Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)
 

For all non-scientific beerology purposes, this is a cider. (I know, I know....but its got hops in it!)

Jay Huff and his apple bee got me started on some experiments and this is what I have come up with.

I noticed Ed's Apfelwein tasted super hoochy until it was about a year old. When it's about a year old tho it does taste like a good cider, but doesn't have the body a good cider does.

So, how can I make something that will taste good faster and also have body?

1. Get rid of the wine yeast and use a clean fermenting beer yeast
2. Get rid of that cheap sugar and use some light DME
3. Balance the tart flavor of young cider by using specialty grains.
4. Later on, I found hops also helped balance the overall flavor. BUT ONLY A TINY BIT, DO NOT USE MORE THAN CALLED FOR

If you like a clean, malty, not too tart easy drinking cider style beverage then this is your drink.

Materials needed for a 5 Gallon Batch

Clean fermenting yeast I have used Nottinham and Safale-05, both are good
.5 lbs of Crystal 60L If you use cheap store brand juice, I reccomend 120L. Cheap juice tends to turn out a tad tart and this will balance it.
1 oz of torrified wheat ( head retention, I've never used more than 2oz)
4 Gallons of apple juice.
1 gallon of water
2 lbs of DME ( I use 1 lb. amber and 1 lb. light DME)
0.5 oz of you favorite hops ( right around 6% AA, I have used 18.5% AA summit hops before and it took a month after kegging for strong bitterness to blend nicely)
WARNING! IF YOU ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF HOPS USED, MAKE IT LESS NOT MORE, it's really just too bitter with any more.

Directions for brewing

Steep the 60L and torrified wheat in .75 gallons of water @ 155 degrees for 30 mins.
Sparge with .25 gallons 170 degree water and throw away grains.
Add DME and bring to a boil.
Add hops when boiling starts and boil for 30 mins.

Cool down the wort (if you choose not to cool the wort and just let the AJ do the cooling then your cider won't be as clear). I don't care about clarity so I just let the AJ do the cooling, but if you stick your pot in the freezer and let this get down to 70 degrees or so your cider will clear fairly easy. Pour the wort and apple juice into your carboy and pitch yeast.

Ferment 2 weeks at 64-68 degrees then keg or bottle.

I keg, and this stuff is VERY drinkable as soon as it is carbonated.
SUPERB taste and drinkability after 2-3 weeks of aging.

People bottling, it will have SUPERB taste and drinkability after the standard 3 week bottling period for carbonating.

I'm game. I find my simple juice+ale yeast ciders to be a little too tart, dry, and thin. It will probably be a while before I make this (months probably) but when I do I'll let you know what I think.

Hooray for Graff, my next cider! :cross:

thats the same thing I always thought. Graff will take care of that problem real quick.

This is on my list of ciders to try. It sounds like it will have a nice residual sweetness which will be appreciated within the household.

What's your normal gravity readings and/or ABV? Is this a big cider like Apfelwein or smaller?

Just brewed a batch of Graff this afternoon. Followed the recipe exactly.......used 100% apple juice from Walmart, Safale-05 and Cascade hops (7.5%AA)

Can't wait to give it a try!!

OG: 1.060 @ 66 degrees

I just started a 2 1/2 gallon batch. I tried to follow the exact recipe. Only difference was I used hopped DME instead of adding the hops and my brew store did not have "nor did they not even know what it was," torrified wheat. I used Nottinghams Ale yeast and came out with a OG of 1.058 ish. I sampled the beaker and I definitely taste the hop bite, but I think this is going to turn out VERY drinkable. I have high hopes. I have it cooling off right now in the back room, I may even read it a story before I go to bed, just to make sure its happy.

the hopped DME has a lot of hops compared to the ratio of 2lbs DME to .5oz.

it will be hoppy, but if you age it 2 months the hop bite will subside. that is what happened when I used some 18.5AA summit hops

it's right around 9% I would imagine. hydrometer is broken and i really just don't care.