what does EdWort's Apfelwein taste like?

Newbie brewer here. As I've been lurking on the HBT forums, I keep coming across the recipe for Edworts Apfelwein and I intend to make some this weekend. It seems almost like a rite of passage!

My question is this: is there a readily available, commercial product that roughly approximates what this will taste like when done?

Thanks in advance

It tastes to me like a dry Brut with a slight apple over tone. Go grab an inexpensive bottle of dry sparkling white wine (aka, "Champagne") and that'll give you a hint. As for me, I think it's delicious and I don't drink wine an any mentionable quantity.

Heaven

Being serious though, its very dry, little appleish, its very good. I dont like wine much but the old lady does, but we both LOVE edworts

They hit the nail on the head, I used some raspberry juice in my batch and it is just a touch more tart than what they describe but it is so good!

Regret and bad decisions.

Really good, I added some splenda for sweetness and used frozen concentrate instead of sugar to raise my gravity to 1.10. I got nice apple flavor you could still taste mixed 1:1 with sprite. I drank my first bottle after a few weeks, I can't imagine it'll get much better then it already is.

The wife prefers sweeter wins (White Zin primarily). I hesitate to mess with a "classic" without having tried it first, but it sounds like I may want to make it a bit sweeter than normal...maybe add some non-fermenting wine sweetener prior to bottling??

Shouldn't of read this thread, makes me want to open a bottle then I will need to call Ed a M'er F'er in the morning....poor Ed.

Honestly I make it per the recipe and it has 0 bite to it(don't even taste the alcohol) next thing you know you are chasing the dog around the block and your neighbors remind you that clothes are required outside of the house :/

We make ours with cooper's ale yeast, you can have it when you pry it out of my cold dead hands.

arcard you can always back sweaten it and cold crash it OR some people just mix stuff that that w/ Sprite Zero etc.

louie0202 said:

Shouldn't of read this thread, makes me want to open a bottle then I will need to call Ed a M'er F'er in the morning....poor Ed.

Honestly I make it per the recipe and it has 0 bite to it(don't even taste the alcohol) next thing you know you are chasing the dog around the block and your neighbors remind you that clothes are required outside of the house :/

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Precisely:cross:

You have to make it! It really gets good after 6months and great after a year. If you make carbonated,use only champagne bottles with the plastic cork and wire. They will hold the pressure, others will blow unless you pasteurize them; but that a different subject. Welcome to HBT

BOBrob said:

If you make carbonated,use only champagne bottles with the plastic cork and wire. They will hold the pressure, others will blow unless you pasteurize them;

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I don't think this is quite right. You can carbonate it to whatever level you like. I did mine to 2.4 vols of CO2, the standard for beer.

klnosaj said:

I don't think this is quite right. You can carbonate it to whatever level you like. I did mine to 2.4 vols of CO2, the standard for beer.

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Yep, I bottled all of mine in beer bottles, you just have to keep the CO2 at lower volume

Just made a 4 gallon batch, My favorite gear is my refractometer.

Correct on the beer bottles. They too are designed to hold pressure/ carbonation. Some of the new people will use wine or booze bottle, for lack of enough empty beer bottles. Wine and booze bottle will work fine for DRY Apfelwein, but if bottle with any fermentables you will have a mess to clean. The champagne bottle with that cork, no worry, and classy too. That type of cork is designed to release pressure before the glass breaks. Cheers

Make sure I get this right re: the carbonation

No carbonation = beer bottles fine
Light carbonation = beer bottles okay, but corked champagne bottles better

I only have beer & wine bottles at the moment. If I did a 5 gal batch and wanted a light carbonation, would that be like 3/4cup corn sugar mixed in at bottling? Of course, by the time I'm bottling, my inventory could change!

There is no need for champagne bottles unless you want it carbed to High CO2 volumes, not sure the limit but up to 3.5 should be ok

louie0202 said:

Shouldn't of read this thread, makes me want to open a bottle then I will need to call Ed a M'er F'er in the morning....poor Ed.

Honestly I make it per the recipe and it has 0 bite to it(don't even taste the alcohol) next thing you know you are chasing the dog around the block and your neighbors remind you that clothes are required outside of the house :/

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I've had a rough day working for the government today and battling the forces of galactic stupidity! I laughed out loud and you made my day with that "chasing the dog around the block" comment! Thanks. So true by the way.

