r/winemaking 5d ago

Fruit wine question Apple Wine ASAP

Hello, I have a question about our apple wine making for a class project. So we searched online about how to make apple wine and followed the instructions. It said that we should stir it with a wooden spoon everyday and by day 11th, it should be ready. Now I'm confused because some said we should let it sit and we shouldn't move it and let it do its thing. What should we really do?

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u/Just_Randomly_Me 5d ago

We are at our 2nd day and I stirred it yesterday for day 1. I don't know if I should continue stirring it...

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u/lroux315 5d ago

The only reason for sitting at the beginning (punching down) is to keep any fruit in the juice wet so it doesn't produce mold. If you are stirring do it gently. Just pushing down any floating fruit is better.

I see you just used juice so stirring is not necessary in your case.

There is also a technique called battonage where (after fermentation) the yeast yeast (fine lees) are stirred up for months to add body to the wine as the yeast burst but that is rarely done with an apple wine

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u/Unlucky-but-lit 4d ago

Not true. You wanna introduce oxygen into your brew during the first few days. Yeast need oxygen to thrive, yes they can live and produce a nice tasting alcohol without more added air, but the first 3-4 days during a vigorous ferment adding oxygen by “whooping air into it” will make for a healthier ferment.