Man, I love Apfelwein

emjay said:

Natural corks also turn out to actually be better vertically stored. There's more than enough "humidity" to keep the cork from drying out, while keeping sediment and yeast on the bottom, providing less surface area for oxidation, and preventing cork taint.

There are no doubt people who disagree, primarily on the first point, but more and more wineries every year are saying so as well. IMO, it's nothing to get militant about though... vertically or horizontally, usually won't make much of a difference anyways.

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I feel the same way about the "humidity" but have no experience....

Ed, what are the instructions to bottle this ? Also what is the optimum time to leave in primary carboy before bottling....I have a 6.5 gallon BB is this ok?

thanks cannot wait to try this one

Mike

oasisbliss said:

Ed, what are the instructions to bottle this ? Also what is the optimum time to leave in primary carboy before bottling....I have a 6.5 gallon BB is this ok?

thanks cannot wait to try this one

Mike

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There are sooo many ways to answer your questions. Yes, your BB is fine.

I bottle in wine bottles after 5 weeks. I like it still and dry. If you want sparkling or sweet browse this thread. There's a search tool and it comes in handy.

Skagdog said:

There are sooo many ways to answer your questions. Yes, your BB is fine.

I bottle in wine bottles after 5 weeks. I like it still and dry. If you want sparkling or sweet browse this thread. There's a search tool and it comes in handy.

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I should add that once I bottle, I leave it be. I've got some of my first batch that's almost a year old and I've got some that's only been bottled for 2 months. I like the older stuff better but you may not.

sounds good - thanks

Okay, I got 3.5 gallons from fresh Jonathon and Macintosh apples. At first I was going to use a steam juicer to extract the juice, but I decided I did not want to over process the juice with that much heat. Instead I used a juice extractor and ran it through a fine mesh strainer. I did heat it to 160 to pasteurize. The juice ended up being very fresh cider like and very tart which is what I was looking for. I topped it with commercial apple juice - 1.5 gallons and added 3 lbs of dextrose and have it in a better bottle. Just to be on the safe side I added 5 camden tablets and waited 24 hours before pitching the yeast. also added pectic enzyme since I was using fresh juice. It is now very active and bubbling like crazy.

Made my first batch of this today and I'm excite to have it on hand in 1 month!! I followed this recipe exactly. Are there any other versions out there that have gotten rave reviews to consider for next time?

Made a batch last fall which is pretty much gone. So started a second batch yesterday. 5 gallons of apple juice, 3 cans of frozen apple juice concentrate, 1 lb of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient, and 1 packet of Montrachet yeast. SG came out at 1.062, so this should eclipse 9% after priming quite easily. I might prime with a can of apple juice concentrate this time instead of corn sugar.

Firstly, is the equipment listed all that I'd need, or are there some things that are assumed I'd already have?
Would I be able to brew in a 5gal bucket rather than a carboy?
Would having a second bucket/carboy be a big help?
When would I need to siphon it into a secondary bucket (would I need to do this at all?)
What bottles are best top bottle this in, uncarbonated after around 8 weeks?
What temp should I aim to keep it at?

sallykalou said:

Firstly, is the equipment listed all that I'd need, or are there some things that are assumed I'd already have?
Would I be able to brew in a 5gal bucket rather than a carboy?
Would having a second bucket/carboy be a big help?
When would I need to siphon it into a secondary bucket (would I need to do this at all?)
What bottles are best top bottle this in, uncarbonated after around 8 weeks?
What temp should I aim to keep it at?

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Sally,

First, welcome to HBT!

Second, I have been to Leeds a few years ago and liked it very much. I know the Strode's. I used to work with Carmen in my previous life. Great people.

Third, here is the equipment list:

Fermentation
1 5 Gal Fermentation container (Carboy, bucket, etc.) that will seal and accept and Airlock
1 Airlock (3 piece, 2 piece S)
1 Funnel

Bottling
25 750 ml wine bottles
25 Corks
1 Siphon Hose or AutoSiphon (Get the AutoSiphon)
1 Bottling Bucket (with Spigot)
1 Bottling Wand (Spring Valve)
1 Piece of tubing (Between Spigot & Bottling Wand)
1 Corker (Hand, Floor, etc.)
Sanitizer (Corks, Bottles, Bottling Wand, Bucket, Tubing)

Process
Read the first page again and then use the search. If you can't find what your looking for, drop me a note here.

