Man, I love Apfelwein

BurtonBrews said:

Well... a little more than two weeks in, and the airlock still has a nice constant bubbling. This is very exciting! I don't know how I will wait 3 months to bottle!

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I thought the same when I did up my first batch of the Patersbier recipe by Kristen England and Stan Hieronymous (sp?)....over 6 months in the primary.... You get it set, then get on with other brewing and forget it for a while. When it's been long enough that you're not sure how long it's been, then it's time to give it another check....

stibone said:

One of the side benefits (or problems to some) of using a yeast cake however is that it imparts some of the flavor of the previous wine into the Skeeter Pee, so if you did use a cake from Apfelwine you'd end up with a Apple-Lemon Skeeter Pee.

I don't think ill pour right onto the yeast cake.. as that seems like too much sediment in the fermenter to start with.. probably try my hand at washing the yeast and doing a starter with some corn or raw sugar.. that should eliminate the apple flavors??

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I've read that pitching onto your yeast cake is always going to be a vastly superfluous pitching rate, and all of the extra yeast (i.e., old or dead/dying yeast) will adversely effect your end product. I would go with your original plan if you haven't already and wash the yeast, then make a starter. That will give you a nice population of healthy cells.

In other news, I am going to be starting this bad boy today I've finally decided! Wish me luck

It's been 5 weeks, give to take a day or two. Everyone is gone, I have the house to myself. This can only mean one thing: kegging time!

I watched some youtube videos (Craigtube I think) about soda keg maintenance and promptly took my keg apart, cleaned, re-gasketed, sanitized, said a little prayer over.

Noticed that the lid wasn't getting a good seal with the warm water and sanitizer when I inverted it. More on that in a bit.

The last brewing I did was near enough to a decade ago. One of the new things I've picked up that I didn't have then was a Fermtech Auto-Siphon. Gotta say, SWEET!

Anywho, I siphoned the apfelwein in to the keg, save about 8 ounces that I put in to a sunrise soda bottle, capped and tossed in to the fridge for later this evening. I then located my portable keg charger and the last CO2 cartridge left over from all those yesterdays and gave it a shot. Pulled the pin to let some of the O2 out, rinsed and repeated. I should have most of the O2 out of the keg and hopefully enough pressure on the lid to hold the pressure. I put my ear to the tank and didn't hear any hissing so crossed fingers.
I then stuffed the keg in to a mini-fridge where I will let it sit until May. At some point when I get my regulator and my tank filled, I'll hook that up and let it sit until I'm ready to drink it at the Redneck Kampers annual Mother's Day rendezvous.
I think I'll pop down to the store this afternoon and get 5 more gallons of juice and a can of raspberries and get another batch going.

EdWort, you are a bad, bad man.

I sampled my apfelwein after the second fg reading at .998. It taste great and I can't wait till it is carbbed. I'll try to bottle tomorrow. This is after 4.5 weeks at 68 degrees. The only change I made fro EdWort's recipe is I used cane sugar instead of corn sugar.

Went to the store to get some more apple juice so I can get another batch rocking. I already have the dextrose and yeast. This time around it will be 4 gallons of apple juice, 1 gallon of cranberry juice. I shall call it Crapfelwein.

kc9eci said:

Crapfelwein.

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"Honey, do you want some beer or crap tonight?" "I can't take anymore of your crap."

SwampassJ said:

"Honey, do you want some beer or crap tonight?" "I can't take anymore of your crap."

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Hopefully she's used to my crap this far in to our marriage.

I was thinking of throwing together a batch of this tomorrow and was wondering if I need to give the carboy a good shaking after I pitch the yeast. The recipe says to shake the apple juice and dextrose together but nothing about the yeast. I assume it can't hurt but I just wanted to check with everyone. Thanks!