I personally find its very good. The more you drink the better it taste. Mine taste a little like sour apple candy. I don't know where it was preserved by vitamin c but I love it. Woolen that have came over to try it, did not like the first couple of mouth full but then they started to love it. It really sneaks up on you

I will be bottling my first batch of Apfelwein this weekend after 5 weeks in the Mr. Beer. I tasted it the other night as a test and it was pretty good. Pretty much what everyone else is saying about it (dry, no alcohol taste, slightly appley) Since its a 2 gallon batch it sounds like I need 3/4 cup of corn sugar dissolved in a cup of water? I heard not to stir it in the Mr. Beer. How can I be sure it's mixed?

you can bottle carb this in beer bottles or champagne bottles. just not regular wine with corks. the corks will pop out.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

Regret and bad decisions.

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Very true to the folks who fail to follow the General Rules of Apfelwein.



I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been called a MO%^F&KER.

Love this stuff. We sub 1 gallon apple for cranberry, it..... it's beautiful.

Then you wake up.

It`s like Heaven dipped in chocolate and strawberry`s and rapped in Bacon.

Damn I need to make another batch of this stuff lol.

EdWort said:

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been called a MO%^F&KER.

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louie0202 said:

Shouldn't of read this thread, makes me want to open a bottle then I will need to call Ed a M'er F'er in the morning....poor Ed.

Honestly I make it per the recipe and it has 0 bite to it(don't even taste the alcohol) next thing you know you are chasing the dog around the block and your neighbors remind you that clothes are required outside of the house :/

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I must say I'm honored that EdWort chimed in :cross: and as far as running around without clothes on, this is EXACTLY why I want to get the sweetness to my wifes liking.

klnosaj said:

It tastes to me like a dry Brut with a slight apple over tone. Go grab an inexpensive bottle of dry sparkling white wine (aka, "Champagne") and that'll give you a hint. As for me, I think it's delicious and I don't drink wine an any mentionable quantity.

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That about nails it. It's too dry for my taste, but the wife...she loves it!

I took a gallon to thanksgiving with the in-laws, and on Christmas everyone was pissed that I didn't bring more. If that is any indication, also they aren't big drinkers, so it must not have much bite to the uninitiated. Mine came out with sort of a green apple after taste, but not much up front, definitely has that signature champagne front though when you first get a mouth full. Speaking of.. I think I'll try one now.
Its super easy, cheap, and if you have a spare vessel, easy to forget about while you wait it out. Make some!

And.. after waiting 3 months since the last taste, it has really mellowed out, no bite at all, tastes like heaven.

FreshZ said:

I will be bottling my first batch of Apfelwein this weekend after 5 weeks in the Mr. Beer. I tasted it the other night as a test and it was pretty good. Pretty much what everyone else is saying about it (dry, no alcohol taste, slightly appley) Since its a 2 gallon batch it sounds like I need 3/4 cup of corn sugar dissolved in a cup of water? I heard not to stir it in the Mr. Beer. How can I be sure it's mixed?

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I use my bottling bucket. If you plan to bottle from your MR beer add the priming solution to each bottle with a syringe or something I guess, or buy some carb drops.

How does the apfelwein do uncarbonated. Is it more of a wine? How does it taste?

Anybody keg this stuff? From the sounds of it this may be dangerous to have "on tap". I'm gonna do it.

smokeyfisherman said:

Anybody keg this stuff? From the sounds of it this may be dangerous to have "on tap". I'm gonna do it.

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But of course!

After reading the thread I'm a little confused. What should I use to bottle this stuff in. I don't want BOMBS!

I'm drinking mine still and I love it. Made another batch this past Friday and it is ferementing like mad. You can actually hear it and then the air lock noise is hypnotic. lol. But yes, this stuff gets better and better the longer it sits.

Brewcrew86 said:

After reading the thread I'm a little confused. What should I use to bottle this stuff in. I don't want BOMBS!

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It doesn't matter in the slightest WHAT you are bottling, it only matters what the final CO2 levels are. If you bottle to a standard # of CO2 volumes (i.e. 2.4) there is absolutely no reason you can't use beer bottles.

Brewcrew86 said:

After reading the thread I'm a little confused. What should I use to bottle this stuff in. I don't want BOMBS!

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I made this back in September. Bottled in January. No issues with about 3-4 ozs. of corn sugar to prime.

By buddy made it at the same time and kegged his. We were making a double batch of an IPA a few weeks ago and got into his keg of it. I didn't pitch the yeast until the following day and my last memory was the flame out hop additions. I have no recollection of passing out in his back yard in about 30 degree temps. Yeah, EdWort is a M&+H*#FU^@!$

So in your opinion is 2.4 what I should carbonate at? Thanks for your help.

This is my first post here, but been lurking... I made the EdWort exact recipe, and although it is very tasty up front, it has a long lingering back bite, very acidic. I am 5 weeks in, and hoping that it finishes better with some age...still sitting in the primary at 1.000 now.

I don't plan on carbing or back sugaring other than mixing w/ 7-up per the OG recipe...

I"m sure mine is too green, but can I expect that acidic back bite to lessen w/ time?