Take care!

If you are going to bottle this still (i.e. uncarbonated in wine bottle w/ cork), make sure you degas it. I bottled one in a wine bottle with champagne cork and it kept blowing the cork. Didn't know about wine degassing at that point like I do now (you can search for it here).

Carboys are a little better than buckets because you can store the apfelwein for 8-12 weeks with no oxygen exposure. The fermentation will blow all the oxygen out, and as long as you do not open the airlock until bottling, no oxygen. Although I'm sure a bucket would work, if you are ever going to buy a carboy I would do it now.

i have one batch fermenting now for about 6 months.. will be filling up my kegs with beer this weekend so it'll take another back burner for another month or so.. looking forward to tasting it when it has about 8 months on it when i finally have space to keg it

I got ripped on AppleWine saturday night. My wife said I was "chatty." (that can't be good)

5 gallons of Apple juice. (found some with now ascorbic acid or other Vitamin C)
3 lbs of brown sugar.

I used Premier Cuvee yeast.

I fermented it for about 4 weeks, then kegged it.

I moved, so I forgot about it for about 4 months. It was kept cold at one point, right before i moved. When I found it, I tried it just to see if I ruined it. It was the best batch yet. I like it so much better warm also.

sallykalou said:

Firstly, is the equipment listed all that I'd need, or are there some things that are assumed I'd already have?
Would I be able to brew in a 5gal bucket rather than a carboy?
Would having a second bucket/carboy be a big help?
When would I need to siphon it into a secondary bucket (would I need to do this at all?)
What bottles are best top bottle this in, uncarbonated after around 8 weeks?
What temp should I aim to keep it at?

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Went today to a store, got a 5 gallon bucket, a bottling bucket, an airlock, a siphon, some sanitizer, some yeast (sn9, the man recommended me to use it), a thermometer and a hydrometer.
What sugar/litre should I be looking for?
Hopefully this will be all I'll need until I get to bottling!

Now fermenting, 23l of apple juice, the 5g of sn9 and 1kg of brown sugar. Planning to bottle at the start of November, hopefully I didn't mess up and managed to keep everything sanitary.

What all varieties of apple juice has everyone had luck with so far? My first batch is 5 gallons of Treetop ($5 gallon walmart), and a 1/2 gallon of langers I used when adding more sugar (3cinnamon sticks, clove, montrachet 35 oz sugar).

I think Sams had 2 86 oz Motts for $5.36, was probably gonna go with this. I will probably skip on any generic brands unless people have decent luck with them.

What other ways have been used to add other flavors to this? Does anyone add fruit? How does other juice additives work?

I was thinking about adding cherry or cranberry to my next batch starting this week. I will search some, but was bringing up to the current pages.

Also, what's the difference between apple cider and apple juice in this recipe?

I have a question- the recipe says it's ready in 4 wks buy everyone says it gets better with age. Is it better to just leave it in the Carboy or will it age well in bottles?

dmcl700 said:

I have a question- the recipe says it's ready in 4 wks buy everyone says it gets better with age. Is it better to just leave it in the Carboy or will it age well in bottles?

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Let it sit in the carboy until it at least clears. Better to wait 2-3 months and then bottle. You get a cleaner flavor and more apple character as it ages 6-12 months in the bottle. My batch got tasty around the 4 or 5 months in bottle.

rideincircles said:

What all varieties of apple juice has everyone had luck with so far? My first batch is 5 gallons of Treetop ($5 gallon walmart), and a 1/2 gallon of langers I used when adding more sugar (3cinnamon sticks, clove, montrachet 35 oz sugar).

I think Sams had 2 86 oz Motts for $5.36, was probably gonna go with this. I will probably skip on any generic brands unless people have decent luck with them.

