Crabapple Wines, Sherries, and/or Meads

Crabapple Wine

June 13, 2022

An old friend in Oklahoma asked me for a crabapple wine recipe. This guy makes excellent grape wines, so I was honored he asked me for assistance. I have two recipes on my main website but one is better than the other. That’s the one I will publish here with a few tips.

Crabapples come in various sizes, colors and tastes. Some are golf ball sized and others are the size of cherries (like the ones in the photo). Some ripen red, others ripen yellow and still others ripen green, just like apples. Some are incredibly sweet but most are rather tart. Whatever kind you have, they will make good wine. A mixture of 1/3 sweet and 2/3 tart makes a very nice wine.

  • 5-6 lbs ripe crabapples
  • 2 lbs granulated sugar
  • 1/8 tsp tannin
  • 1/2 tsp acid blend
  • 3/4 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
  • 6 pts water
  • 3 crushed Campden tablet
  • Champagne wine yeast
Wash the fruit carefully and put them (whole) in a bucket containing a gallon of water and two crushed Campden tablets. Push them under the water often over a 4-6 hour period, then drain the water off and crush them in the bucket. Boil 6 pints water and dissolve the sugar in it. Pour over crushed crabapples in primary. Cover with cloth and allow to cool to lukewarm. Add all ingredients except last Campden tablet and yeast and set aside for 12 hours. Add yeast and recover. Stir and knock down cap 2-3 times daily for about one week. Strain through nylon straining bag and let drip drain (do not squeeze) about 20 minutes (no more). Stir in third crushed Campden tablet and let stand additional 24 hours and rack off sediments into secondary. Top up and attach airlock. Rack every 2 months until clear. When clear, check specific gravity and taste. If dry, stabilize, sweeten to taste and wait 30 days to see if it re-ferments. When positive all fermentation has ceased and no dead yeast fall out, rack into bottles. If you see a dusting of dead yeast, wait another 30 days and rack into bottles. Allow to age until a year from starting date. [Author’s own recipe]

Crabapple Wine

April 5, 2001
  • 4 lbs ripe crabapples
  • 2 lbs granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp tannin
  • 1/2 tsp acid blend
  • 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
  • 7-1/2 pts water
  • 1 crushed Campden tablet
  • Champagne wine yeast

Clean and crush the crabapples as above. Boil the water and dissolve the sugar in it. Pour over crushed crabapples in primary. Cover with cloth and allow to cool to lukewarm. Add all ingredients except yeast and set aside for 12 hours. Add yeast and recover. Stir and knock down cap 2-3 daily for one week. Strain through nylon straining bag and let drip drain (do not squeeze). Let stand additional 24 hours and rack off sediments into secondary. Top up if required and fit airlock. Rack every 2 months. After third racking, check specific gravity and taste. If dry, stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. Allow to age at least a year. [Adapted from Terry Garey’s The Joy of Home Winemaking ]