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Apple wines are not as common as grape or berry alcoholic drinks. However Apple wine has its own unique taste and very strong aroma; almost everyone likes this drink. The recipe for homemade wine from ranetki is quite simple, and the technology for its preparation is not much different from the traditional one (used in grape winemaking). Making wine from apples also has its own nuances that a novice winemaker should definitely know about.
You can learn how to make wine from ranetki at home from this article. Here is a detailed technology in which each process is described step by step.
Features of wine from Ranetki
Ranetki are small-fruited varieties of apples, the weight of each of which does not exceed 15 grams. Such fruits mainly grow in the Urals, northern regions and the Far East. Ranetka apples differ from other apples in their high content of dry matter in the fruit, that is, they contain less juice than other varieties.
Wine made from ranetki is very aromatic, the drink has a beautiful hue and can be stored for several years. At his discretion, the winemaker can prepare both dry and bitter or dessert wine from ranetkas - it all depends on the amount of sugar in the wort.
To make good homemade wine from ranetki, you need to know a few simple rules:
- Before making wine ranetkas are not washed, since on the peel of apples there are wine fungi necessary for fermentation. If, for some reason, the apples are washed, you will have to add wine yeast to the wort or make a special starter.
- Glass, aluminum or plastic containers are used for winemaking. You cannot prepare wine in a metal container., otherwise it will oxidize. The same can be said about spoons or spatulas used to stir the wort - they should be wooden or plastic.
- Ranetki juice should be fermented in a container with a wide neck (pan, basin or bucket) so that the mass can be easily mixed and nothing prevents the pulp from rising. But for fermentation, it is better to place the ranetka juice in a vessel with a narrow neck, so the contact of the wine with oxygen will be minimal.
- Wine during the fermentation stage must be isolated from air, so you need to find an airtight lid for the bottle or jar in which the ranetki wine is located. To ensure greater tightness, you can use plasticine or paraffin, which is used to treat the places where the lid comes into contact with the vessel.
- The natural sugar content of ranetki does not exceed 10%, this is only enough for dry wine. If you need to get a sweeter drink, sugar is added to the wort in a proportion of 120 to 450 grams for each liter of apple juice.
- You cannot pour all the sugar into the wort at one time.. This needs to be done in parts: first add half the sugar, then two more times, a quarter portion at a time. This approach will allow you to control the taste of the wine and achieve optimal sweetness of the drink. In addition, wine yeast can only process a certain percentage of sugar. If the sugar content of the wine is higher than the permissible value, fermentation will suddenly stop.
- It is permissible to dilute ranetka juice with clean water, but when doing this, you need to understand that the natural aroma of wine and its taste decrease with each liter of water. It is better not to add water to wine, or do it in case of emergency (for example, when apples are very sour and sugar alone cannot improve the taste of wine).
- You cannot add baker's yeast (dry or pressed) to wine; this way you can only get mash from ranetki. Special wine yeast is used for winemaking, but it is quite difficult to find them on sale. You can replace wine yeast with raisin starter, which winemakers prepare themselves.
- Before preparing the wine, apples are carefully sorted, leaves, twigs, rotten or worm-eaten fruits are removed. The seeds from the ranetkas need to be cut out, as they will give the wine bitterness.
- Hands, utensils and containers for winemaking must be absolutely clean, as there is a high risk of introducing pathogenic microorganisms into the wine, leading to the souring of the drink or the appearance of mold. That's why The dishes are sterilized with boiling water or steam, and hands must be washed with soap or rubber gloves.
A simple recipe for wine from Ranetki with detailed instructions
Apple wines are very tasty and aromatic, so there is no need to add other fruits or berries to them or use complex recipes. For a good homemade drink you will need the simplest ingredients:
- 25 kg ranetki;
- 100-450 g of sugar for each liter of apple juice;
- from 10 to 100 ml of water for each liter of juice (it is recommended to add when the ranetki are very sour);
- yeast for winemaking or raisin-based starter (if the wine does not ferment on its own).
The step-by-step technology for making homemade wine looks like this:
- Preparation of wounds. The ranetka fruits are sorted out, cleaned of soil or dust, and wiped with a soft (dry) cloth. Then the core is removed from the apples along with the seeds and hard partitions. Cut the ranetki into slices of suitable size.
- Getting juice. Now you need to do the most difficult thing - squeeze the juice out of the ranetkas. To do this, you must first chop the apples; this can be done using a meat grinder, juicer, blender, grater or food processor. The winemaker’s task is, ideally, to obtain pure ranetki juice. But semi-liquid applesauce is also suitable for wine.
- The squeezed juice or the ranetki, crushed to a puree, are transferred to an enamel pan or plastic basin. Test the puree for sugar and acid. If necessary, add sugar and water to the ranetki. Mix the mixture and cover the container with several layers of gauze.
- Place the pan with ranetkas in a warm place and keep there for several days. After 6-10 hours, signs of fermentation should appear: hissing, foam formation, and a sour smell. This means that the process is proceeding normally. To prevent ranetka wine from turning sour, you need to constantly lower the pulp (large particles of apples and peels that float to the surface), because it contains wine yeast. The ranetka wort is stirred regularly with a wooden spatula - every 6-8 hours.
- After three days, the pulp should float up completely, forming a dense foamy mass on the surface of the wine. Now you can collect it with a spoon and squeeze it through a sieve or cheesecloth. Pour the ranetka juice into a bottle.Add sugar - about 50 grams for each liter of apple juice.
- Stir the wort and fill no more than 75% of the fermentation container (large bottle or three-liter jar). It is necessary to wear a water seal in the form of a special cap, a medical glove or a tube to remove carbon dioxide. Place the container with wine in a warm, dark place.
- After 5-7 days, you need to taste the wine and, if necessary, add more sugar - no more than 25 grams for each liter of juice. To do this, carefully drain a small portion of the wine and stir sugar in it, after which the syrup is poured back into the bottle.
- After another week, the procedure with sugar can be repeated if the wine turns out to be too sour.
- Wine from ranetki can ferment from 30 to 55 days. The end of this process is indicated by a deflated glove, the absence of bubbles in the wort, the precipitation of sediment and the clarification of the wine itself. Now the drink can be drained from the sediment using a plastic straw.
- You can add sugar, alcohol or vodka to the wine drained from the sediment (if the recipe calls for it). Fill the bottles with wine to the top and take them to a cool place (cellar), where the drink will mature for 3-4 months.
- You need to regularly inspect wine from ranetki for the appearance of sediment. If the sediment layer is more than 2-3 cm, the wine is poured into a clean container. Do this until the drink becomes clear.
- Now the finished wine is bottled into beautiful bottles and sent to the basement for storage.
Making wine from ranetki at home is not very easy, but a good result is guaranteed if the technology for preparing the alcoholic drink is fully followed. Make apple wine at least once, and you will forever love its amber color and pronounced aroma!
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