Man, I love Apfelwein

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RichBrewer said:
Mine has been going for a month and it hasn't cleared yet. The temp has dropped to 60 degrees so I figure it will take more time to ferment out.
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RichBrewer - You can say that again twice!! Mine is at 6 weeks and I'm still getting bubble activity, at least 6-8 per minute. No clearing yet. I have been averaging about 55'F. This weekend warmed things up enough to get to a balmy 57'F. :D

This hobby teaches patience to say the least.
 
Okay Ed...just when I was looking for a light ABV to brew to counter my 6.5% Porter I just tapped...I come across this monster thread. You've created a monster. :rockin:

Question, will I get the same apple flavor with a lower ABV% by using the following:

1lb of Brown sugar in place of the 2lbs of Corn Sugar
London Ale Yeast instead of the wine yeast.

I guess I'd like to lean towards more of a cider since my SWMBO hasn't met a brew of mine she likes yet...and one or two (dare I utter the words) Miller Lites put her slightly over the edge.

She loves Hard Cider...
 
I would recommend using only apple juice and the Montrachet wine yeast. It will finish out between 5 & 6% using only juice and yeast. I can't comment on using Ale yeast as I only use Montrachet. It's pretty cheap at 79 cents a packet.

It will still ferment out dry, so have SWMBO drink 3 glasses before judgment.
 
Good, It sucks that i cant find it in a gal, guess i gota buy it buy the litre.. Kinda a waist of all those containers.. I gotta find it buy the gal
 
I'm jumping on the bandwagon, I'm going to make this soon--to hopefully be ready by May for when SWMBO returns from the desert. It will be a small token of a gift to her that I am glad she is finally home. And I can get her drunk and take advantage of her. :)

SO...without going through all 197 pages of this thread--is there any other apple juice that will work? I don't "belong" to Costco.
 
I've used three different kinds of juice with three different kinds of results. Unfortunately, i never kept any of them long enough to compare them side by side :drunk:

1 gal batches are perfect for experiments. Give them a whirl and see which kind is best.

mike
 
Any apple juice that has - Water, Apple Juice Concentrate - as the ingredients label will work... what i did was used 4 gallons of juice and 4 sleeves of juice concentrate (which made up to the 5th gallon) then i'm going to prime with more apple juice... I've taken several tasting... and while dry, it's really really really good...
 
Dude said:
yeah but...all I could find today was 100% juice "fortified with ascorbic acid (vitamin C)".

Won't that mess with the acidity of the wine too much?
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You could always buy all frozen concentrate and then mix it with water... you'd get essentially the same thing as 100% fruit juice from concentrate
 
DeadYetiBrew said:
You could always buy all frozen concentrate and then mix it with water... you'd get essentially the same thing as 100% fruit juice from concentrate
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I used frozen concentrate in my gallon batches of apple wine. I thing you would need about 15 or so for 5 gallons. My supermarket has them on sale for 4 for $5.
Edit:
I just looked at a can and it makes 46 Oz. of juice. This works out to almost 14 cans of concentrate in a 5 gallon batch.
 
Dude said:
Cool guys, thanks for the tip.

Can you buy corn sugar pretty much anywhere? I don't recall ever seeing it--course I've never looked either. :)
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Unfortunately no... I can't find anywhere that sells it besides the HBS... I recommend doing a juice and concentrate batch, Read how i did mine above, if you can't find any corn sugar... Basically the natural sugar in the concentrate is enough to ferment... If you were to do it with all Frozen Concentrate I would suggest this...

Get concentrate... Make the juice the way the instructions tell you, mix with water and stir together. Make 4 gallons of juice that way then add 4 cans of Concentrate that have not been mixed with water... Like i said the natural sugars should be enough to ferment... I didn't take Hyrdometer readings so I have no clue how much ABV mine has but the Concentrate helps it to not dry out so much... It's still got plenty of Alcohol
 
holy freaking crap...

