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Crab Apple & Rowan Wine

Getting confident

In season September · makes 4.5 L · target OG 1.090

Another bitter-fruit-must-cook-and-blend lesson; rowan tamed by crab apple.

Before you start. Rowan must be cooked — raw berries contain parasorbic acid that causes stomach upset. Do not use it raw.

You will need

  • Crab apples1.0 kg
  • Rowan berries0.5 kg
  • Sugar1.3 kg
  • Pectic enzymeper dose
  • Wine yeast + nutrient1 sachet
  • Waterto 4.5 L

Picking it at the right moment

  • Crab apple

    Ready when they have coloured up and the first windfalls drop; press one — it should give slightly. Hard green crabs are unripe.

  • Rowan berry

    Ready when the whole cluster is a strong orange-red and the berries have softened; better still after a frost.

Method

  1. 1

    Sanitise. Strip the rowan from its stalks; use both fruits after a frost if you can.

  2. 2

    Rowan is bitter and holds parasorbic acid that upsets the stomach raw, so it must be COOKED: simmer the rowan 15-20 minutes, which makes it safe and tames the bitterness. Crab apples bring acid and pectin to round it.

  3. 3

    Crush the crab apples and add pectic enzyme; combine with the cooled rowan liquor.

  4. 4

    Add the sugar dissolved warm; top to 4.5 L (reading ~1.090); pitch the yeast and nutrient.

  5. 5

    Ferment on the pulp three days, strain, rack and age well over a year.

  6. 6

    A sharp, amber, characterful autumn wine — a hedgerow's answer to a dry cider.

What this one teaches you

  • · Cooking and blending a bitter fruit

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An original MakeWine recipe.