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foonder · 07-01-2008, 02:25 AM

I've got 2 experimental apfelwein batches going in my basement now (along with a more traditional full batch).
Mapfelwein is 2 gallons of Apple juice + 2 quarts of maple syrup.
Meadfelwein is 2 gallons of juice + 5 lb honey. I also used Red Star's Cuvee yeast for the Meadfelwein.

I figured I might as well get some batches going to see how I like certain flavors, and my Mr. Beer plastic kegs seemed pretty perfect for experimental batches. I will update when they're ready.

Oh, both had SG's of around 1.100 (

)

**Arneba28** · 07-01-2008, 02:34 AM

1.100! damn! Cuvee has an 18%abv tolerance I believe. So both should finish dry and very strong. I dont know how maple syrup ferments out but I would bet it takes a looooooooooong time.

k1v1116 · 07-01-2008, 02:47 AM

ive experimented with maple wine and maybe it was the yeast I used but it finished with a huge amount of residual sweetness, I think this is because maple syrup is made by boiling maple sap for a very long resulting in a lot of caramelized sugars, it made an excellent desert wine. the mead apple stuff sounds great, honey and apple always go together. what variety of honey did you use?

foonder · 07-01-2008, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k1v1116

ive experimented with maple wine and maybe it was the yeast I used but it finished with a huge amount of residual sweetness, I think this is because maple syrup is made by boiling maple sap for a very long resulting in a lot of caramelized sugars, it made an excellent desert wine. the mead apple stuff sounds great, honey and apple always go together. what variety of honey did you use?

5 lb of "Dutch Gold" pure clover honey. It was at cosco for like $10, and I couldn't resist.

**BigKahuna** · 07-01-2008, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foonder

5 lb of "Dutch Gold" pure clover honey. It was at cosco for like $10, and I couldn't resist.

This would be technically a cyser.

It should be pretty fair, but look out...it's going to be puckeringly dry at first. Let this thing age until you cant' stand it any more...You'll be rewarded.

foonder · 07-01-2008, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigKahuna

This would be technically a cyser.

It should be pretty fair, but look out...it's going to be puckeringly dry at first. Let this thing age until you cant' stand it any more...You'll be rewarded.

Thanks for the heads up, I will now change the name to something like "Cyserfelwein" or some other combination of apfelwein & cyser. Or maybe just an interesting Cyser name. Who knows?
Also, I was probably going to bottle it 3 months from now. Two & a half if I can't stand waiting. I know it should be done more patiently, but hey, if I like either (or both) the mapfelwein or the mead(cyser)felwein I'll make a full batch and by the time I'm done drinking the other batches, the new one will be ready to bottle.

I also wanted to try a small batch of "Oakfelwein" which would've had a lot of brown sugar and oak for the last few weeks, but my last mr. beer keg was leaky. Oh well. Next time. This stuff is so easy to make I'm going to have to fight the urge not to just make it when I have empty carboys hanging around. I still haven't even tried any yet. I really hope I like it, otherwise I'm going to be stuck with like 8 - 10 gallons of it.