I kegged my Apfelwein about 5 days ago, went through force carb route. I had problems getting nothing but foam, and realised, its been about 41 celcius around here (103F) so the fridge was struggling, and the wine must be too warm... so I let the heat wave pass, cranked up the fridge, chilled the b*tch down and pulled a nice, clean, bubbling glass of apfelwein about 5 mins ago... I am freaking HOOKED!

This stuff is SOOOOOOO good, and I mean, SOOO good! I just LOVE it!!! I am just about to go get my 3rd glass now!!!

Its crisp, refreshing, so so so easy to drink, millions of little bubbles (I used lalvin ec1118 yeast, a generic champagne yeast) simply because I like my wine/cider as dry as the sahara! and damn, ed I love you! this was the best thing ever! so glad it was the first thing to go on keg!!!

:drunk: :mug:
 
Mine has been fermenting for 4 weeks and 4 days and is still bubbling away. I did use 2.5 lbs. of dextrose.

Should I just let this go on, or will there come a time I'll need to stop fermentation myself?
 
Here was my take:

4 Gallons Musselman
3/4 lb dark brown sugar
1/4 lb Lactose
1 Tsp Cinnamon
2 Large green apples, peeled and chopped (Keep the peels)

Boiled 1/2 gallon of apple juice along with brown sugar, lactose and apples (and peels) for about 20 minutes. Added cinnamon and cooled.

Mixed it all with the rest of the Apple Juice and pitched the SafAle 56 Ale Yeast.

OG of just plain apple juice was 1.042 and was 1.054 after I added the sugar (including the nonfermentable lactose). I'm shooting for a 1.020 final in hopes that I can get a 4.5% ABV. (If it's higher...that's okay too :cross: )

Had a nice 1/2 inch carmel colored kreusen head this morning (12 hours).

I'm hoping for a little sweeter and lots of apple flavor...you know...for my SWMBO.
 
After much debate, I threw a batch together using Motts 100% apple juice from Costco. My Costco didn't have the Tree Top. It does have absorbic acid in it, but Motts claims it is not a preservative. Kind of weird since most sites list it as one. It also says to refrigerate their juice since it does not have preservatives and will go bad. It didn't say anything about fermenting it though! :)

Mine took about 36hrs to get started, but it's bubbling up a storm now. I can't wait to try this one. Thanks for the recipe Ed. Couldn't get any easier than that! :mug:
 
Orpheus said:
Mine has been fermenting for 4 weeks and 4 days and is still bubbling away. I did use 2.5 lbs. of dextrose.

Should I just let this go on, or will there come a time I'll need to stop fermentation myself?
Click to expand...

With cooler temps, I'd let it go 6 weeks at least. I've got 2 batches at 5 weeks and they are still bubbling too. I just kegged a batch from 12/26 that was finally finished. Our temps drop down to 68-65 in the house at night, so I believe it has slowed down the fermentation process.
 
EdWort said:
With cooler temps, I'd let it go 6 weeks at least. I've got 2 batches at 5 weeks and they are still bubbling too. I just kegged a batch from 12/26 that was finally finished. Our temps drop down to 68-65 in the house at night, so I believe it has slowed down the fermentation process.
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Thanks,

That's about the temps I'm getting in my basement. It is definitely getting much darker, though.:mug:
 
Orpheus said:
Mine has been fermenting for 4 weeks and 4 days and is still bubbling away. I did use 2.5 lbs. of dextrose.

Should I just let this go on, or will there come a time I'll need to stop fermentation myself?
Click to expand...

Orph,

Don't fret! I'm at 6 weeks and three days. Mines still bubbling. I've had temps from 53-57F (11.6-13.8C)

w/ 2lbs corn sugar
 
2 quick questions...

1. How much more apple juice concentrate do you add to prime with if you use that instead of dextrose?

2. Am I understanding that maybe you don't need to add any sugar/juice at all and just bottle? Wouldn't that make bottle bombs if it weren't done fermenting? What is the hydrometer reading when you bottle if you do it this way?
 
is it ok to use a bucket for this? i already have one batch in the primary, just wanted to make a second...

also... i guess you dont have to rehydrate the yeast.. i saw someone said to, but in eds original post, he said not to.. just wanted to be sure.
 