It can't hurt, but since you're not boiling, there will be plenty of O2 in the solution

Duke20 said:

I was thinking of throwing together a batch of this tomorrow and was wondering if I need to give the carboy a good shaking after I pitch the yeast. The recipe says to shake the apple juice and dextrose together but nothing about the yeast. I assume it can't hurt but I just wanted to check with everyone. Thanks!

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Just put the yeast in; the fungi know their job. You didn't boil the apple juice, and it got ærated enough when you shook it up / poured it in. My batch was done with raw cider, the 2 lbs. dextrose as in the recipe, and it fermented out to .998.

Cool... thanks!

When I did my batch of Crapfelwein yesterday, I'd pour just enough juice out of each bottle to put the cap back on and shake the hell out of it. Looked like a little dextrose fell out of solution this morning from the looks of the bottom of the carboy. I gave that a little shake too. Last time I looked, my yeast army was making the airlock bubble at an acceptable rate.

I just bottled half of my cranapfelwein batch. I made it with half apple juice, half cranberry apple cocktail, 1.5 table sugar, and 4 cans of GV frozen apple juice concentrate onto Montrachet lees from my first batch.
OG:1.070
FG:1.008
It came out much sweeter this time, and I'm not sure if that's the concentrate or cranberry juice, which I have heard is a little sweeter finishing.

tennesseean_87 said:

I just bottled half of my cranapfelwein batch. I made it with half apple juice, half cranberry apple cocktail, 1.5 table sugar, and 4 cans of GV frozen apple juice concentrate onto Montrachet lees from my first batch.
OG:1.070
FG:1.008
It came out much sweeter this time, and I'm not sure if that's the concentrate or cranberry juice, which I have heard is a little sweeter finishing.

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Is it still pretty dry?

Wife is not a huge fan of super dry finishes - looking to find something that she'll like more than the original recipe.

I must admit, I've stopped making apfelwein. I've switch over to Preiselbeerwein (Cranberry). Same recipe, swap in cranberry juice instead of apple.

Houston, we have rhino farts!

kc9eci said:

Houston, we have rhino farts!

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Man, that would really suck in a space shuttle

Edit: can you ferment in zero g given oxygen is introduced??

Just started my first batch of Apfelwein! Followed Edwort's recipe 100%. Gonna be a long few months waiting...

Grumpybumpy said:

Man, that would really suck in a space shuttle

Edit: can you ferment in zero g given oxygen is introduced??

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Don't know why you couldn't. The fermentation vessel is going to be a closed system anyway. You'd have to come up with an airlock that would vent gas but not liquid, some sort of permeable layer. The yeast might have a hell of a time with flocculation.

Place the liquid into a cylinder spinning about its axis, the liquid will spin and stay on the walls, and a tube could evacuate the empty area in the middle. Run the tube out to where an airlock would feel the centrigugal force, and you're in business. Motorize it and you're home free. Might have to filter it though.

jholen said:

Is it still pretty dry?

Wife is not a huge fan of super dry finishes - looking to find something that she'll like more than the original recipe.

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It's definitely not woodchuck, but I wouldn't say it's very dry at all for a wine. Definitely something a lady might like.

Jimbob904 said:

Place the liquid into a cylinder spinning about its axis, the liquid will spin and stay on the walls, and a tube could evacuate the empty area in the middle. Run the tube out to where an airlock would feel the centrigugal force, and you're in business. Motorize it and you're home free. Might have to filter it though.

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Tangfelwein?

agrtek said:

I must admit, I've stopped making apfelwein. I've switch over to Preiselbeerwein (Cranberry). Same recipe, swap in cranberry juice instead of apple.

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So are you using Ocean Spray and the like? And 100% cranberry? Wouldn't that be a bit tart (do you add extra nonfermentable backsweeteners)?

Apfelwein + sorbate + kmeta + melted green apple jolly ranchers =?

DarkBrood said:

So are you using Ocean Spray and the like? And 100% cranberry? Wouldn't that be a bit tart (do you add extra nonfermentable backsweeteners)?

