Man, I love Apfelwein - Page 251

sdhucks7 · 01-01-2008, 07:38 PM

Ok i may have screwed up. I put my Apfelwine together in a carboy right at 4 weeks ago. It bubbled very niceley for the first week or so. I am pretty sure i followed the original recipie excatly but i got problems. I just took a gravity reading and it was at like 1.020? My original gravity was at 1.064. What the heck did i do wrong? Or do i just need to have some patience? The only thing i can think of is that my LHBS may have given me Maltro Dextrose instead of just dextrose. I read in this topic that someone else may have done this but couldnt find what happened to their apfelwine. Any ideas would be helpfull! Oh yeah i have the carboy in a room that stays about 66-67 deg. the thermometor on the side of my carboy reads 66 right now. Thanks for any and all ideas.

SD

**Bulls Beers** · 01-01-2008, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TronCarter

Is that four, one-third cups (one and one-third total), or four and one-third cups?

4-1/3 cups of splenda. I tried a 1/3 of a cup and it seemed a bit dry for my wife. So i added another 1/3 and another and another. A total of four 1/3 cups. As my bottling bucket started filling up i added a 1/3. I did that all the way untill the bucket was full. As i put it in i stirred it ever so gently.

Germey · 01-02-2008, 07:08 PM

Ok, pardon me if this question is asked and answered, but here goes. My first batch tastes kinda.... blah. It's not too dry, has a good apple character, but is kinda oxidized, or flat, or... damn I'm bad at describing flavors. My initial thought is that it needs just a little bit of tartness, and I'm thinking of adding some ascorbic acid.

I used very fresh unpasteurized cider, corn sugar to Ed's AW recipe proportions, and WL-099 (high gravity yeast, fermented out to 0.99 in 4 weeks).

Any thoughts on the flavor I got or strong cautions on doctoring the end result would be greatly appreciated.

**EdWort** · 01-02-2008, 07:29 PM

How old is it? Any reason you did not use Montrachet? I think the yeast is your problem. Perhaps a little acid blend may help.

Germey · 01-02-2008, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdWort

How old is it? Any reason you did not use Montrachet? I think the yeast is your problem. Perhaps a little acid blend may help.

It's about 2.5 months old now. I have used the WL-099 in meads very successfully and gotten clean results. I had it on hand and figured it would ferment out cleanly and quickly. Maybe not so cleanly after all. Next time I'll use the montrachet so I have good frame of reference. I guess I'm just wondering if I should let this sit for several more months, or try to doctor it now. Would acid blend give that green apple tartness?
From the descriptions, that is not the flavor I would expect from a true apfelwein, but I think it is what this batch needs.

Mr_Moe · 01-03-2008, 01:39 AM

I aged mine 5.5 months. and 5 of the 10 gallons went in 2 weeks over xmas / new years. Mine tastes like strongbow, so i am very happy. for the first 3 months it didnt taste to good at all so the extra time it sat in the primary it was well worth it. MIne didnt really clear up until about the 3.5 / 4 months,

Motts AJ 5 gal
dextrose 2 lbs
montrachet yeast.

i left it in the carboy for 5 months, then bottled with 3/4 cup of dextrose per 5 gal, 1.5 weeks later it was carbed.

mew · 01-03-2008, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdWort

Any reason you did not use Montrachet?

Have you ever tried yeasts other than Montrachet? Just wondering if Montrachet has anything special over other wine yeasts.

**EdWort** · 01-03-2008, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mew

Have you ever tried yeasts other than Montrachet? Just wondering if Montrachet has anything special over other wine yeasts.

Nope. It made what I was looking for, so I stuck with it. Montrachet makes Apfelwein very well, just like German Apfelwein.

Clifton · 01-03-2008, 03:39 PM

Edwort......did you tap that "yeast cake" keg? Just curious how it turned out.

Has anyone ventured into the ApfelBier realm? Here's my thoughts

3gal water
3lbs DME
.5oz Cascade hop pellets
Boil for 1 hour.
Cool
add 5gal worth of AJ concentrate and top up to five gal with preboiled water.
Pitch Nottingham or some other Ale yeast and ferment at room temp.

Whaddya think?

fireloo · 01-04-2008, 12:47 AM

To those of you who have used the Cote Des Blanc for the Apfelwein, does it ferment mildly like the Montrachet? Just wondering if I should rig up a blow-off tube on the batch I just made. Thanks.

Yes. I whipped up a batch about 3 weeks ago and pitched Cote Des Blanc.

Ferments like Ed describes Montrachet. No need for a blow off.