What other ways have been used to add other flavors to this? Does anyone add fruit? How does other juice additives work?

I was thinking about adding cherry or cranberry to my next batch starting this week. I will search some, but was bringing up to the current pages.

Also, what's the difference between apple cider and apple juice in this recipe?

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They should all be similar, its just apple juice from concentrate unless your pressing it yourself or from an orchard. The ciders will just not clear when finished like the apple juice, but from what ive read not much else will be different.

I have a 5 gallon treetop(100% matching recipe) and another 5 gallon thats 3 gallons treetop and 2 gallons of Langers Cran/Raspberry juice with Champagne yeast and brown sugar/honey...someone posted the recipe a few months ago in this thread so figured i'd try it

Costco has killer deals on juice, you can get two 1 gallon jugs of Tree top for i think $7?

jagec said:

Normal apfelwein is about 8%. Yours will be about 10%. Give it some extra time to age, but I doubt that it will be intolerable.

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Ok, so I tasted my 4lbs of sugar apfelwein and it was dry with ec1118. Not sweet at all.

It certainly got me and the gf drunk as heck though but no hangover at all. I am going to make another batch with 6 or 8 pounds of sugar and see what happens. I want to push the ec1118 to it's 18abv limit. Starting gravity be damned. The experiment continues.

solbes said:

Taste report on that 4 yr old keg please!! If you purged the O2 out in '08, I bet it will be out of this world fantastic. Makes me wish I had starting hiding away kegs of brew like a squirrel back when I started this hobby.

About to start my annual fall batch. This time I am adding 2 cans of frozen concentrate & 1 lb brown sugar to the 5 gallons of apple juice. Hopefully just a little extra apple flavor from the concentrate as it ages. Once its ready for bottling, I will likely carb with a can of frozen concentrate also.

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It is truly fantastic. It's so smooth and not as bone dry as I'd remembered. It was gassed, but not carbed for those 4 years. It has been in a spare bedroom for nearly all of and into the attic for about 3 months because that spare room became another nursery.

rcp197 said:

Made my first batch of this today and I'm excite to have it on hand in 1 month!! I followed this recipe exactly. Are there any other versions out there that have gotten rave reviews to consider for next time?

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If by on hand you mean drinkable, I would advise you do not count on that. I bottled at six weeks and it tasted like rocket fuel. From reading hundreds of posts in this thread. Aging three to six months sounds like the minimum suggested time frame.

I am considering adding some chamomile in with my apfelwein after I transfer it to a secondary to help bring out the apple flavor. Anyone tried this? Anyone have suggestions as to how much I should put in? I am brewing a 5 gallon batch. Thanks.

Vox said:

If by on hand you mean drinkable, I would advise you do not count on that. I bottled at six weeks and it tasted like rocket fuel. From reading hundreds of posts in this thread. Aging three to six months sounds like the minimum suggested time frame.

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Make it without the added sugar and control your ferm temps in the mid 60's and you can easily drink it in about a month or so. Still gets better with age but no fusels or other nasty stuff this way.

chumpsteak said:

Make it without the added sugar and control your ferm temps in the mid 60's and you can easily drink it in about a month or so. Still gets better with age but no fusels or other nasty stuff this way.

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By added sugar, do you mean that you don't add any of the sugar in the recipe beyond the natural sugars in the juice?

Vox said:

By added sugar, do you mean that you don't add any of the sugar in the recipe beyond the natural sugars in the juice?

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I believe that is exactly what is meant.Less sugar = quicker turnaround time.

Yes I did the same thing, just 5 gallons of Apple juice and yeast. Took about a month for it to clear and then bottled it, tasted great 4 weeks later carbed up. I fermented in mid 70s and there were no esters from the yeast.

BrewerBear said:

I believe that is exactly what is meant.Less sugar = quicker turnaround time.

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Does this leave a dry, low abv cider?

It's really not so dry, definitely leaves more residual sweetness. About 6-6.5% ABV. I believe my FG got down to 1.002 whereas the people adding extra sugar were getting down to 0.098 or so.

