My "EdWort's Apfelwein"

Recipe Type: EdWort's Apfelwein
Yeast: Red Star Premier Cuvée
Batch Size (Gallons): 6
Original Gravity: 1.072
Current Gravity: 0.998
Color: Champagne
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): Currently 21 days at 68 degrees

Ingredients
6 gallons local grown and pressed apple cider
2.4 pounds of dextrose (corn sugar)
1 five gram packet of Red Star Premier Cuvée yeast

Started batch on 11/12/11. Started fermenting within 8 hours. Was bubbling along at one point about 2 times per second. almost all bubbling has currently stopped, maybe once a minute. There is about 1 inch of pinkish lees at the bottom of the carboy. I am planning on letting this just sit until Christmas, then bottle.

This sound about right so far?

If my math is right, this is 9.86% alcohol, based on the formula:

% Alcohol = (((1.05 x (OG – FG)) / FG) / 0.79) x 100

So, Day 40 of my Apfelwein.

Still getting very slow activity in the airlock. Reading of 0.998, hasn't changed in 3 weeks. Lees are thick on the bottom of the carboy. I'd like to let this sit in the carboy for awhile, but I don't want the yeastcake to have adverse effects on the Apfelwein.

I will have a 5 gallon carboy available for use soon, should I rack to secondary, or just let it sit?

I think your ok at 40 days but if it makes you feel safer, rack it off. I go up to 60 days now with cider.

Any updates here? Guy at the local brew store highly recommended cuvee so I bought one couvee and one Montrachet and I'm really curious how this turned out!

I've made batches with both cuvee AMD montrachet. Cuvee came out a little bit sharp with little aroma. Montrachet a little dull but lots of tingles went down my spine when giving it its first sniff. Both are quite impressive

any differences in fermentation time?

Not really. You're going to agree them for a while after they complete anyway. The cuvee probably ate through the sugars a day quicker but I wasn't watching super close anyway.