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Ahem,

Ahem,

I add about 4lbs of sugar ;-)

I add about 4lbs of sugar ;-)

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Wouldn't that dry it out? Or do you push the yeast beyond alcohol tolerance and lose the ability to bottle carbonate?

I had a glass of my cranapfelwien last night and then I had to make it two, because it was just too good!

tennesseean_87 said:

Wouldn't that dry it out? Or do you push the yeast beyond alcohol tolerance and lose the ability to bottle carbonate?

I had a glass of my cranapfelwien last night and then I had to make it two, because it was just too good!

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I push it to the edge of it's tolerance, I use lalvin EC1118 and it takes about 9 months to stop (slow to useful point) fermenting.

It is a little dry, but not too bad. All my friends prefer it to the Apfelwein.

It might carb if I added some priming sugar at the bottling stage. I'll need to grab a capper and try it out.

Nm

22 days after pitching, my batch is at 1.002 and has been stable for at least 5 days. Doesn't look like it's going to go any lower. It was fairly clear a week ago at 1.004, and is now almost completely clear.

I'm figuring on giving it another week in the primary, and then transfer it to a keg for bulk conditioning.

Good plan?

can you use juice that is from concentrate? That is all that is available around here

three months and mine has finally mellowed, another two and it should be to my preference for a wine.


This stuff rocks, I may have to experiment with non fermentable sugars , as I added one lb of white table and one lb of dark brown sugar

I hope it mellows. I took a 12 ounce sample of mine on week 5 as I was transferring it in to a keg to age and it was a bit harsh.

grouperdude said:

can you use juice that is from concentrate? That is all that is available around here

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Yes. Think of juice concentrate like malt extract. I added some to juice instead of sugar for more flavor, as others have done.

Sooo kegged my first 5g batch 3 days ago after 31 days of fermentation. My recipe was 4gals apple juice, 1/2gal apple cider, 2lbs brown sugar, 1 pack US-05, and back sweetened with one frozen apple juice concentrate. Easiest alcoholic beverage ever. Took my first sip this evening and it is incredible. This will now be on permanent tap in my house like so many others. It's slightly dry yet sweet at the same time and has a pretty "nasty" little bite to it when it sneaks up on you after a few!

Mine is already clearing up after only twelve days of fermenting (k1v-1116) but my fermenting temp has been 70-73F so I think I shouldn't worry. No idea of the gravity at the moment since my meter sort of flew to the wall somehow...

Taste isn't that bad, but I guess I need the three glasses.

So I made a bone head move and put 4pounds of dextrose in instead of 2! If I but a half pound of sugar in would I be over the tolerance of the yeast?

I usually assume 1.5% abv for cane sugar which is a bit forgiving I believe. With corn sugar having less fermentablesugar/lb I'd guess you'd be fine with a 12%+ tolerable yeast. I'm sure I'm explaining that using the wrong words so pls noone shoot me.

Just threw this together today and i used 5 gallons of regular pasteurized apple juice and added 2 pounds of light brown sugar and alvin EC1118 yeast. I got an OG of 1.062 and hope it turns out alright... anyone want to give me some insight into thought of my recipe. i know its very similar to what everyone else is doing.

birtsbrew21 said:

Just threw this together today and i used 5 gallons of regular pasteurized apple juice and added 2 pounds of light brown sugar and alvin EC1118 yeast. I got an OG of 1.062 and hope it turns out alright... anyone want to give me some insight into thought of my recipe. i know its very similar to what everyone else is doing.

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It'll be great. Plenty of people have done this same thing.

Alcoholic koolaid wooo hoooo! I just started 3 one-gallon batches as an experiment. 1) With corn sugar and Nottingham ale yeast. 2) With corn sugar and Montrachet yeast (Ed Wort's original recipe). And 3) With organic cane sugar and Montrachet yeast. Also using Martinelli's 100% pure apple juice... no additives whatsoever. I'll post in about a month the results. Have a feeling the Montrachet yeast will taste best but it will be interesting to compare the different sugars.