I just wish I carbed mine a little more, it was only at like 2 volumes when I wish it was closer to 3. It's more like a sweet apple wine with slight carbonation.

Bottled 9/10/2012. Age approximately 3 1/2 months in carboy.

i have a batch that has been in carboy for 3+ months that i would like to bottle this weekend. Will be bottling still and not carbonated. Is there anything special I need to do? Add any conditioners, camden tabs, etc? This is my first time bottling a wine. I have floor corker, bottles and a bag of corks. Anything else I need to consider/have on hand besides sanitizer?

mrwaffles said:

i have a batch that has been in carboy for 3+ months that i would like to bottle this weekend. Will be bottling still and not carbonated. Is there anything special I need to do? Add any conditioners, camden tabs, etc? This is my first time bottling a wine. I have floor corker, bottles and a bag of corks. Anything else I need to consider/have on hand besides sanitizer?

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Sounds like you have everything you need. I bottle most of my wines without adding additional camden tablets at bottling ( a preference). Since I didn't back sweeten this back there was no need to add P-Sorbate. All I do is sanitize the bottles, cyphering equipment and corks. I let it rest upright for about 24 hours after corking then I put the caps and labels on. I live down south so I store mind in a wine cooler, when the cooler is full I store the remaining wines in my pantry stacked in a pyramid covered with towels. The temperature in there is about a constant 76 deg and its always dark.

jab007 said:

Bottled 9/10/2012. Age approximately 3 1/2 months in carboy.

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Man, this looks great.

After brewing 4 beers in the span of a week, I could go for an easier project like this. Since I don't have a Costco/Sam's Club membership, gonna talk to someone I know who does tomorrow to see if I can cut down on my juice cost. Hehe.

1Q84 said:

Man, this looks great.

After brewing 4 beers in the span of a week, I could go for an easier project like this. Since I don't have a Costco/Sam's Club membership, gonna talk to someone I know who does tomorrow to see if I can cut down on my juice cost. Hehe.

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Where I live Aldi is just as cheap as samsclub on apple juice. I think it was under $20 for five gallons of juice and 4lbs brown sugar.

jab007 said:

Bottled 9/10/2012. Age approximately 3 1/2 months in carboy.

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Looks good! I may bottle a few still in wine bottles, what worries me is i want it carbonated and Drinking an entire wine bottle of this stuff unless you have a few people could make the night very interesting

I decided against the Aldi regular apple juice (1.50 half gallon) since it was from China. The Organic AJ (2.50 half gallon) at Aldi was from New Zealand and Argentina. As a matter of preference I do not buy foods from china. It should be fine, but it's just preference. Planning on starting another batch of apfelwein this weekend with some other juice variety this weekend. About to see what Trader Joe's has.

RugerRedhawk said:

Where I live Aldi is just as cheap as samsclub on apple juice. I think it was under $20 for five gallons of juice and 4lbs brown sugar.

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I was at my local Kroger tonight and they had a sale on half gallons, $1.89 each. Needless to say, I'm stocked up on juice, sugar, and yeast.

Too bad all my carboys are in use. Dunno if I wanna throw this guy into a plastic fermenter.

Making a batch of this with five gallons of Welches white grape cherry juice plus two lbs of corn sugar

1Q84 said:

I was at my local Kroger tonight and they had a sale on half gallons, $1.89 each. Needless to say, I'm stocked up on juice, sugar, and yeast.

Too bad all my carboys are in use. Dunno if I wanna throw this guy into a plastic fermenter.

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Why would you be concerned over plastic,it will not hurt anything.

BrewerBear said:

Why would you be concerned over plastic,it will not hurt anything.

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Oh. More than anything, I'm just so used to using carboys for everything. I'm used to seeing my works in progress. Hehe. Either way, whipped this up into a fermenter last night. Now the wait begins!

BrewerBear said:

Why would you be concerned over plastic,it will not hurt anything.

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If plastic is good enough for Ed Wort (Better Bottles), then it should be good for the rest of us. I have used glass carboys, better bottles, and a fermentation pail without any issues. Go forth and ferment.