Recluse

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I think you should be OK with the cheapo plunger. When I embarked on Mead making, I was going to go that route, but ended up spending the $$$ for a good floor corker. Probably worth the investment considering the number of bottles I have corked, but for a test run of a few bottles, the cheap one is probably fine.

Of course, now I have capped many many more beer bottles than wine bottles and have yet to replace the relatively cheap wing capper that sometimes gives me grief and breaks bottles.

Krrazy

Recipes 

I apologize if this has already been asked -- this is a monster post...and for good reason!

I'm new to brewing but got a batch of apfelwein going as soon as I bottled my first beer. It's been four weeks now and based on the suggestions that longer is better -- if I were to rack into some priming sugar and then bottle (possibly back sweetening too depending on a sample) and then let it age for a few more weeks (or months) would this still achieve the same aged goodness, or does it need to stay untouched in the carboy to achieve the proper aging?

As this is fast becoming an addiction, I've got another beer on deck that needs to be brewed and want to free up my carboy.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hegh

Recipes 

I use one of the cheapo corkers. It mangles the top of the cork, but it still gets it in place, and it works fine. If you want them to look professional, get a floor corker, but really the cheapo one is just fine for home use.

By "mangle" I mean it leaves a strong imprint of the plunger that pushes the cork into the bottle. Sometimes little crumbs of cork will fall off.

__________________
Triple Cat Brewery

Primary: AHS Oktoberfest, Orfy's English Mild
On Tap: EdWort's Apfelwein, NB's Oatmeal Stout, NB's Spiced Winter Ale, Fuller's London Porter Clone, Yooper's Fizzy Yellow Beer, KingBrianI's Caramel Amber

"Bravery is not a function of fire power." ~J.C. Denton

glenn514

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Still not finished reading ALL the posts on this thread [I'm up to post #5410], but just wanted to check in.

My apfelwein has been merrily fermenting away for a week now. At this time, I have NOT been subjected to "rhino farts." I used montrachet yeast on "Great Value" apple juice from WalMart. The "must" is very cloudy and somewhat orange in color. The airlock is still giving off a bubble every couple of seconds. Meanwhile, I've got a lovely Irish red fermenting away, as well. The Irish Red will be bottled well before the apfelwein!

glenn514

Krrazy

Recipes 

I love the simplicity of this recipe. I think this must be the gateway brew of the Home Brewing addiction...anyone can do it!

I was just making an observation on inflation over the almost four years this post has been around. I stocked up on some more Tree Top from Costco to make my second batch and it's now ringing in at about $18.30 for 5 gallons. The price for Dextrose is still about the same and I pay $.99 for Montrachet (although it's marked $1.99...I haven't been buying it enough to know if that's the regular price or they just marked it down because it was old or something).

jamesjensen1068

Recipes 

I've been reading up a little on wine making. Wondering if there would be any benefit to degassing Apfelwein?

ThoughtPolice

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I'm thinking about making some apfelwein tomorrow on top of my mead yeast cake. I just racked the mead into secondary which used Montrachet, but I have a question.

I noticed that the mead had a serious medicinal quality to it, and upon researching this particular yeast strain, realized that it has a tendency to create excessive phenols which give my mead its glorious (read: damnit I have to wait 2 years) Listerine flavor.

Does this flavor come out in apfelwein, or is it limited to fermentations done with honey?

I have never tried racking on top of a yeast cake, but I'm excited to try it with apfelwein, something I've wanted to make for a long time.
Thanks in advance. LOL at 629 pages on this thread.

Edit : BTW sorry if this is an easily 'search'able question, but the search page is not loading for me right now. Anyone else having this problem?

somecallmetex

Recipes 

I haven't tried it yet, but I don't think apfelwein would be so wildly popular if it tasted like listerine. That said, if you already have that flavor in you yeast cake I would toss it and pay the 99 cents for fresh yeast.

__________________
Primary- On hiatus until full wort setup complete

Secondary - EdWort's Apfelwein (Jun '11), (Feb '12), (Feb '12),

Agin/Drinking-EdWort's Apfelwein EC-1118) (Jan '11), Chocolate Raspberry Port (Fall '10), Blackberry Port (Fall '11)

ThoughtPolice

Recipes 

I was thinking the same thing about the yeast cake possibly carrying that flavor over, but since it seemed to be mostly a mead thing with the off-flavor, thought that topping up with AJ and dextrose would mute the flavor and allow the yeast to do its thing with the new fermentables...
Would definitely go buy a packet if it were that easy to do tomorrow. I'm just gonna chuck that cake and clean the fermenter, it's not worth ruining a batch. I'll make a NorthernBrewer order tonight for the next couple beer batches.
Peace

reality_felix

Recipes 

how strong is alcohol content that EdWort applewine have??