPLE WINE
2 kg apples
1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast
8 litres of water
5 cm piece of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
a hefty pinch of nutmeg
900 g sugar
Grate or blend the apples and place in a large plastic container (I used a homebrew kit) and add the water and yeast. Lightly cover and leave for 5-10 days (I left mine for 10 days).
Strain the wine and add the sugar and spices, stir really well, to dissolve the sugar. Leave for another 5-10 days (I left mine for less than 5 days...) before straining and bottling*.
Leave until the bottles are very hard and have no give (this only took 1 day in my case) before refrigerating.
* as with the other drink recipes, make sure you use plastic bottles with screw top lids with a tight seal. Sterilise the bottles first with sterilising tablets or powder from a brewers supply shop.
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| keep reading to find out how to get those bubbles... |
When I made this recipe, I didn't read closely enough and refrigerated the bottles immediately. This meant the wine was FLAT when I served it to my friends. It was still delicious and sweet, but it has since improved markedly because I let it ferment for a day out of the fridge and become sparkling.
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| can't wait to make more sparkling apple wine! |