Man, I love Apfelwein

Grumpybumpy said:

Are we racking at 3 months to avoid autolysis? I'm lazy and would like to put off bottling until it's drinkable (read: incredible)

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I've had a batch on yeast for around 4 months now due to laziness. My last one sat on the cake for around 5. I wouldn't go longer than 6, but that's mostly an arbitrary line, in my book. For what it's worth, all my batches have been tasty at around 4-5 months, and none lasted long enough for me to say whether a year is better .

Ok, Saw bubbles in the airlock today and decided to get the rest of the juice and sugar and mix them in.

Oddly I think there's something wrong, it's already starting to smell like I'd assume the men's room in babylon 5 would smell like. Then again the temp in the fermentation room is stable 75F

Sarisa said:

Ok, Saw bubbles in the airlock today and decided to get the rest of the juice and sugar and mix them in.

Oddly I think there's something wrong, it's already starting to smell like I'd assume the men's room in babylon 5 would smell like. Then again the temp in the fermentation room is stable 75F

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It's stinky. Mine is on day #6 @ 63 degrees and still smelling like rhino farts.

Someone here suggested I stir mine with a copper rod to reduce the sulphur (it was at 3 months in the fermenter and never stopped smelling). So, challenge accepted, I got some copper wire, put three strands into a drill and hit the trigger a couple times. Voila! a braided copper rod (which I keep out of SWMBO's reach so that she cant hit me with it). I really think the stirring helped dispel a lot of the rhino farts, and its currently clearing again in the fridge...

Thanks Smagee, i'll give them a swirl and see what happens.

Im pretty excited to try this stuff out!

Just kegged some up after just under 3 weeks in primary made from frozen concentrate, brown sugar, nutrient, and premier cuvee. OG was 1.081, FG was .996. Going to force carb it today to probably around 2.5 volumes.

I reccomend trying this yeast. I haven't tried the Montrachet yet (I will on my next batch after I reuse this cuvee once) but thr turnaround with this stuff is fast and it tastes amazing. If the Montrachet is worth that much of a wait then the true recipe must be insanely good.

I brewed this on 1/17 and was planning on kegging a little after a month. I changed it up a little bit with 4gals organic apple juice, 1/2gal organic apple cider, brown sugar, and a pack of US-05. Just wondering though as it seems now everyone leaves this in the fermenter for months where as the original recipe and poster good ol EdWort says he ferments for "at least" a month but kegged often at a month or a little more. I guess my question is is this really not that drinkable after a month?

Just sampled mine at the 4 week mark Sunday...yum. Going to let it sit in the fermenter for another week though and then transfer to a 5 gallon keg.

musicawal said:

I brewed this on 1/17 and was planning on kegging a little after a month. I changed it up a little bit with 4gals organic apple juice, 1/2gal organic apple cider, brown sugar, and a pack of US-05. Just wondering though as it seems now everyone leaves this in the fermenter for months where as the original recipe and poster good ol EdWort says he ferments for "at least" a month but kegged often at a month or a little more. I guess my question is is this really not that drinkable after a month?

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I think the point to take away isn't that it's undrinkable after a month (in my experience, it is) so much as it's significantly better after much longer. After a month, some of the flavors really haven't developed and you can get a pretty strong alcohol burn that tends to hide the apple flavor. These aspects mellow out after time. So yes, you can drink it early, and it'll probably be tasty, but it's still worth waiting if you can.

Ok it has been 35 days since pitching my reading is just under 1.000. I racked off the yeast cake it tastes good but dry. I was thinking of splitting up and adding maple syrup to 2 gallons of the stuff then taking 1 gallon and adding a ginger extract. Now on the maple should I add it in secondary or as a primer for the conditioning? Same question on the ginger extract do I add to secondary or just before bottling?

Pitched with lalvin rc212 on new years and snuck my first taste tonight. Finished at 1.002 and I'm ready to drink it all now! My oh my is it good! Lots of apple flavor, mild tartness like white wine would have, and zero alcohol bite. My parents will love this one when they come to visit in april! I just hope it'll last that long....

What did it taste like I did two six gallon batches mid jan. and have been tested to tast but have been holding off

Just wondering if more people like to carb this stuff or drink it flat? And which way, flat or carbed does this stuff last longer?

I think most people are drinking it still. Myself, I am going to bottle about half of it still and the other half carbed and see which I like best.

I've carbed all my batches; I submitted it to several guests while flat and the consensus was that carbonation would help. If you like champagne (or are serving it to those who do), I'd suggest carbing.

