Apple Wine is a traditional British recipe, based on Robert Kemp Philp's recipe of 1859, for a classic country-style wine made from apples, honey and rum with wine yeast. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Apple Wine.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Apple Wine that's derived from Robert Kemp Philp's 1859 volume, The Dictionary of Daily Wants. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
Braise two bushels of apples, and put them in a gallon and a half of cold water; add seven pounds of honey, three pints of rum, one ounce of white tartar, and a nutmeg grated; boil it as long as any scum arises, then strain it through a sieve, and let it cool; add some good yeast, and stir it well; let it work in the tub for two or three weeks, then skim off the head, draw the liquor clear off, and tun it.
Apples, 2 bushels; water, gallon and a half; honey, 7lb.; rum, 3 pints; tartar, 1 oz.; nutmeg, 1.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
25kg apples
7.5l water
3kg honey
1.8l rum
30g cream of tartar
1 nutmeg, grated
1 packet wine yeast (Montrachet is good)
Method:
Combine the apples, water, honey, rum, cream of tartar and nutmeg in a very large pot. Bring to a boil, skimming the surface and continue boiling for as long as any scum rises to the surface of the liquid. Take off the heat, strain through a fine-meshed sieve then pour into a clean and sterile fermenting bucket and set aside to cool to lukewarm.
Add the wine yeast and stir into the liquid. Cover the fermenting bucket and set aside to ferment for 3 weeks, stirring every day. After this time strain thoroughly then transfer the liquid to a sterilized demijohn fitted with a fermentation lock (airlock).
After about six weeks (when the fermentation has slowed dramatically) rack the liquid to a secondary fermentation chamber (such as a demijohn) then top-up with water and fit an airlock. Ferment for about 90 days in a cool cupboard then rack into bottles. Cork and lay down for three months to mature before drinking.
Apples, 2 bushels; water, gallon and a half; honey, 7lb.; rum, 3 pints; tartar, 1 oz.; nutmeg, 1.