Another German Delicacy - Federweisser

Well, the German Mother-in-Law arrives in a week, so I'm off on another project. This time it is Federweisser or Neuwein (New Wine).

Federweisser is a seasonal drink that is available about a week after the grape harvest in Germany. Folks start drinking the wine as soon as it has about 4% abv, but it's pretty sweet then and still full of yeast. SWMBO and her mom love it, so this year I'm adding a new twist. At 7 days, I'm going to keg it and dispense it from my kegerator with CO2. A little carbonation is great with this drink and SWMBO will be making some Zweibelkuchen (Onion Cake) to go along with it.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Hi EdWort,

Your Apfelwein recipe was a hit, SWMBO and I loved it along with everyone else who tried it.

What is your recipe for Federweisser?

Cheers!

BrewStef

BrewStef said:

What is your recipe for Federweisser?

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It's pretty simple. Get a can of Alexander's Sun Country Concentrates - Emerald Riesling (You can get it from Northern Brewer). 1 Can makes 2.5 gallons. Follow the instructions on the can. Ferment in a bucket with a spigot. Start drinking it in 7 days. Each day will taste different.

Get it in containers and refrigerated by day 10.

Interesting...very quick! What yeast do you recommend?

Onion cake and green fermented beverages. Are you familiar with the term Scott Pack?


:cross:

Newly fermenting wine and zweibelkuchen. Yum yum.

Add a side plate of sauerkraut and a soleier or two for a full rectal prolapse....

Chairman Cheyco said:

Onion cake and green fermented beverages. Are you familiar with the term Scott Pack?


:cross:

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Oh yeah. I'm an old volunteer firefighter. Go with positive pressure.

BrewStef said:

Interesting...very quick! What yeast do you recommend?

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A good dry white wine yeast like Lalvin 71B-1122.

what the hell is onion cake? i like onions and i like cake sounds like a winning combo to me!

Here's a recipe for Zwiebelkuchen from Allrecipies.com

Zwiebelkuchen

German Zwiebelkuchen (Onion Pie)
Submitted by: Bill Whitford
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 11 members Prep Time: 1 Hour
Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 2 Hours
Yields: 11 servings
"Zwiebelkuchen is an onion pie from Swabia, in south-central Germany. It is a special time of year, in the fall, when the mom & pop winemakers will open a BasinWirtschaft in their barn or garage. They serve the new wine, fresh zwiebelkuchen, and perhaps some wurst, for a minimal fee. A few tables are set up, and they are open when they have time to serve. To indicate they are serving, they will hang a straw broom over the doorway. The combination of the onions and the 'green ' wine can have explosive consequences later on!"
INGREDIENTS:
6 pounds onions, sliced
4 slices bacon
1 (16 ounce) container sour
cream
4 egg

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
2 recipes pastry for a 9 inch
single crust pie
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a jelly-roll pan or large pizza pan with prepared dough, making sure dough extends up sides of pan.
2. Saute onion in a until translucent and pour cooked onion into a large mixing bowl. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, chop and add to onion; mix well.
3. Stir in sour cream. Beat eggs enough to break up yolks, then mix in to pie mixture. Add flour to thicken mixture (onions will create a lot of water), then add salt. Mix well and pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with caraway seed.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until onions start to turn golden brown on top.

Back when I had Federnweisser, we just got juice from a winery and waited for it to ferment naturally. And yes, this stuff was awsome.

Kai

Onion cake and green fermented beverages. Are you familiar with the term Scott Pack?

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*laughing. *still laughing. ROTFLMAO. That is so funny. I guess you would have to know my inlaws to understand why.

EdWort said:

To indicate they are serving, they will hang a straw broom over the doorway. The combination of the onions and the 'green ' wine can have explosive consequences later on!"
.

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Lol, they were quite tactful in the explanation. Explosive....ewwww....



Anways, this sounds like a nice dish.

Yeah, it creates a scene reminiscent of the Blazing Saddles Campfire. It's a very tasty combination.

I just started a batch this morning. O.G. is 1.080. Next Thursday, we'll see what it's like and I'll check the gravity again.

I'll post pics of the Zwiebelkuchen.

Treberbrot
Apfelwine
Federweisser
Zwiebelkuchen
You have us all hanging brooms over our doors.

Good God Ed, admit it. You are the Ambassador of Germany right? Or the Minister of Cultural Affairs? Or an insane millionare with a diabolical plan...

to create a zombie army of German Caterers.

You've brainwashed us and you're going to send a coded email to awaken the GermanFest Tactical Catering Team. We'll arrive in Austin with our goods an assigned roles, flawlessly preparing German delicacies and speaking fluent German even though some of us have never spoke a word of it.