Nevermind about premier cuvee being ready after 3 weeks, shouldn't have kegged >_<. I wonder if it takes larger batches longer to mellow out, also I only got about 3.75 gals so its VERY strong since I meant for 5.

Time to grab some 2 liters of squirt and have some friends over.

I over-carb mine so it is more like a champagne than a beer in terms of carb level. When I serve it to guests, I offer it strait up, over ice, or mixed like a cocktail. The ladies seem to love apfelwein with a splash of 7-up/sprite and a teaspoon of raspberry puree to sweeten it up.

I'm deployed right now and can't brew anything. To kill the urge I just bought my pops all the supplies to make some apfelwein.

How quickly do you see fermentation?

First attempt at apfelwein...

Not seeing any airlock activity, seems to be stuff forming in the surface however. My HBS didn't have Montrachet, and I couldn't remember the Lalvin EC-1118 alternative and the guy there suggested Lalvin 71B-1122.

I will rdwhahb, just curious since I've never done this.

It's sitting at about 60, which may be a bit cold...but I don't control the heat in my apartment.

I've got a first batch going now. I used the 71B yeast and it took off quite happily within the first day (sitting in a dark closet at ~67*F).

Mine has now cleared (mostly) and I'm wondering (haven't even taken a gravity test yet), has anyone tasted this really young, like Fedderweisser-style?

We need moar replies on this thread. Here's my contribution.

Made a 5 gallon batch on 2012/01/20 using EdWort's recipe, and using apple juice from concentrate (only ascorbic acid additive). It's still slowly bubbling away after 4 weeks, with signs that the yeast is starting to clear a bit compared to week 1 of fermentation.

Although I haven't sampled the batch yet, I'm going to make another this week since it's recommended to have at least 3 months of aging. I bought some LD Carlson yeast nutrient to help with the rhino farts (and for my winemaking). The package doesn't say when to put the nutrient in, but I assume I would use the recommended dosage (1 tsp per gallon must) and just add it in when I'm shaking the dextrose with the juice? Will this stuff just dissolve in the juice? How will the nutrient impact fermentation times or activity?

Anyways, this whole thread has been very informative and entertaining. Thanks EdWort!

3 weeks in. went from 1.079- to 1.004.

I'd like to make a batch of this, but the lady is allergic to sulphates. She can't drink any commercially made ciders/apple wines because of the sulphates present in the preservatives.

So my question is, are sulphates produced by the fermentation process in Apfelwein? Or are they only present if a preservative is used?

RobMT said:

I'd like to make a batch of this, but the lady is allergic to sulphates. She can't drink any commercially made ciders/apple wines because of the sulphates present in the preservatives.

So my question is, are sulphates produced by the fermentation process in Apfelwein? Or are they only present if a preservative is used?

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Yes you can make cider with out preservative added. You would start with Pasturized juice/cider, w/ no preservatives; Ascorbic Acid is OK (vitamin C). Use champagne yeast and let ferment dry, and bottle. The only thing I remember off hand was it remained cloudy, and began to turn vinegary after a few months. The head space during fermenting and bottling needs to be kept to a minimum, so the bacteria that causes the vinegar has less chance of ruining it sooner. I remember reading a thread on cider experiments using pasturized and un pasturized cider. Hope this helps; try search, not sure on this "cider.org.UK"

Kegged mine after 4 weeks, the original recipe. It tasted great, not sure how much bite it will have but we shall see this weekend.

I also just kegged and carbed mine.. 2 weeks in a primary. 2 in a secondary. Sorbated and backsweetened with two cans of concentrate brought it back to about half the gravity of woodchucks.. man is this stuff delicious. And it's gotsa biggg kick.. gonna brew some more but a little less on the abv for a good spring cider .. on a side note I started two one gallon batches with the yeast from the primary when I racked. One with raw sugar and one with blackstrap molasses.. can't wait to see how they turn out.
Wondering if I can keep these yeast going a third time for a hard lemonade.. I know lemonade hard to ferment and requires a starter but figured these yeast are strong and tolerant so why not use them..?? That sound right?

stibone said:

I also just kegged and carbed mine.. 2 weeks in a primary. 2 in a secondary. Sorbated and backsweetened with two cans of concentrate brought it back to about half the gravity of woodchucks.. man is this stuff delicious. And it's gotsa biggg kick.. gonna brew some more but a little less on the abv for a good spring cider .. on a side note I started two one gallon batches with the yeast from the primary when I racked. One with raw sugar and one with blackstrap molasses.. can't wait to see how they turn out..

