AnthonyD

Recipes 

I have an empty better bottle and nothing to put into it right now, so I was gonna make a batch of Edworts apfelwein. Then I thought, why not make it an apple cyser instead. THEN I thought, why not take half the batch and make a sparkling apple cyser...

So my idea is to take edworts recipe and replace the dextrose with 2 pounds of honey. Then, split the batch after fermentation and prime half for bottle carbonation, while bottling the other half still.

Does that sound like a decent enough plan? Or am I missing something?

__________________
"We brewers don’t make beer, we just get all the ingredients together and the beer makes itself."
~ Fritz Maytag, President Anchor Brewing

Bottled: AHS Red Stripe Lager clone; AHS American Amber Ale; Apfelwein/Cyser, Coffee Stout
In Primary: Nut Brown Ale, Apfelwein
On Deck: Anchor Steam clone

gratus fermentatio

Recipes 

Should work just fine for you, but you might consider upping your honey content for cyser. Ed's recipe only calls for 2lbs of added sugar in 5 gallons, most cysers add 2 to 3lbs of honey per gallon. All that added honey will most definately take longer than Ed's apfelwine, a lot longer. Either way, I'd also add yeast nutrient/energizer & DAP. Regards, GF.

AnthonyD

Recipes 

Thanks GF, I appreciate the input.

Hmmm, I didn't realize it would take that much more honey.

I have 3 pounds on hand, so perhaps the 2 or 3lb honey along with 1lb of the dextrose. And what kind of final gravity I'd be expecting with that?

__________________
"We brewers don’t make beer, we just get all the ingredients together and the beer makes itself."
~ Fritz Maytag, President Anchor Brewing

Bottled: AHS Red Stripe Lager clone; AHS American Amber Ale; Apfelwein/Cyser, Coffee Stout
In Primary: Nut Brown Ale, Apfelwein
On Deck: Anchor Steam clone

LightningInABottle

Recipes 

From using Hightests Honey spread sheet it looks like it would be around 1.072. It will take a LONG time to ferment out and not have a moderate kick (9.6 ABV)

By comparison I did a big cyser this fall with 16 lbs of honey topped off with cider to 5 gallons and it OG was 1.146. Approx ABV if it ferments dry of about 19.3%.

If I were you I would make a cyser that ferments out to about 14% ABV. Use the honey spreadsheet to get an approximate idea of how much honey you will need. http://home.comcast.net/~mzapx1/FAQ/Honey.xls

If you need something to drink right away go with Ed's again, if you can wait a month or two before you rack off into a secondary then try the cyser. The cyser will take about a year from start to bottle, and may take longer to age out to taste good.

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AnthonyD

Recipes 

Yeah, I guess I was looking for a sort of shortcut method. Looks like I'm going to do the apfelwein for now, and I'll try the cyser when I can free up my better bottle for a longer time.

Thanks for the info, that spreadsheet is pretty nice.

__________________
"We brewers don’t make beer, we just get all the ingredients together and the beer makes itself."
~ Fritz Maytag, President Anchor Brewing

Bottled: AHS Red Stripe Lager clone; AHS American Amber Ale; Apfelwein/Cyser, Coffee Stout
In Primary: Nut Brown Ale, Apfelwein
On Deck: Anchor Steam clone

AnthonyD

Recipes 

hmmm, now I just noticed this blog post:
http://www.thehoppinghound.com/2009/12/apfelwein-finished-w-ferment.html
where he basically did the same thing I want to do, and with good results.

also, previous post
http://www.thehoppinghound.com/2009/12/belgian-ales-apfelwein-and-oberon.html

__________________
"We brewers don’t make beer, we just get all the ingredients together and the beer makes itself."
~ Fritz Maytag, President Anchor Brewing

Bottled: AHS Red Stripe Lager clone; AHS American Amber Ale; Apfelwein/Cyser, Coffee Stout
In Primary: Nut Brown Ale, Apfelwein
On Deck: Anchor Steam clone

Teromous

Recipes 

Wow 19.3%? Did you add all the fermentables at the same time or slowly, a little at a time?

gratus fermentatio

Recipes 

There is certainly nothing wrong with your original idea of subbing the honey for the corn sugar in equal amounts; it won't exactly be a cyser, but then what does it matter? As long as you like it, it's good. Regards, GF.

LightningInABottle

Recipes 

Won't that slow down the ferment? How long does Ed's take? Brandon O's Graff is fast, 2 weeks usually. 5 weeks if you bottle and carb like I do.

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LightningInABottle

Recipes 

I added all at the same time and used champaign yeast. I did this before I started using the spreadsheet and SNA. I started this in October and it is still bubbling. Since I have been using SNA my ferments have been moving much faster even when I do a high gravity mead.

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