In a week, we'll remember nothing but will have smiles on our faces and 10,000 extra calories in our guts.

Please Ed, I beg you. Let me be awake!

or is the German Mother-in-Law the mastermind? Hmm....






Seriously.
Thank You for helping me express my 1/4 German heritage.

But the point is that there will be many on this board versed in some German specialties. A fest is in order.

Ed,
You've not mentioned Eiswein (Ice Wine) yet. Had some in Toronto once but know the history of it came from Germany. Cool how it's made. Outrageously expensive. How much for a quality bottle over there?

FYI - Not homebrewer achievable...

http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html

EDIT - After an internet search the price was a lot more in the 80's. I was out to dinner with a president of a canadian corporation where he bought two bottles for dinner @ $300 a pop.

desertBrew said:

Ed,
You've not mentioned Eiswein (Ice Wine) yet. Had some in Toronto once but know the history of it came from Germany. Cool how it's made. Outrageously expensive. How much for a quality bottle over there?

FYI - Not homebrewer achievable...

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Why are you threatening Ed? Do you really want him going crazy trying to figure out how to make this at home?

Oh, you don't think he has a sleeper cell of Canadian Grape Pickers?

Ach Ja, vee have vays of making do tings der Cherman vay, ja?

Ed/Kai:

I really want to make this but I have questions:

From the NB site:

To make five gallons of wine from these concentrates, you will need two cans, additional sugar, yeast nutrient, acid blend, bentonite, and wine yeast.

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Do/Did you use any of these?

what additional sugar?
which yeast nutrient?
which acid blend?

Do you use bentonite?

Wine yeast has been answered: Lalvin 71B-1122 Narbonne

From what you're saying, it looks like this needs to be consumed quickly (no shelf life?) so is bottling out of the question?

I envision having a get together, but bottling what doesn't get tapped.

Thanks.

olllllo said:

Do/Did you use any of these?

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When I made it, I was still living in Germany and had a girlfriend who lived in a wine growing region. We just went to a vineyard and got some fresh unpasteurized juice and let it sit unrefrigerated for a few days. I'm not sure how to make it with concentrate.

Kai

Yeah, I'm guessing it's no frills.

The batch I started on Friday had all those things included. It came with a packet of bentonite, but this is a 6 gallon batch. I guess you can drink some and rack the rest to make some Riesling wine.

When I used the canned concetrate, I just bought some acid blend, Fermax, and bentonite from the LHBS.

Refrigeration will slow the fermentation process down, so you can keep it a week or so in a bottled growler. Just vent it every now and then.

Ed. I made a 2.5 gallon of this for my open brewery and it turned out awesome. I didn't add any acid blend, but I did use nutrient and bentonite.

Given that we had 9 other beverages, it didn't get hit too hard, so I have it in a 3 gallon keg on low co2 refrigerated. We'll see how it lasts.

We also made the Zwiebelkuchen. Good combo.


Thanks, man.

Good stuff, isn't it? What did you use for grape juice?

Congrats on the success and the Zwiebelkuchen! I bet there was some serious Muzik that night.

Great. I can see it now... 1000 + posts of

"Man I love Federweisser"

Only 974 posts to go...

Make that 973

EdWort said:

Good stuff, isn't it? What did you use for grape juice?

Congrats on the success and the Zwiebelkuchen! I bet there was some serious Muzik that night.

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I used the Reissling kit you suggested.

Ok, So my wife and I just got back from the Rhineland Pfalz region of Germany, my wife has fallen in love with Federweißer. I haven't brewed a single darn thing in 10 years and I want to make a batch of the yummy stuff for her Birthday next month. I have the basic stuff ordered, carboy, ferm lock & stopper, Riesling concentrate, the recommended yeast, acid & nutrient stuff. I'm not a total Noob, I've done this a few times before, years ago, but that was hard cider and fruit wine.

I don't want to mess it up being my first real brew project , what should I watch out for and what am I most likely to screw up ?


Prost !

Jens

Oakwoodforge said:

I don't want to mess it up being my first real brew project , what should I watch out for and what am I most likely to screw up ?

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Make sure your equipment is clean and sanitize everything. Also use a bucket fermenter with a spigot. It makes it very easy to sample the Federweisser starting at day #5. Using one can of concentrate, you can make 2.5 gallons.

I've missed the very sweet phase, but it will change every day, so pull a sample and when it hits your sweet spot, pour it into jugs and store in fridge to slow down the fermentation. I use 1 gallon growlers just for that.

Enjoy!

Quick Question, What is the best temp to ferment Federweißer at ?