Kayos said:
2 quick questions...

1. How much more apple juice concentrate do you add to prime with if you use that instead of dextrose?

2. Am I understanding that maybe you don't need to add any sugar/juice at all and just bottle? Wouldn't that make bottle bombs if it weren't done fermenting? What is the hydrometer reading when you bottle if you do it this way?
Click to expand...

We're using 1/4 gallon of apple juice (not concentrate) to prime... You could just bottle it how it is... Wine isn't usually very carbonated and this stuff seems to be pretty bubbly out of the carboy...
 
aekdbbop said:
is it ok to use a bucket for this? i already have one batch in the primary, just wanted to make a second...

also... i guess you dont have to rehydrate the yeast.. i saw someone said to, but in eds original post, he said not to.. just wanted to be sure.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you could use a bucket you just won't be able to see the cool color changes... Rehydrating the yeast just activates it and gives you less of a lag time between pitching and seeing bubbles...
 
Alright I got all of my equipment today and I'm ready to go...except the apple juice. Whats the verdict on the absorbic acid? Anyone made any successfully with it? Also I bought 2 lbs of corn sugar, how much should I use for a 3 gallon batch? One more thing, do I rehydrate the yeast? I though I read EdWort say somewhere in here that he doesn't (don't hate me if it's a mis-quote ;)). Sorry about all the questions, it's my first time...be gentle.
 
Branket said:
Alright I got all of my equipment today and I'm ready to go...except the apple juice. Whats the verdict on the absorbic acid? Anyone made any successfully with it? Also I bought 2 lbs of corn sugar, how much should I use for a 3 gallon batch? One more thing, do I rehydrate the yeast? I though I read EdWort say somewhere in here that he doesn't (don't hate me if it's a mis-quote ;)). Sorry about all the questions, it's my first time...be gentle.
Click to expand...

Look up 1 post for the yeast answer...
 
I'm going to go to the hippie grocery store and get organic juice. So you can ignore the absorbic acid question, but I do have a new one. How much water/vodka do I need to put in my airlock? I have an "S type" on that looks identical to this one: Airlock. Once again forgive my ignorance and thank you in advance.
 
hahah, dont worry about absorbic acid, look around post 40ish, when I first brewed my apfelwein I found it had Dimethyl Dicarbonate in my apple juice, I thought I was stuffed, but it turned out fantastic!!!

:mug:
 
Branket said:
How much water/vodka do I need to put in my airlock? I have an "S type" on that looks identical to this one: Airlock. Once again forgive my ignorance and thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

First, get yourself some nice Tito's Hand made Vodka from Austin. Chill it, then get a measuring cup out and pour out 1/4 cup. Carefully add it to your airlock till it is half full and equal across the two globes. Toss the rest back as a shot. Filling an airlock will never be the same. :D
 
EdWort said:
First, get yourself some nice Tito's Hand made Vodka from Austin. Chill it, then get a measuring cup out and pour out 1/4 cup. Carefully add it to your airlock till it is half full and equal across the two globes. Toss the rest back as a shot. Filling an airlock will never be the same. :D
Click to expand...

Damn all I have is smirnoff, guess it'll have to do, but I do like your method. :drunk:
 
Alright, I did it!!! It's in the corner hopefully starting to do its thing. I want to thank everyone for the help. I'll probably have more questions throughout the process, and I now know that there will be a great group of people to help talk me through it. :mug:
 
Branket said:
Alright, I did it!!! It's in the corner hopefully starting to do its thing. I want to thank everyone for the help. I'll probably have more questions throughout the process, and I now know that there will be a great group of people to help talk me through it. :mug:
Click to expand...

Glad we could help... That's what the forum is for...

YAY, i actually helped!
 

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