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You're beginning to make me think that aging is for the birds. Must.not.read.

Mine is happily bubbling away -- about 30 hrs old based on EdWorts recipe. I had to sub 1 gal with a comparable brand since I wiped the shelf clean.

Very easy and simple instructions for a n00b like me

I can't stop watching the fermentation process...

finlayj said:

How quickly do you see fermentation?

First attempt at apfelwein...

Not seeing any airlock activity, seems to be stuff forming in the surface however. My HBS didn't have Montrachet, and I couldn't remember the Lalvin EC-1118 alternative and the guy there suggested Lalvin 71B-1122.

I will rdwhahb, just curious since I've never done this.

It's sitting at about 60, which may be a bit cold...but I don't control the heat in my apartment.

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Nevermind....it's going real strong. Didn't blow off the top, but came up into the airlock.

Great stuff

Can this be done with any juice? Like grape juice? If so would I use the same yeast?

stibone said:

Wondering if I can keep these yeast going a third time for a hard lemonade.. I know lemonade hard to ferment and requires a starter but figured these yeast are strong and tolerant so why not use them..?? That sound right?

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I'm thinking of giving the Skeeter Pee recipe a try with my Apfelwine yeast cake...check out this thread. The recipe looks just as cheap as EdWort's Apfelwine and almost as simple...but it is fairly explicit in saying that a decent yeast cake is pretty much required for it to ferment well.

I followed the recipe to a "T" and kegged it 3 weeks ago. Oh Em Gee! This is awesome! Its getting entered into a local HB competition in 2 weeks.

DarkBrood said:

I'm thinking of giving the Skeeter Pee recipe a try with my Apfelwine yeast cake...check out this thread. The recipe looks just as cheap as EdWort's Apfelwine and almost as simple...but it is fairly explicit in saying that a decent yeast cake is pretty much required for it to ferment well.

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If you read through-out the (very long) thread on Skeeter Pee you'll find people are having success using a yeast starter or in some cases even a dry yeast when a yeast cake isn't available.

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.

DarkBrood said:

I'm thinking of giving the Skeeter Pee recipe a try with my Apfelwine yeast cake...check out this thread. The recipe looks just as cheap as EdWort's Apfelwine and almost as simple...but it is fairly explicit in saying that a decent yeast cake is pretty much required for it to ferment well.

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I made a variation of the skeeter pee using only water, sugar, lemon juice and dry yeast.......and it turned out kinda like a hard lemonade. I back sweetened with LIMEADE concentrate and kegged it.

I used a bucket, 96oz of real lemon juice, 10 lbs of cane sugar, and 2 packs of EC-1118. I used a little gelatin for clearing. Turned out about 13.5% and will put you on your ass.

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??

finlayj said:

How quickly do you see fermentation?

First attempt at apfelwein...

Not seeing any airlock activity, seems to be stuff forming in the surface however. My HBS didn't have Montrachet, and I couldn't remember the Lalvin EC-1118 alternative and the guy there suggested Lalvin 71B-1122.

I will rdwhahb, just curious since I've never done this.

It's sitting at about 60, which may be a bit cold...but I don't control the heat in my apartment.

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60 is a little cold. How long has it been and is it getting cloudy yet? It's probably fermenting, it's just doing so slowly. Just because you aren't seeing airlock activity, don't think that it's a sign that it itsn't fermenting.

KWKSLVR said:

60 is a little cold. How long has it been and is it getting cloudy yet? It's probably fermenting, it's just doing so slowly. Just because you aren't seeing airlock activity, don't think that it's a sign that it itsn't fermenting.

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I replied to that original post later. it eventually started going like crazy. It filed the airlock

Would anyone say this is comparable to Ecusson (bretagne)?

Since mine sorta has that kind of taste, something between a wine and a cider, if it's not supposed to I've done something horribly wrong. Granted it's 5 days on fermenting, but I wasn't able to resist it now that it doesn't smell like a ... well fermenting apfelwein.

Post copper rod stirring it is still re-clearing, but I have to say its tasting much much more appley and not sulphery like before!

Im thinking about mixing with champagne for a quick no-fuss carbing at table... thoughts?

BurtonBrews said:

Well... a little more than 48 hours in and the airlock is bubbling nicely! I am anxious for the month to be up, so that I can bottle with priming sugar!

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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!