Jens

Well, the German Mother-in-Law is in town for the holidays, so she said she would make some of her famous Zwiebelkuchen if I would make a batch of Federweisser. I had picked up a few cans of Alexander's Johannisburg Riesling concentrate, so I made a 2.5 gallon batch. Brain dead simple. Clean bucket, 2.2 gallons of water, 1 can of concentrate, 2.5 cups white sugar, some acid blend, yeast nutrient, and yeast. Stir well and wait a few days. I put it in a 3 gallon corny and now it is on tap. SWMBO is in heaven.

Here it is. The Federweisser is still fermenting in the glass. You can see very tiny bubbles rising to the surface.

The Onion cake is awesome! I expect fireworks tonight!

That is _gorgeous_.

DesertBrew said:

Ed,
You've not mentioned Eiswein (Ice Wine) yet. Had some in Toronto once but know the history of it came from Germany. Cool how it's made. Outrageously expensive. How much for a quality bottle over there?

FYI - Not homebrewer achievable...

http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html

EDIT - After an internet search the price was a lot more in the 80's. I was out to dinner with a president of a canadian corporation where he bought two bottles for dinner @ $300 a pop.

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The Niagara region of Canada has become the capital of ice wine due to the climate that favors growing but with fairly early and cold winters. I think the majority of the worlds icewine is made in this region and the prices are probably better in Toronto than in most of the world.
It is something you can do at home http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/2,1112.html
There are several ice wine kits available. The key is that the juice is concentrated on the vine by allowing the grapes to freeze before harvesting. The price is high because there is less juice harvested and there is a good chance of the grapes spoiling before harvest if weather is not right.
I'm not sure if the kits use juice harvested in the tradition way or if it is concentrated with mechanical means.

Back on topic: That onion pie(cake) looks awesome. I may have to try the federweisser. Any other wines you would recommend? I don't see that my HBS has the Riesling, however they do have GEWURTZTRAMINER and LIEBFRAUMILCH.

Craig

Update on kegging Federweiser. After 3 days of fermenting at 68-73 degrees (the swing between night & day), I had SWMBO taste it. She said it was good, but not sweet enough. Wow, after 3 days, too much of the sweetness had fermented out. So, I stirred in about 18 ounces of simple sugar syrup and had her taste it again. This time it is spot on. Super!

So I sansitized a 3 gallon corny, purged with CO2, and poured the 2.5 gallon batch into the corny with my sanitized big funnel. Easiest kegging I have ever done.

I put it in my keggerator to chill. Now, since this is still fermenting, albeit much slower, I don't have to connect any gas to the keg to dispense it. It self dispenses from the CO2 given off while fermenting. Pretty cool. I do have to vent the keg once a day, otherwise I get too much foam, but otherwise, SWMBO & her German Mom think this is just like the stuff in Germany during the grape harvest.

Your onion cake looks FANTASTIC! Is it made from the same recipe that you posted?

I wonder if you can make the Federweisser similar from white grape juice concentrate? If not, I'll have to make yet *another* trip to my wine store (darnit! LOL!)

bkvail said:

Your onion cake looks FANTASTIC! Is it made from the same recipe that you posted?

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Yep, but the German Mother-in-Law used the wrong cake pan. Normally it is done as a sheet cake.

Here's a great video on Federweisse and Zwiebelkuchen.

Video: Federweißer und Zwiebelkuchen | Abendschau | Bayerisches Fernsehen | BR

Great stuff! I love the way the flavor changes from day to day.

My husband is from Germany...his parents still live in the Pfalz, and we have been longing for Federweißer. I found this thread through Google. I have followed your recipe and have my fingers crossed...I'm hoping nothing explodes in my basement from this little experiment.

I'm a total and complete noob at this brewing thing (which I've found to be quite fun!), and have learned more through the process...but I have 2 questions.

I'm familiar with Federweißer as I almost exploded a liter bottle the first time i drank it...capped it too tight and put it back in the fridge. I have made mine in an Ale Pail with saran wrap and holes poked through it...ok, stop laughing...but now I have read more about fermentation locks since I started this process...not exactly sure what those go on yet, but I know what they look like. Anyway, my husband's father spoke to their neighbor who is a vitner, and he said that the saran wrap method should be just fine. I fear I am going get a nice case of botulism. I'm worried about air/bacteria getting in and debating if I should toss this batch and redo. Next time I do this, what do you recommend I brew it in...or is my ale pail and saran wrap concoction ok? (I did the sterilization)

My second question is regarding the yeast and serving. I'm stirring it every day. When day 7 finally arrives, do you wait until the yeast settles? I have a spigot on the pail, but I'm assuming i should scoop from the top of the pail rather then getting all the yeast at the bottom with the spigot or stirring first.