How can i make it closer to 3.5% - 5% ? my old man brain cant handle the 8% or whats left of it anyway..thnaks for the recipe.Joe
Cutting out the two pounds of sugar will lower the ABV in the 6.0-6.5% range, as for taking it down further I'd guess kill the yeast and blend with regular apple juice until you get down to the alcohol content you desire.
I mixed up my first batch of this today and have 2 questions (to start with, anyhow)....
1) I used a 6.5 gallon Better Bottle carboy, meaning I have lots of space left between the juice and the airlock. Is that an issue?
2) I plan on carbonating some of it and having the rest still. I saved some 0.5 gallon apple juice bottles thinking they'd be good for the still version. They are Mott's plastic bottles with a number 1 for the recycling indicator. Any thoughts on putting the finished product back in these bottles?
My brother and I did a cranapfelwein - it comes out really tart, so we stabilized and backsweetened it. Unfortunately, didn't realize that it needed to have the chemicals settle for a while - so it had a horrible taste, and he decided to trash the batch. A month later, the four bottles we did save taste wonderful, and we're kicking ourselves for not saving the rest of it...
I mixed up my first batch of this today and have 2 questions (to start with, anyhow)....
1) I used a 6.5 gallon Better Bottle carboy, meaning I have lots of space left between the juice and the airlock. Is that an issue?
2) I plan on carbonating some of it and having the rest still. I saved some 0.5 gallon apple juice bottles thinking they'd be good for the still version. They are Mott's plastic bottles with a number 1 for the recycling indicator. Any thoughts on putting the finished product back in these bottles?
1) Define "lots of space". Look at page 1 of this post. Are you way more than that, or...? You need some space for fermentation so you don't want to go too close to the neck.
2) If Mott's juice came in the bottles then they are food quality. Make sure that you wash them thoroughly as you would any other bottle for your homemade beverages.
1) Define "lots of space". Look at page 1 of this post. Are you way more than that, or...? You need some space for fermentation so you don't want to go too close to the neck.
Yes, I have more space than that. Those (on page 1) are 5 gallon carboys, I think. Mine is 6.5 gallons. So I basically have 1.5 gallons of space above the surface of the juice.
That's what I was thinking on the bottles, thanks for confirming.
1) I used a 6.5 gallon Better Bottle carboy, meaning I have lots of space left between the juice and the airlock. Is that an issue?
...
As long as you don't move it much, the CO2 coming out of the fermenting juice will push all oxygen out, so there's no worry there. The only problem with all that space is that you're wasting it; you could've thrown another gallon of juice in there
My thought, too. I would have made 6 - 6 1/2 gallons... Anyone have a comment as to whether it's too late to add more????? How much additional corn sugar???
As long as that yeast is going strong, seems to me you can give it more to work on no problem. You need to maintain sanitation, though as you will be opening up the fermenter.
As far as the corn sugar, it's just a ratio. So since you had 2 lb sugar for 5 gal apple juice, that's .4lb per 1 gal or 0.6 lb for 1.5 gal. Make sense?
If you're precise with your addition and consistent from the initial 5 gal, your OG should be the same, just more of it!
After tasting my Apfelwein at a BBQ last week, a friend just dropped off 8 gallons of fresh pressed juice from his orchard. He said, "When it's done, the wife wants a bottle!" Obviously she's going to get several liter bottles!!
This stuff tastes amazing, and I'm looking forward to this batch. It's a little chunky, so I may strain it through some cheesecloth...whatever gets beyond that ought to eventually settle out.
Regarding wild yeast...how many campden tablets would be required to kill them off? I've read 5 tablets will kill off the Montrachet in a 5 gallon batch (to allow back-sweetening,) but that seems a little excessive for eliminating whatever wild bugs are present. They say they've "pasteurized" the juice by bringing it up to a certain temperature (well below boiling) but they were rather vague about the procedure, and I'd be more comfortable with the campden.
__________________ FERMENTING: Members Only Maibock, Apfelwein KEGGED / BOTTLED: Düsseldorf Altbier, Honeydripper Hefe, High Yellow Strong Belgian Ale, Irish Red Ale, Canned Heat Wee Heavy ON TAP: Ó Flannagáin Extra Stout, Squeeze My Lemon Summer Blonde, Apfelwein ON DECK: Munich Helles, Ó Flannagáin Extra Stout, Cold Shot ESB
I'd use one Campden tablet per gallon of cider. Let it sit for 24 hours, stir well for a couple of minutes to drive off any remaining free SO2, aerate well, and then add the yeast.
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